Doyle, Alec Broughton (1888 - 1984)

Summary

Alec Doyle, CBE BE MIEAust, Engineer Rear-Admiral, Royal Australian Navy, played a major role in overseeing the design, construction, commissioning, refitting and repair of Navy ships between 1933 and 1948. His entire career from 1912 to 1948 was as an officer with the Navy, almost since its inception in 1911.

He was Engineer Manager and General Overseer, Commonwealth Naval Yard, Garden Island before the Second World War. During the war his responsibilities expanded enormously to include work at Cockatoo Dockyards and other yards, including Morts Dock, Poole and Steele, with the building of Sloops, Boom Vessels, Tribal Class Destroyers, Mine-Sweepers and conversion of Merchant ships. In 1944 he was responsible for the new destroyer building program that utilised innovative prefabrication and welding methods for the construction of major warships.

During the war, many ships of both Australian and allied Navies were repaired in Sydney. The fact that Sydney functioned so effectively as a Naval Base during the war was largely due to Doyle's leadership, professional influence, and example.

His distinguished achievements were recognised when he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1937 and was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1953.

Details

Chronology

1911

Education - Bachelor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, (BE (Mech & Elec)), University of Sydney

1912 - 1913

Career position - Engineer Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Australian Navy [trained at HMS Falmouth, and appointed to HMAS Melbourne then building]

1913 - 1914

Career position - Engineer Lieutenant, Royal Australian Navy [trained at Portsmouth Dockyard, appointed to the Battle Cruiser HMAS Australia then building at Clydebank, and during its commission]

1914 - 1916

Military service - First World War. Engineer Officer, HMAS Parramatta, Royal Australian Navy

1916 - 1919

Military service - First World War. Senior Engineer Officer, HMAS Encounter, Royal Australian Navy

1919

Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1919 - 1920

Career position - Senior Engineer, Acting Engineer Lieutenant-Commander HMAS Australia, Royal Australian Navy

1920 - 1921

Career position - Engineer Officer, Williamstown Naval Depot, Royal Australian Navy

1921

Career event - Promoted Engineer Lieutenant-Commander, Royal Australian Navy

1921 - 1924

Career position - Second Assistant, then First Assistant, to Engineer Manager, Garden Island Naval Dockyard, Sydney

1923

Career event - Promoted Engineer Commander, Royal Australian Navy

1924 -

Career position - Engineer Commander and Fleet Engineer Officer, in HMAS Sydney, Royal Austarlian Navy

1925 -

Career position - Overseer, supervising the building of the sea-plane carrier HMAS Albatross, Cockatoo Dockyard, Sydney

1929 - 1932

Career position - Squadron Engineer Officer, in Cruiser HMAS Australia and HMAS Canberra, Royal Australian Navy

1933

Career position - Loaned to Royal Navy, for service and training

1933 - 1942

Career position - Engineer Manager, Garden Island Dockyard, Sydney [General Overseer of Naval contract work, engineering, shipbuilding and repair, in NSW]

1934

Career event - Promoted to Engineer Captain, Royal Australian Navy

1934 - 1939

Career position - Member, and nominee of the Naval Board, Australian Commonwealth Shipping Board

1936

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1937

Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - Royal Australian Navy - Interwar Honours List [King's Coronation]

1942

Career event - Appointed Director of Engineering (Naval), Naval Office, Melbourne

1943 - 1948

Career position - Engineer Rear-Admiral, and Third Naval Member and Chief of Construction, Royal Australian Navy

1948

Life event - Retired

1950

Career position - Member, Manpower Allocation Committee, Commonwealth of Australia

1952

Career position - Chairman, Sydney Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1953 -

Career position - National Councillor, Institution of Engineers Australia

1953

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Moore, Andrew, 'Doyle, Alec Broughton (1888 - 1984), naval officer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 17: 1981 - 1990 A-K, Diane Langmore, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2007), https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/doyle-alec-broughton-12436. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Discussions and communications', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers Australia, 4 (1923), 219-270. Repairs to Lap Joint Failures of Water Pockets of Yarrow Boilers, pp.263-270. Details
• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1953 Award [Eng Rear-Admiral A. B. Doyle, CBE BE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 25 (1953), 253. Details
• Doyle, A. B., 'Repairs to lap joint failures of water pockets of yarrow boilers', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers Australia, 4 (1923), 74-98, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.632411286708318. Details
• Doyle, A. B., 'Engineering in Primary Production', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 25 (1953), 163 -. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Honours List [Coronation Awards - National]', Sydney Morning Herald (1937), 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17367053. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Thirty-fourth Annual Report [1953] (1954), 16 pp. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1953 Award), to Engineer Rear-Admiral A B Doyle, CBE BE MIEAust, Sydney Division', p.2. Details

Resources

• CA 38, Navy Office [IV], Department of the Navy [II]; CA 46, Department of Defence [III], Central Office, 'NAA: A6769, DOYLE A B', A6769 Service Cards for Navy Officers, 1911-1970, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5404979. Details

See also

• Evans, Vaughan, 'Chapter 6: Ship building and repair' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 123-150. 'Garden Island Naval Dockyard' pp.139-142 [Portrait photo on p.141]. Details