De Havilland Marine

de Havilland Marine was a division of Hawker de Havilland Australia Pty. Ltd. which is now owned by Boeing Australia and known as Boeing Aerostructures Australia.

Following the downturn of aviation manufacturing in the late 1950s, the Australian subsidiary of de Havilland looked to produce products utilizing the skills and knowledge available to the company. It found a ready market in the production of a range of small aluminium boats made using techniques similar to those employed in the aircraft industry. de Havilland Marine's designers were initially headed by Frank Bailey, the Vampire Production Engineering Manager, starting in 1959. Later designers included in 1966 naval architect Alan Payne, designer of Australia's first America's Cup (1962 America's Cup) challengers Gretel and Gretel II.^[1] de Havilland Australia built the mast and rig for Gretel.

In 1965, The Sydney Morning Herald reported the marine division had produced 15,000 craft of all types, with a projected annual production of 5,000 craft per year.^[2] By the end of the small boat production in the 1970s over 55,000 had been produced

de Havilland Marine (Large Craft) (registered company number F11799) was located on the waters edge at 5-7 Burroway Road, Homebush Bay. Due to a lack of new business it closed its doors in 1982. In the years prior it manufactured various large aluminium craft for both the local and international market. These included Carpentaria Class Patrol Boats for Burma & the Solomon Islands, Titan Work Boats for the New South Wales (NSW) government, and the hulls of the Nepean Belle which still operates on the Nepean River in NSW.