From Battleship to Breakwater: Post-military Adaptive Reuse of the Australian Warship Protector

The light cruiser Protector, built 1884, served as an Australian naval asset for 40 years. Decommissioned from the Royal Australian Navy in 1924, it was subsequently converted into a lighter. The vessel re‐entered military service during the Second World War, but was involved in a collision, condemned, and ultimately installed as a breakwater on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. While much of Protector's military career is well documented, little is known of its conversion and adaptation to civilian roles. What follows is a discussion of efforts to archaeologically document Protector's surviving hull and identify signatures of adaptive reuse indicative of its post‐military career.