Throughout the year, a number of United States transports entered the harbour with troops en route to India and elsewhere, these vessels generally sailing singly and without any escorting warship. However, on the 18th February, a convoy arrived carrying United States Army personnel, the vessels employed being the Queen Mary, Aquitania, lle de France, Nieuw Amsterdam and Queen of Bermuda, the escorting vessels being the cruisers H.M.S. Gambia and Devonshire.

At different times during the year, United States Navy submarine depot ships arrived to exchange duty with similar vessels based on Fremantle, these vessels presumably then proceeding to some other base.

On the 3rd January, 1943, the first of the Liberty ships arrived at the port, these ships nearly all bearing family names, all newly launched, all having made the journey direct from the west coast of U.S.A. to Fremantle in about six weeks, and all engaged in the transport of vital war stores and equipment to be supplied to Russia through Iran.

Up to the 30th June, more than 200 Liberty ships and other newly constructed vessels employed upon an identical mission had called at Fremantle and, with a few exceptions, in respect of which repairs were required to be undertaken, all vessels only remained in port for the necessary length of time for the loading of stores and water. On occasions, there would perhaps have been as many as seven Liberty ships in port at the one time, and naturally they caused a great strain on harbour accommodation.

Actually, conditions at the port had remained acute ever since refugee vessels flocked to the port in March, 1942, and when some relief came with the departure of most of these vessels, there being a few which apparently no one knew what to do with, interstate trade then became considerably disorganised, resulting in peak conditions of shipping, congestion of cargo sheds, with long periods of idleness, followed by further peak conditions.

On the 26th February, 1943, the Commissioners were advised that the Federal Minister for Supply and Shipping had formed a Port Equipment and Development Committee, certain members of which would shortly be visiting Western Australia with the object of investigating conditions at a number of ports in this State and to recommend to the Minister the action to be taken in the event of Fremantle Harbour becoming immobilised through enemy action.

Two members of this Committee duly arrived in this State during March and inspected Fremantle Harbour, as well as several outports within comparatively easy reach of Fremantle. The report of the Committee was eventually received by the Commissioners in the following July, the delay being due to the fact that in the interval it had been ascertained that the authorities responsible for directing war strategy had communicated their decision to requisition for Naval purposes some 7,000 out of the total 10,000 lineal feet of quayage in Fremantle Harbour, it also being decided to undertake certain extra deepening of the harbour for the accommodation of battleships.

The following recommendations were therefore contained in the Committees report so far as Fremantle was concerned, in order that the requirements of the civil population of the State might be met with the restricted amount of quayage remaining for such purposes:

Provision of dolphin oil berth at west end of Victoria Quay.

Provision of a sufficient number of lighters.

Provision of a large cargo store at Perth or Fremantle to overcome congestion of cargo sheds on the wharves.

In consequence of these recommendations, the State Government appointed a local committee representative of all interests at the port to inquire into the position. This committee held several meetings and then made its report to the Hon. Premier, who forwarded it to the Director of Shipping, the single recommendation being that for a commencement a new cargo store of adequate capacity be provided as quickly as possible within a reasonable distance from the wharves.

This building has now been constructed on land between the railway and traffic bridges, and whilst a change of strategy in the prosecution of the war subsequently dispensed with the immediate necessity of this accommodation, its provision must nevertheless be regarded as an insurance against the contingencies that then appeared to be inevitable unless the war situation rapidly altered.

Concurrently with the deepening operations in the inner harbour previously referred to, dredging work was undertaken in the Success and Parmelia Bank channels in the outer harbour, additional dredges for the carrying out of this work having been secured by the Commonwealth authorities in the Eastern States.

For the financial year ending 30th June, 1943, the revenue of the Trust again remained very buoyant, being 36,000 in excess of the revenue for the previous year and 103,000 above the revenue obtained during the financial year ended 30th June, 1939. Notwithstanding the increased revenue for the year, the trade of the port actually decreased by 127,000 tons and whilst records of the various commodities imported and exported had of necessity to be discontinued during the year, the apparent anomalous position may be explained by the fact that there was a substantial increase in the quantity of imports subject to wharfage charges, whilst with the large decrease in the volume of exports, very little extra revenue would have been received had there been no such decrease, as the goods in question would have been exempt from the payment of wharfage charges.

(extracts from the 1946 Fremantle Harbour Trust Annual Report)