When in 1909 the newly established Australian Navy commissioned five torpedo-destroyers, it was not surprising that shipbuilders from the Clyde successfully tendered for the contract. Glasgow naval engineers did not only study the theoretical and practical foundations of their discipline, such as thermodynamics or hydrodynamics, they were also acutely aware of the significance of shipyard skills and practices. The Australian Navy did not simply want to acquire modern warships, it also wanted to learn how to construct them. Therefore, two destroyers were built in Glasgow, one, HMAS Warrego, was built, taken apart and rebuilt in Sydney, and two more were consequently built in Sydney, based on the experience acquired from reconstructing HMAS Warrego. This paper will take a closer look at shipbuilding skills and practices on the Clyde, examines the Australian Navy’s reasoning behind the rebuilding of HMAS Warrego and will follow the careers of its destroyers to their employment in the capture of German New Guinea during World War I.