During surveys Admiralty crews planted edible plants, and released pigs and goats on islands for shipwreck survivors. After Australian Federation in 1901 the Admiralty continued to work off Queensland into the 1920s, using HMS "Dart", , and . The Hydrographic Branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was formed in 1920, and Australia's first naval survey vessel, , began surveying the Great Barrier Reef in 1924. By the 1920s the use of Cairns Harbour was changing. The completion of the railway from Brisbane to Cairns in 1924 resulted in a decline of passenger ships travelling from the south. However, the port continued to export the produce of Far North Queensland, and was used as a naval base by the RAN and US Navy during World War II. Today the port of Cairns is mainly a cruise ship destination and fishing fleet base, although it still exports and imports goods, and continues to be used by the RAN. Bessie Point is located on the southeast side of Trinity Bay, east of Cairns, and is reached by the Pine Creek-Yarrabah Road. The road runs north alongside Rolling Bay before turning sharply to the southeast at Bessie Point. The split granite boulder on which the bench mark broad arrow is chiselled stands just to the Rolling Bay (west) side of Bessie Point, at the top of the beach, close to the road. The boulder, which lies in the intertidal zone, is roughly in diameter and about high. The upright broad arrow is chiselled in the upper half of the northwest face of the boulder. The arrow, which is above the average inundation level, is approximately tall and wide. The Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark of 1878 at Bessie Point was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 May 2014 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark at Bessie Point (1878) is important surviving evidence of the work of the Admiralty survey of Queensland's coastal waters, harbours and rivers, from 1862 to the 1920s. This survey was essential for safe shipping navigation and the economic development of Queensland. The establishment of a bench mark at Bessie Point was an important part of the development of Cairns as the main port for Far North Queensland. A survey of Cairns Harbour, including Trinity Bay and Trinity Inlet, was necessary for safe navigation and for development of the harbour.