Midfielder Shaun Burgoyne and defender Grant Birchall were outstanding as the Hawks made the most of a strong first term, winning 18.10 (118) to 11.10 (76) to stand at 3-1 for the season.
Key forwards Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead kicked four goals apiece in a poorly-attended Launceston match.
Hawthorn lost key defender Ryan Schoenmakers with a serious-looking knee injury in the second term. Schoenmakers hyper-extended his right knee on the wing and was helped from the field.
A few minutes later, Fremantle surprisingly subbed Nick Suban out of the game.
Suban only had two disposals and coach Ross Lyon was brutally honest about the reason for the early substitution.
"There's nothing wrong with him - we just thought he hasn't touched it," Lyon told Channel Seven.
Lachie Neale, who came on for Suban, was lively and kicked a goal.
After Fremantle had the play bottled up in their forward 50m for the opening five minutes, Hawthorn had a four-goal burst in seven minutes.
The Hawks kicked another just before quarter-time for a 30-point lead but Fremantle hit back with their first goal in the opening minute of the second term.
The Dockers improved noticeably at the stoppages and there was no change in the margin at half-time.
After losing the clearances 16-7 in the first term, Fremantle were ahead 21-17 at the long break.
Acting captain David Mundy and Nathan Fyfe were prominent in the Dockers' fightback.
Hawthorn extended the margin to 44 points midway through the third term, but the Dockers kicked the last two goals of the quarter to keep the margin at a manageable 28 points.
After only kicking two behinds in the first term, Fremantle rallied and were only 17 points down early in the final term.
But the Hawks kicked the last four goals of the game.
The game only attracted 12,619 fans - the lowest for a Hawthorn home game and the second-lowest AFL crowd at Aurora Stadium.
Fremantle also suffered a pre-game blow when Luke McPharlin was ruled out.
He did not recover in time from Paddy Ryder's heavy hit last weekend, an incident that earnt the Essendon ruckman a three-game suspension.
That meant the Dockers were without McPharlin, captain Matthew Pavlich (achilles) and ruckman Aaron Sandilands.
They represent 677 AFL games between them and the Dockers' top three players.
HAWTHORN 5.2 10.4 13.6 18.10 (118)
FREMANTLE 0.2 5.4 8.8 11.10 (76)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Roughead 4, Rioli 3, Burgoyne 2, Breust 2, Birchall, Lewis, Franklin
Fremantle: Bradley 3, Mayne 2, Mundy, Sutcliffe, Crowley, Ballantyne, Walters, Neale
BEST
Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Rioli, Birchall, Mitchell, Stratton, Bailey, Franklin
Fremantle: Fyfe, Barlow, Mundy, Mayne, Walters, Bradley
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Guerra (soreness) replaced in selected side by Savage, Schoenmakers (knee)
Fremantle: McPharlin (concussion) replaced in selected side by Smith
SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Shane Savage replaced Ryan Schoenmakers (knee) during the second quarter
Fremantle: Lachie Neale replaced Nick Suban (tactical) during the second quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Wenn, Foot
Official crowd: 12,619 at Aurora Stadium
