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33-596: The yard is now the location to the west of several heavy industrial firms with a focus on petro-chemicals, a later Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , which endured into the 1990s, and the underground south entrance of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel , built in 1956–1957, carrying Interstate 895 and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway through and under the city in the major East Coast thoroughfare. Bethlehem-Fairfield

66-465: A Phoenician devised a new method of launching it (the Tessarakonteres ), having dug a trench under it, equal to the ship itself in length, which he dug close to the harbour. And in the trench he built props of solid stone five cubits deep, and across them he laid beams crosswise, running the laces whole width of the trench, at four cubits' distance from one another; and then making a channel from

99-415: A dock for a vessel of such a size might have had a volume of 750,000 gallons of water. Before the 15th century, when the hull below the waterline needed attention, careening was practised: at high tide the vessel was floated over a beach of hard sand and allowed to rest on one side when the tide receded. An account of 1434 described how a site near Southampton with a bottom of soft mud was selected for

132-410: A high cost. A floating dry dock is a type of pontoon for dry docking ships, possessing floodable buoyancy chambers and a U-shaped cross-section. The walls are used to give the dry dock stability when the floor or deck is below the surface of the water. When valves are opened, the chambers fill with water, causing the dry dock to float lower in the water. The deck becomes submerged and this allows

165-733: A number of ropes attached to the superstructure. The Saint-Nazaire 's Chantiers de l'Atlantique owns one of the biggest in the world: 1,200 by 60 metres (3,940 ft × 200 ft). The Alfredo da Silva Dry Dock in Almada , Portugal , was closed in 2000. The largest roofed dry dock is at the German Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg , Germany , it is 504 m long, 125 m wide and stands 75 m tall. Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries in Belfast , Northern Ireland ,

198-555: A roof, to prevent spy satellites from taking pictures of the dry dock and any vessels that may be in it. During World War II , the German Kriegsmarine used fortified dry docks to protect its submarines from Allied air raids (see submarine pen ). An advantage of covered dry docks is that work can take place in any weather; this is frequently used by modern shipyards for construction especially of complex, high-value vessels like cruise ships, where delays would incur

231-460: A ship to be moved into position inside. When the water is pumped out of the chambers, the dry dock rises and the ship is lifted out of the water on the rising deck, allowing work to proceed on the ship's hull. A large floating dry dock involves multiple rectangular sections. These sections can be combined to handle ships of various lengths, and the sections themselves can come in different dimensions. Each section contains its own equipment for emptying

264-476: A small Italian book printed in Venice in 1560, called Descrittione dell'artifitiosa machina . In the booklet, an unknown author asks for the privilege of using a new method for the salvaging of a grounded ship and then proceeds to describe and illustrate his approach. The included woodcut shows a ship flanked by two large floating trestles, forming a roof above the vessel. The ship is pulled in an upright position by

297-412: A temporary revetted bank of rock and clay that had to be dug away by hand (an operation taking typically 29 days, working night and day to accord with the tides ) to allow the passage of a ship. Emptying was by a pump, possibly in the form of a bucket-chain powered by horses. This dry dock currently holds First World War monitor HMS M33 . Possibly the earliest description of a floating dock comes from

330-552: A total of at least eighteen vessels were built during the shipyard's history. This is an incomplete list. Drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock ) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance , and repair of ships , boats , and other watercraft. The use of dry docks in China goes at least as far back as

363-610: Is a covered, floating drydock that is also submersible to support the secret transfer of a mechanical lifting device underneath the Glomar Explorer ship, as well as the development of the Sea Shadow stealth ship . The Great Balance Dock , built in New York City in 1854, was the largest floating drydock in the world when it was launched. It was 325 feet (99 m) long and could lift 8,000 tons, accommodating

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396-671: Is the site of a large dry dock 556 by 93 metres (1,824 ft × 305 ft). The massive cranes are named after the Biblical figures Samson and Goliath . Dry Dock 12 at Newport News Shipbuilding at 662 by 76 metres (2,172 ft × 249 ft) is the largest dry dock in the United States. The largest floating-dock in North America is named The Vigorous. It is operated by Vigor Industries in Portland, OR, in

429-539: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad through its Curtis Bay Yards of the preassembled components and other sections needed for the assembly of the ship hulls to the storage yard at Fairfield where they would later be moved by cranes to one of the 13 ways used for erecting the ships, this was later expanded to 16 ways. Additional thousands of temporary wood-frame style barracks were constructed plus standardized brick row homes and housing projects soon filled woods and meadows of

462-482: The ballast and to provide the required services, and the addition of a bow section can facilitate the towing of the dry dock once assembled. For smaller boats, one-piece floating dry docks can be constructed or converted out of an existing obsolete barge, potentially coming with their own bow and steering mechanism. Shipyards operate floating dry docks as one method for hauling or docking vessels. Floating drydocks are important in locations where porous ground prevents

495-565: The 1,000-foot AFDB-1 and the 850-foot AFDB-3 . The latter, an Advance Base Sectional Dock which saw action in Guam , was mothballed near Norfolk , Virginia , and was eventually towed to Portland , Maine , to become part of Bath Iron Works ' repair facilities. A downside of floating dry docks is that unscheduled sinkings and off-design dives may take place, as with the Russian dock PD-50 in 2018. The " Hughes Mining Barge ", or HMB-1,

528-519: The 10th century A.D. In 1088, Song dynasty scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) wrote in his Dream Pool Essays : At the beginning of the dynasty (c. +965) the two Che provinces (now Chekiang and southern Chiangsu) presented (to the throne) two dragon ships each more than 200 ft. in length. The upper works included several decks with palatial cabins and saloons, containing thrones and couches all ready for imperial tours of inspection. After many years, their hulls decayed and needed repairs, but

561-540: The Swan Island industrial area along the Willamette River. A graving dock is the traditional form of dry dock. It is a narrow basin, usually made of earthen berms and concrete, closed by gates or a caisson . A vessel is floated in with the gates open, then the gates are closed and the water is pumped out, leaving the craft supported on blocks. The keel blocks as well as the bilge block are placed on

594-421: The floor of the dock in accordance with the "docking plan" of the ship. Routine use of dry docks is for the "graving" i.e. the cleaning, removal of barnacles and rust, and re-painting of ships' hulls. Some fine-tuning of the ship's position can be done by divers while there is still some water left to manoeuvre the vessel. It is extremely important that supporting blocks conform to the structural members so that

627-609: The largest ships of its day. Apart from graving docks and floating dry docks, ships can also be dry docked and launched by: Some dry docks are used during the construction of bridges, dams, and other large objects. For example, the dry dock on the artificial island of Neeltje-Jans was used for the construction of the Oosterscheldekering , a large dam in the Netherlands that consists of 65 concrete pillars weighing 18,000 tonnes each. The pillars were constructed in

660-694: The neighboring Brooklyn-Curtis Bay-Fairfield-Wagner's Point waterfront communities dating to 1853 / 1887 / 1890s in southern Baltimore city, recently annexed in 1919 from neighboring rural Anne Arundel County On 27 September, 1941, Fairfield hosted Liberty Fleet Day , with the launching of their first Liberty Ship , SS  Patrick Henry . She was the first of an eventual 384 Liberty ships built there, along with 45 LSTs , and 94 Victory ships . Online resources 39°14′42.21″N 76°34′45.62″W  /  39.2450583°N 76.5793389°W  / 39.2450583; -76.5793389 Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Company The Maryland Drydock Company

693-400: The sea he filled all the space which he had excavated with water, out of which he easily brought the ship by the aid of whatever men happened to be at hand; then closing the entrance which had been originally made, he drained the water off again by means of engines (organois); and when this had been done the vessel rested securely on the before-mentioned cross-beams. It has been calculated that

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726-477: The ship is finished, the gates are opened to allow water in, and the ship is carefully refloated. Modern graving docks are box-shaped, to accommodate newer, boxier ships, whereas old dry docks are often shaped like the ships expected to dock there. This shaping was advantageous because such a dock was easier to build, it was easier to side-support the ships, and less water had to be pumped away. Dry docks used for building naval vessels may occasionally be built with

759-429: The ship is not damaged when its weight is supported by the blocks. Some anti-submarine warfare warships have sonar domes protruding beneath the hull, requiring the hull to be supported several metres above the bottom of the dry dock, or depressions built into the floor of the dock, to accommodate the protrusions. Once the remainder of the water is pumped out, the ship can be freely inspected or serviced. When work on

792-560: The shipbuilding industry. In 1970, the company's yard in Baltimore was purchased by the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation which spent $ 30 million upgrading the site. Adverse economic conditions caused the yard to close in 1984 and much of the site was razed, although one drydock was preserved and was being used by Kurt Metal for the scrapping of old ships in 1995. Not counting the many vessels "jumbosized" there,

825-523: The ships could be protected from the elements and avoid the damage caused by undue exposure. The Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis (V 204c-d) reports something that may have been a dry dock in Ptolemaic Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204 BC) on the occasion of the launch of the enormous Tessarakonteres rowing ship. However a more recent survey by Goodchild and Forbes does not substantiate its existence. But after that

858-409: The ships were towed in above the beams. Then (breach now being closed) the water was pumped out by wheels so that the ships rested quite in the air. When the repairs were complete, the water was let in again, so that the ships were afloat once more (and could leave the dock). Finally the beams and pillars were taken away, and the whole basin covered over with a great roof so as to form a hangar in which

891-487: The use of conventional drydocks, such as at the Royal Naval Dockyard on the limestone archipelago of Bermuda . Another advantage of floating dry docks is that they can be moved to wherever they are needed and can also be sold second-hand. During World War II , the U.S. Navy used such auxiliary floating drydocks extensively to provide maintenance in remote locations. Two examples of these were

924-401: The warship Grace Dieu , so that the hull would bed itself in and remain upright at low tide. A timber, brushwood and clay wall was then built up around the hull. The first early modern purpose-built European and oldest surviving dry dock still in use was commissioned by Henry VII of England at HMNB Portsmouth in 1495. This was a timber-lined excavation, with the seaward end closed off by

957-539: The work was impossible as long as they were afloat. So in the Hsi-Ning reign period (+1068 to +1077) a palace official Huang Huai-Hsin suggested a plan. A large basin was excavated at the north end of the Chin-ming Lake capable of containing the dragon ships, and in it heavy crosswise beams were laid down upon a foundation of pillars. Then (a breach was made) so that the basin quickly filled with water, after which

990-600: Was a shipbuilding company that operated in Baltimore, Maryland during the 20th century. The company started life in 1920 as the Globe Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Maryland . Its president at this time was B. C. Cooke. The company bought land along the Patapsco River across the Bay from Fort McHenry . It later changed its name to the simpler "Maryland Drydock Company". Sometime after 1950, its name

1023-525: Was changed again, to the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Company . Maryland Drydock specialized in ship conversions, upgrades and repairs rather than with shipbuilding per se. During World War II , the company was employed in the conversion of numerous warships built at other yards for the US war effort. Unlike many other shipbuilding companies of the period, it survived the postwar downturn in

Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-634: Was one of two new emergency shipyards, established by the Maritime Commission under the Emergency Shipbuilding program , in 1941. The other shipyard was the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation , Portland, Oregon . Because Baltimore Harbor is so old (dating to 1706) there was not sufficient space to build both the shipways and the fabrication plant in the same waterfront area. The fabricating plant

1089-629: Was only less than two miles away further south in adjacent Curtis Bay at a former George Pullman railroad car wheel foundry dating from 1887, greatly expanded in 1916, with massive huge shops before World War I , but now empty during the Great Depression of the 1930s. This proved an advantageous situation though, which was better than other shipyards on the East Coast whose fabricating plants were usually located some further miles away. This allowed for easy transportation by railroad cars of

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