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92-660: Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards ) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial complexes in Britain. From the reign of Henry VII up until the 1990s, the Royal Navy had a policy of establishing and maintaining its own dockyard facilities (although at

184-474: A barge. There was no way up, only down-- down to the category of coal hulks ... Having strong solid bottoms ... they could handle the great weight of bulk coal which filled their holds. It was a grimy, untidy, unglamorous end for any vessel which had seen the glory days." The famed clipper Red Jacket ended her days as a coaling hulk in the Cape Verde Islands. One by one these old Champions of

276-399: A body of water is protected and deep enough to allow anchorage. Many such harbors are rias . Natural harbors have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, and many great cities of the world are located on them. Having a protected harbor reduces or eliminates the need for breakwaters as it will result in calmer waves inside the harbor. Some examples are: For harbors near

368-648: A comprehensive rebuilding of the Yard at Sheerness (1815–23). Through the Napoleonic Wars all the home yards were kept very busy, and a new shipbuilding yard was established at Pembroke in 1815. Before very long, new developments in shipbuilding, materials and propulsion prompted changes at the Dockyards. Construction of marine steam engines was initially focused at Woolwich, but massive expansion soon followed at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham. Portland Harbour

460-510: A cultural centre and public marina called Nelson's Dockyard . Jamaica (1675) Jamaica Dockyard A naval official was stationed in Port Royal from the seventeenth century, and naval vessels were careened there for maintenance from that time. Following the Port Royal earthquake of 1692, and a succession of damaging hurricanes, a concerted attempt was made from 1729 to relocate Jamaica's naval yard to Port Antonio , an unsettled bay on

552-506: A database of known hulk assemblages in England. They identified 199 separate hulk assemblages ranging in size from two vessels to over 80. Several of the largest former oil tankers have been converted to floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units, effectively very large floating oil storage tanks. Knock Nevis , by some measures the largest ship ever built, served in this capacity from 2004 until 2010. In 2009 and 2010, two of

644-406: A functional ship. For this role, the hulk is often extensively modified to improve living conditions. Receiving hulks and prison hulks are specialized types of accommodation hulks. During World War II, purpose-built barracks ships were used in this role. A receiving ship is a ship used in harbour to house newly recruited sailors before they are assigned to a ship's crew. During the wars of

736-585: A period of dormancy, had now begun to grow again). In 1690, Portsmouth had been joined on the south coast by a new Royal Dockyard at Plymouth ; a hundred years later, as Britain renewed its enmity with France, these two yards gained new prominence and pre-eminence. Furthermore, Royal Dockyards began to be opened in some of Britain's colonial ports, to service the fleet overseas. Yards were opened in Jamaica (as early as 1675), Antigua (1725), Gibraltar (1704), Canada (Halifax, 1759) and several other locations. Following

828-429: A presence at the base: one of the adjacent barracks, formerly known as HMS  Terror , is now the main recreation and welfare centre for US Navy personnel, known as the 'Terror Club'. Wei Hai Wei (1898) The Royal Navy inherited a small dockyard on Liugong Island when this territory was leased from China at the end of the nineteenth century. The yard was expanded, and served as a regular summer anchorage up until

920-480: A private yard operated on site thereafter. Menorca (1708) The Port Mahon Dockyard was established at Port Mahon , one of the world's deepest natural harbours. It was the Royal Navy's principal Mediterranean base for much of the eighteenth century; however the territory changed hands more than once in that time, before being finally ceded to Spain in 1802. The yard is still used by the Spanish Navy . One of

1012-421: A ship was decommissioned at the end of a voyage or tour of duty, most of her crew were dismissed or else transferred to new vessels. Alternatively, if a vessel was undergoing refit or repair, her crew was often accommodated on a nearby hulk ; a dockyard often had several commissioned hulks moored nearby, serving various purposes and accommodating various personnel, including new recruits. Things began to change when

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1104-752: A smaller scale) until the year before the Handover . It then relocated briefly to Stonecutters Island , before closing in 1997. The RN also operated at the Kowloon Naval Yard from 1901 to 1959 (which is different from the Hong Kong & Whampoa dockyard at Hung Hom, known as the Kowloon Dockyard); this was primarily a coaling station . Part of the base is now part of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison since 1997 and rest became

1196-564: A stuck up parvenu tug. Ever and anon as if to emphasize her newly acquired importance, the tug would bury the old-time square-rigged beauty in a cloud of filthy smoke. Imagine the feelings of an ex-Cape Horner under such conditions! There should have been a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Old Clippers . Everybody who knows anything about ships, knows that they have feelings just the same as anybody else. Hulks were used in pairs during salvage operations. By passing heavy cables under

1288-436: A verb: a ship is "hulked" to convert it to a hulk. The verb was also applied to crews of Royal Navy ships in dock, who were sent to the receiving ship for accommodation, or "hulked". Hulks have a variety of uses such as housing, prisons, salvage pontoons, gambling sites, naval training, or cargo storage. In the age of sail , many hulls served longer as hulks than they did as functional ships. Wooden ships were often hulked when

1380-576: A wreck and connecting them to two hulks, a wreck could be raised using the lifting force of the tide or by changing the buoyancy of the hulks. A hulk assemblage (sometimes known as a ship graveyard ) is where more than one vessel has been hulked in the same location. A project by Museum of London Archaeology (with the Thames Discovery Programme and the Nautical Archaeology Society ) and in 2012 created

1472-653: Is Long Beach Harbor , California , United States, which was an array of salt marshes and tidal flats too shallow for modern merchant ships before it was first dredged in the early 20th century. In contrast, a natural harbor is surrounded on several sides by land. Examples of natural harbors include Sydney Harbour , New South Wales, Australia, Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada and Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka. Artificial harbors are frequently built for use as ports. The oldest artificial harbor known

1564-580: Is based there to this day. New Zealand (1892) Devonport Dockyard began in the 1890s as a small complex of wooden storehouses; since 1913 it has served as the principal base of the Royal New Zealand Navy . . Harbour Harbors may be natural or artificial. An artificial harbor can have deliberately constructed breakwaters , sea walls , or jetties or they can be constructed by dredging , which requires maintenance by further periodic dredging. An example of an artificial harbor

1656-737: Is now in the custody of the Indian Navy ; the Madras yard closed in 1813, transferring to Ceylon. There is also the substantial British-built naval base at Cochin . Other facilities were located in Calcutta, and several other places in the Indian administration – e.g. Aden. Singapore (1938) HMNB Singapore was established in the 1930s at Sembawang . It was built around the King George VI Graving Dock (which when opened

1748-578: Is the Ancient Egyptian site at Wadi al-Jarf , on the Red Sea coast, which is at least 4500 years old (ca. 2600–2550 BCE, reign of King Khufu ). The largest artificially created harbor is Jebel Ali in Dubai . Other large and busy artificial harbors include: The Ancient Carthaginians constructed fortified, artificial harbors called cothons . A natural harbor is a landform where a section of

1840-637: Is today more frequently called The Narrows . It gives access not only to Murray's Anchorage (named for Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Sir George Murray , who led the fleet of the North American Station through the channel to anchor there for the first time in 1794) but to the entire northern lagoon, the Great Sound and Hamilton Harbour , making the channel vital to the success of the Town of Hamilton , which had been established in 1790, and

1932-510: The American Revolution prevented the sending of convicts to North America. Instead, increasingly large numbers of British convicts were held aboard hulks in the major seaports and landed ashore in daylight hours for manual labour such as harbor dredging. From 1786, prison hulks were also used as temporary gaols (jails) for convicts being transported to Australia . A powder hulk was a hulk used to store gunpowder . The hulk

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2024-696: The British West Indies , being somewhat nearer Nova Scotia). Being more defensible than Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in a position to command the American seaboard (the nearest landfall being Cape Hatteras at 640 miles), the Admiralty began buying land at Bermuda's West End in 1795 for the development of what would become the main base, dockyard and headquarters for the North America and West Indies Station until United States Navy control of

2116-549: The Crimean War , which benefitted from being stored ashore rather than left afloat, to help preserve their light wooden hulls. From 1856 Haslar provided the means to house, launch and haul them ashore by means of a steam-driven traverse system. Overseen by a Master-Shipwright, the Yard stayed in use until 1906, after which it remained in Naval hands as a base for Coastal Forces craft until 1973. In 1728 Antigua Naval Dockyard

2208-674: The Eastern Fleet for a time during World War II. In 1957 it was handed over to the Royal Ceylon Navy; today it is the SLN Dockyard of the Sri Lanka Navy . Hong Kong (1859) There was an RN Dockyard from 1859 to 1959 on Hong Kong Island , established on the site of an earlier victualling yard. The base was later known as HMS Tamar ; Tamar remained operational after the closure of the dockyard (albeit on

2300-529: The First World War saw activity across all the yards, and a new building yard opened at Rosyth. In contrast, the post-war period saw the closure of Pembroke and Rosyth, and the handover of Haulbowline to the new Irish government – though the closures were reversed with the return of war in 1939. A series of closures followed the war: Pembroke in 1947, Portland and Sheerness in 1959/60, then Chatham and Gibraltar (the last remaining overseas yard) in 1984. At

2392-655: The Jamaica Station (ultimately designated the America and West Indies Station , once it absorbed the areas that had formerly belonged to the South East Coast of America Station and the Pacific Station ). Aside from the roles played by Royal Naval squadrons based at Bermuda during the two world wars, Bermuda also served as a forming-up point for trans-Atlantic convoys during both conflicts. Between

2484-464: The North and South poles , being ice-free is an important advantage, especially when it is year-round. Examples of these are: The world's southernmost harbor, located at Antarctica 's Winter Quarters Bay (77° 50′ South), is sometimes ice-free, depending on the summertime pack ice conditions. Although the world's busiest port is a contested title, in 2017 the world's busiest harbor by cargo tonnage

2576-600: The Victualling Board established Victualling Yards in several Dockyard locations, which furnished warships with their provisions of food, beer and rum. In the mid-eighteenth century the Sick and Hurt Board established Naval Hospitals in the vicinity of Plymouth Dock and Portsmouth; by the mid-nineteenth century there were Royal Naval Hospitals close to most of the major and minor Naval Dockyards in Britain, in addition to several of them overseas (the oldest dating from

2668-472: The 18th and 19th century, almost every nation's navy suffered from a lack of volunteers and had to rely on some form of forced recruitment. The receiving ship partly solved the problem of unwilling recruits escaping; it was difficult to get off the ship without being detected, and most seamen of the era did not know how to swim. Receiving ships were typically older vessels that could still be kept afloat, but were obsolete or no longer seaworthy. The practice

2760-580: The Admiralty acquired land on Garden Island in Sydney Harbour, and established a small naval base there. In the 1880s it was substantially expanded (though no dry docks were built, as the Navy had use of the facilities at nearby Cockatoo Island Dockyard operated by the Government of New South Wales). In 1913 HM Naval Yard, Garden Island was handed over to the nascent Royal Australian Navy which

2852-437: The Admiralty introduced more settled terms of service in 1853; nevertheless, thirty years were to pass before the first shore barrack opened, and a further twenty years before barracks at all three of the major home yards were finally completed. Through the course of the 20th century these barracks, together with their associated training and other facilities, became defining features of each of these dockyards. In 1985 Parliament

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2944-670: The Admiralty took over the dockyards and the commissioners were replaced by Admiral-Superintendents . The Clerk of the Survey post had been abolished in 1822. The office of Clerk of the Cheque was likewise abolished in 1830 (its duties reverting to the Storekeeper), but then revived as the Cashier's Department in 1865. With the development of steam technology in the 1840s came the senior Dockyard appointment of Chief Engineer. In 1875,

3036-635: The City of London, were for some time overseen directly by the Navy Board). The resident commissioners had wide-ranging powers enabling them to act in the name of the board (particularly in an emergency); however, until 1806 they did not have direct authority over the principal officers of the yard (who were answerable directly to the board). This could often be a source of tension, as everyone sought to guard their own autonomy. The principal officers varied over time, but generally included: (In practice there

3128-704: The Clerk of the Ropeway, who had a degree of autonomy, mustering his own personnel and managing his own raw materials. Ships in commission (and along with them the majority of Naval personnel) were not under the authority of the Navy Board but rather of the Admiralty , which meant that they did not answer to any of the above officers, but rather to the Port Admiral . With the abolition of the Navy Board in 1832,

3220-516: The Dockyard itself. Royal Dockyards were established in Britain and Ireland as follows (in chronological order, with date of establishment): Other, minor yards (with some permanent staff and basic repair/storage facilities) were established in a number of locations over time, usually to serve a nearby anchorage used by Naval vessels. For example, during 18th century a small supply base was maintained at Leith , for ships on Leith Station ; but there

3312-496: The Master-Shipwrights were renamed Chief Constructors (later styled Manager, Constructive Department or MCD). In the latter half of the 19th century, those being appointed as Master Attendants (in common with their namesakes the sailing Masters ) began to be commissioned. They began to be given the rank and appointment of "Staff Captain (Dockyard)" (modified in 1903 to " Captain of the Dockyard "). In several instances,

3404-523: The RCN, historic buildings are now preserved. Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax , Canada (1759) (Imperial fortress). Operated as HM Dockyard from 1759 to 1905 and sold to Canada in 1907. Halifax was the main base of the North American Station until the establishment of the base at Bermuda, subsequently designated as the main base in Summer, with the fleet moving to Bermuda for the winter. Ultimately, Bermuda (which

3496-509: The Royal Dockyards are closely linked with the permanent establishment of a standing Navy in the early sixteenth century. The beginnings of a yard had already been established at Portsmouth with the building of a dry dock in 1496; but it was on the Thames in the reign of Henry VIII that the Royal Dockyards really began to flourish. Woolwich and Deptford dockyards were both established in the early 1510s (a third yard followed at Erith but this

3588-419: The Royal Navy had standardised sheer hulk crew numbers to comprise a Boatswain , mate and six seamen, with larger numbers coming aboard only when the sheers were in use. An accommodation hulk is a hulk used as housing, generally when there is a lack of quarters available ashore. An operational ship may be used for accommodation, but a hulk can accommodate more personnel than the same hull would accommodate as

3680-424: The Royal Navy in the 1690s, and persisted in Britain until the early nineteenth century. Most sheer hulks were decommissioned warships; Chatham , built in 1694, was the first of only three purpose-built vessels. There were at least six sheer hulks in service in Britain at any time throughout the 1700s. The concept spread to France in the 1740s with the commissioning of a sheer hulk at the port of Rochefort. By 1807

3772-467: The Royal Navy relocated its Pacific Station headquarters from Valparaíso , Chile , to Esquimalt Harbour (site of a small naval hospital and coaling station since the mid-1850s). In 1887, a naval base was located at Work Point. In 1905, the Royal Navy abandoned its base, but the Pacific Fleet headquarters of the new Royal Canadian Navy replaced it in 1910. Partially home to Pacific Command of

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3864-603: The Royal Navy; (c) Installation and maintenance of machinery and equipment in naval establishments; (d) Provision of utility services to Royal Navy vessels alongside in the naval base and to adjacent naval shore establishments; and (e) manufacture of some items of ships' equipment". For a long time, well into the eighteenth century, a Royal Dockyard was often referred to as The King's Yard (or The Queen's Yard , as appropriate). In 1694, Edmund Dummer referred to "His Majesty's new Dock and Yard at Plymouth "; from around that time, HM Dock Yard (or HM Dockyard ) increasingly became

3956-587: The Seas disappeared. The Young America was last seen lying off Gibraltar as a coal hulk; and that superb old greyhound of the ocean, the Flying Cloud suffered a similar ignominious ending. She was not even spared the humiliation of concealing her tragic end from the eyes of her former envious rivals, but was condemned to end her days as a New Haven scow towed up the Sound with a load of brick and concrete behind

4048-629: The Second World War (though the territory, and with it control of the base, was returned to China in 1930). Used by Japanese forces during World War II and after by People's Liberation Army , some historic buildings remains today. Malta (1800) (Imperial fortress) Malta Dockyard in Valletta , previously operated by the Knights of Malta , became the main base for the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet . The Royal Dockyard closed in 1959;

4140-581: The Second World War, the air station, which relocated to Boaz Island , began flying anti-submarine air patrols on an ad hoc basis until the handing this duty over to United States Navy patrol aircraft. The United States Navy and United States Army were permitted to establish bases in Bermuda under 99-year leases during the war, with command of the North Atlantic split between the Royal Navy in the East and

4232-692: The Tamar Complex Central Government Complex (Hong Kong) . India During the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy took over Madras Dockyard (1796) and Bombay Dockyard (1811), both of which had been dockyards of the East India Company long before the Navy took charge. Several warships were built under contract in these yards in the early eighteenth century, as was HMS  Trincomalee (launched in 1817 and still afloat). Naval Dockyard, Mumbai ,

4324-648: The United States in the West. The alliance would endure after the war, with profound effects on the Royal Naval establishment in the region and the status of the dockyard in Bermuda. After the Second World War the dockyard was no longer deemed relevant to Royal Navy operations and was closed between 1951 (when a floating drydock was removed, and the yard status changed to a base) and 1958, when most of

4416-524: The West Indies and again on its departure) based there after 1951 were required to cross the Atlantic to Portsmouth for repairs. This base was finally closed in 1995, 200 years after the establishment of permanent Royal Navy forces in Bermuda. Site re-developed and now include Bermuda Maritime Museum , pedestrian mall and cruise ship dock. Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard , Esquimalt , Canada. In 1865,

4508-454: The age of sail, wharves and capstan -houses were often built for the purpose of careening at yards with no dock: a system of pulleys and ropes, attached to the masthead, would be used to heel the ship over giving access to the hull. In addition to docks and slips, a Royal Dockyard had various specialist buildings on site: storehouses, sail lofts, woodworking sheds, metal shops and forges, roperies (in some cases), pumping stations (for emptying

4600-490: The appointment of Master Attendant or Captain of the Dockyard was held in common with that of King's or Queen's Harbour Master . For much of the twentieth century, the principal Dockyard departments were overseen by: Ships' ordnance (guns, weapons and ammunition) was provided independently by the Board of Ordnance , which set up its own Ordnance Yards alongside several of the Royal Dockyards both at home and abroad. Similarly,

4692-638: The army barracks of St. George's Garrison , became the first base, with other properties at the East End leased or acquired to support it. The blockade of US Atlantic ports during the American War of 1812 was orchestrated from Bermuda, as was the Chesapeake Campaign . Admiralty House moved in 1816 to Spanish Point (near to the new Government House and the Town of Hamilton, which has become

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4784-457: The base of a hulk's lower masts or beam, supported from the top of those masts. Blocks and tackle were then used in such tasks as placing or removing the lower masts of a vessel under construction or repair. These lower masts were the largest and most massive single timbers aboard a ship, and erecting them without the assistance of either a sheer hulk or land-based masting sheer was extremely difficult. The concept of sheer hulks originated with

4876-465: The colonial capital in 1815), facing Ireland Island and Grassy Bay across the mouth of the Great Sound, with the concurrent move of the anchorage and shore facilities to the West End. Bermuda became, first the winter (with Halifax serving this role in the summer), and then the year-round, main base and dockyard of the station, which was to become the North America and West Indies Station after absorbing

4968-685: The dockyard, along with other Admiralty and War Office land in Bermuda was sold to the Colonial Government . However, a small base, HMS Malabar , continued to operate from the South Yard throughout the Cold War . Ships of the fleet (which went from being a mix of cruisers and smaller vessels to a handful of station frigates before being removed and replaced in the 1980s with a single frigate designated West Indies Guardship , which only stopped at Bermuda on its way to take up station in

5060-408: The dry docks), administration blocks and housing for the senior dockyard officers. Wet docks (usually called basins) accommodated ships while they were being fitted out . The number and size of dockyard basins increased dramatically in the steam era. At the same time, large factory complexes, machine-shops and foundries sprung up alongside for the manufacture of engines and other components (including

5152-493: The early 1700s). As the age of steam eclipsed the age of sail , Coaling Yards were established alongside several yards, and at strategic points around the globe. In addition to naval personnel and civilian workers, there were substantial numbers of military quartered in the vicinity of the Royal Dockyards. These were there to ensure the defence of the yard and its ships. From the 1750s, naval yards in Britain were surrounded by 'lines' (fortifications) with barracks provided for

5244-509: The economic development of the central and western parishes of Bermuda. Although the navy had already begun buying property at the West End with the intent of constructing the dockyard there, there was little infrastructure west of St. George's at the time and no functional port at Ireland Island, hence the need at first to operate from St. George's Town, with Admiralty House first on Rose Hill in St. George's, then at Mount Wyndham above Bailey's Bay . Convict Bay , beside St. George's Town and below

5336-423: The entrance to the Great Sound ). The main anchorage at the West End was Grassy Bay in the mouth of the Great Sound, although the original, Murray's Anchorage north of St. George's Island also remained in frequent use. The channel through the barrier reef, which led to Murray's Anchorage and the Great Sound, was originally named Hurd's Channel , after its surveyor, Lieutenant (later Captain) Thomas Hurd , but

5428-424: The first Royal Naval Hospitals was established here in 1711. Gibraltar (1704) (Imperial fortress) A small base served the Royal Navy in this strategically important location throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. At the start of the 20th, HM Dockyard, Gibraltar was dramatically expanded and modernised, with the addition of three dry docks (one an unprecedented 852 ft (260 m) in length). HM Dockyard

5520-548: The four TI-class supertankers , then the largest ships afloat, TI Asia and TI Africa , were converted to FPSOs. A vessel's hulking may not be its final use. Scuttling as a blockship , breakwater , artificial reef , or recreational dive site may await. Some are repurposed, for example as a gambling ship ; others are restored and put to new uses, such as a museum ship . Some even return revitalised to sea. When lumber schooner Johanna Smith , "one of only two Pacific Coast steam schooners to be powered by steam turbines,"

5612-434: The hull structure became too old and weak to withstand the stresses of sailing. More recently, ships have been hulked when they become obsolete or when they become uneconomical to operate. A sheer hulk (or shear hulk ) was used in shipbuilding and repair as a floating crane in the days of sailing ships , primarily to place the lower masts of a ship under construction or repair. Booms known as sheers were attached to

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5704-444: The latter term may have been used informally); they are included in the listings below. While the term 'Royal Dockyard' ceased in official usage following privatisation, at least one private-sector operator has reinstated it: Babcock International , which in 2011 acquired freehold ownership of the working North Yard at Devonport from the British Ministry of Defence , reverted to calling it Devonport Royal Dockyard . The origins of

5796-416: The loss of the thirteen North American continental colonies thet formed the United States of America in 1783, Bermuda assumed a new importance as the only remaining British port between the Maritimes and the Floridas (where the Spanish Government allowed Britain to retain a naval base; once the United States took possession of Florida, Bermuda was the only British port remaining between the Maritimes and

5888-410: The metal hulls of the ships themselves). One thing generally absent from the Royal Dockyards (until the 20th century) was the provision of naval barracks . Prior to this time, sailors were not usually quartered ashore at all, they were expected to live on board a ship (the only real exception being at some overseas wharves where accommodation was provided for crews whose ships were being careened). When

5980-451: The official designation. While, as this phrase suggests, the primary meaning of 'Dockyard' is a Yard with a Dock , not all dockyards possessed one; for example, at both Bermuda and Portland dry docks were planned but never built. Where a dock was neither built nor planned (as at Harwich , Deal and several of the overseas yards) the installation was often designated HM Naval Yard rather than 'HM Dockyard' in official publications (though

6072-468: The opposite side of the island; the climate there was not agreeable, however, there were high levels of sickness and the Navy abandoned Port Antonio in 1749. From 1735 wharves, storehouses and other structures were built anew at Port Royal, and these were updated through the nineteenth century. The yard closed in 1905. Now Naval Heritage Center. Bermuda (1795) ( Imperial fortress ) Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda on Ireland Island at Bermuda's 'West End',

6164-600: The region under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization led to HMD Bermuda being reduced to a naval base from 1951 until its final closure (as HMNB Bermuda ) in 1995 (and to the abolishment of the America and West Indies Station in 1956). In the wake of the Seven Years' War a large-scale programme of expansion and rebuilding was undertaken at the three largest home yards (Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth). These highly significant works (involving land reclamation and excavation, as well as new docks and slips and buildings of every kind) lasted from 1765 to 1808, and were followed by

6256-430: The river and the constraints of their sites. By the mid-seventeenth century, Chatham (established 1567) had overtaken them to become the largest of the yards. Together with new Yards at Harwich and Sheerness , Chatham was well-placed to serve the Navy in the Dutch Wars that followed. Apart from Harwich (which closed in 1713), all the yards remained busy into the eighteenth century – including Portsmouth (which, after

6348-423: The same time, Portsmouth's Royal Dockyard was downgraded and renamed a Fleet Maintenance and Repair Organisation (FMRO). In 1987 the remaining Royal Dockyards (Devonport and Rosyth) were part-privatised, becoming government-owned, contractor-run facilities (run by Devonport Management Limited and Babcock Thorn , respectively); full privatisation followed ten years later (1997). The following year Portsmouth's FMRO

6440-401: The same time, as continues to be the case, it made extensive use of private shipyards , both at home and abroad). Portsmouth was the first Royal Dockyard, dating from the late 15th century; it was followed by Deptford , Woolwich , Chatham and others. By the 18th century, Britain had a string of these state-owned naval dockyards, located not just around the country but across the world; each

6532-497: The soldiers manning them. A century later these 'lines' were superseded by networks of Palmerston Forts . Overseas yards also usually had some fort or similar structure provided and manned nearby. Moreover, the Royal Marines , from the time of the Corps' establishment in the mid-18th century, were primarily based in the dockyard towns of Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham (and later also in Woolwich and Deal) where their barracks were conveniently placed for duties on board ship or indeed in

6624-475: The support, training and accommodation of naval personnel. For centuries, in this way, the name and concept of a Royal Dockyard was largely synonymous with that of a naval base . In the early 1970s, following the appointment of civilian Dockyard General Managers with cross-departmental authority, and a separation of powers between them and the Dockyard Superintendent ( commanding officer ),

6716-590: The term 'Naval Base' began to gain currency as an official designation for the latter's domain. 'Royal Dockyard' remained an official designation of the associated shipbuilding/maintenance facilities until 1997, when the last remaining Royal Dockyards ( Devonport and Rosyth ) were fully privatised. Most Royal Dockyards were built around docks and slips. Traditionally, slipways were used for shipbuilding, and dry docks (also called graving docks ) for maintenance; (dry docks were also sometimes used for building, particularly pre-1760 and post-1880). Regular hull maintenance

6808-455: The time of the Napoleonic Wars . Ceylon (1813) The naval dockyard at Trincomalee began as a simple careening wharf, with a capstan house and storehouse. It gradually grew, though the Admiralty was also investing in commercial facilities in Colombo . Trincomalee was threatened with closure in 1905 as the Admiralty's focus was on Germany, but it remained in service, and was headquarters of

6900-590: The wars, a Royal Naval Air Station was established in the North Yard of the dockyard. Operated by the Royal Air Force on the navy's behalf until the Royal Navy took over complete responsibility for the Fleet Air Arm in 1939, this was originally tasked with maintenance, repair, and replacement of the floatplanes and flying-boats with which the station's cruisers were equipped. With the outbreak of

6992-481: Was a deliberate overlap of responsibilities among the last three officials listed above, as a precaution against embezzlement). The next tier of officers included those in charge of particular areas of activity, the Master-Caulker, Master-Ropeworker, Master-Boatbuilder, Master-Mastmaker. In Dockyards where there was a ropewalk (viz Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth) there was an additional officer,

7084-477: Was a floating warehouse which could be moved as needed to simplify the transfer of gunpowder to warships. Its location, away from land, also reduced the possible damage from an explosion. Service as a coal hulk was usually, but not always, a ship's last. Of the fate of the fast and elegant clipper ships , William L. Carothers wrote, "Clippers functioned well as barges ; their fine ends made for little resistance when under tow ... The ultimate degradation awaited

7176-787: Was a hulk used as a floating prison . They were used extensively in Great Britain , the Royal Navy producing a steady supply of ships too worn-out to use in combat, but still afloat. Their widespread use was a result of the large number of French sailors captured during the Seven Years' War , and continued throughout the Napoleonic and French Revolutionary Wars a half-century later. By 1814, there were eighteen prison hulks operating at Portsmouth, sixteen at Plymouth and ten at Chatham. Prison hulks were also convenient for holding civilian prisoners, commencing in Britain in 1776 when

7268-666: Was built by the Admiralty in the mid-19th century to help protect ships taking coal on board; because of its key position, midway between Devonport and Portsmouth in the English Channel , Portland was developed as a maintenance yard. A new maintenance yard was also opened on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour . Meanwhile, the Thames-side yards, Woolwich and Deptford, could no longer compete, and they finally closed in 1869. The massive naval rebuilding programme prior to

7360-494: Was closed in 1984. It is now operated as a commercial facility by Gibdock , although there is still a Royal Navy presence, which provides a maintenance capability. Gibraltar's naval docks are an important base for NATO . British and US nuclear submarines frequently visit the "Z berths" at Gibraltar. (A Z berth provides the facility for nuclear submarines to visit for operational or recreational purposes, and for non-nuclear repairs.) New South Wales , Australia (1859) In 1858

7452-422: Was especially common in the age of wooden ships, since the old hulls would remain afloat for many years in relatively still waters after they had become too weak to withstand the rigors of the open ocean. Receiving ships often served as floating hospitals as many were assigned in locations without shore-based station hospitals. Often the afloat surgeon would take up station on the receiving ship. A prison hulk

7544-400: Was established at English Harbour which had been used by the Navy since 1671 as a place for shelter and maintenance. A number of buildings were constructed, and several remain (mostly from the 1780s). It served as Admiral Nelson's base in the West Indies during the Napoleonic Wars . The yard closed in 1882 and left abandoned until 1951, but has since been restored and is open to the public as

7636-532: Was given the following description of the functions of the two then remaining Royal Dockyards: "The services provided by the royal dockyards at Devonport and Rosyth to the Royal Navy fall into five main categories as follows: (a) Refit, repair, maintenance and modernisation of Royal Navy vessels; (b) Overhaul and testing of naval equipments, including those to be returned to the Director General of Stores and Transport (Navy) for stock and subsequent issue to

7728-459: Was important: in the age of sail , a ship's wooden hull would be comprehensively inspected every 2–3 years, and its copper sheeting replaced every 5. Dry docks were invariably the most expensive component of any dockyard (until the advent of marine nuclear facilities ). Where there was no nearby dock available (as was often the case at the overseas yards) ships would sometimes be careened (beached at high tide) to enable necessary work to be done. In

7820-530: Was less vulnerable to attack over water or land) became the main base and dockyard year-round, with Halifax and all other yards and bases in the region as subsidiaries). It became a RCN facility in 1910 and is now known as HMC Dockyard and is a component of CFB Halifax . The Great Lakes , as largely self-contained bodies of water, required their own dockyards to service the Provincial Marine . Several substantial ships were built at these yards during

7912-602: Was no strategic impetus to develop it into a full-blown Dockyard. Similar bases were established during the Napoleonic Wars at Falmouth (for vessels in Carrick Roads ) and Great Yarmouth (for vessels in Yarmouth Roads ); but both were relatively small-scale and short-lived. A different (and, within the UK, unique) establishment was Haslar Gunboat Yard. Gunboats were small, shallow-draft vessels, developed after

8004-437: Was opened in 1809 on land purchased following US independence. The Royal Navy had established itself at St. George's Town at Bermuda's East End in 1795, after a dozen years spent charting the surrounding reef line to find a channel suitable for ships of the line, but following the American War of 1812 it began relocating entirely to the West End with the dockyard and Admiralty House, Bermuda moved to sites on opposite sides of

8096-513: Was short-lived as it proved to be vulnerable to flooding). The Thames yards were pre-eminent in the sixteenth century, being conveniently close to the merchants and artisans of London (for shipbuilding and supply purposes) as well as to the Armouries of the Tower of London. They were also just along the river from Henry's palace at Greenwich. As time went on, though, they suffered from the silting of

8188-521: Was sited close to a safe harbour or anchorage used by the fleet. Royal Naval Dockyards were the core naval and military facilities of the four Imperial fortresses - colonies which enabled control of the Atlantic Ocean and its connected seas. The Royal Dockyards had a dual function: ship building and ship maintenance (most yards provided for both but some specialised in one or the other). Over time, they accrued additional on-site facilities for

8280-489: Was sold to Fleet Support Limited . As of 2019, all three (along with other privately owned shipyards) continue in operation, to varying degrees, as locations for building (Rosyth) and maintaining ships and submarines of the Royal Navy. Management of the yards was in the hands of the Navy Board until 1832. The Navy Board was represented in each yard by a resident commissioner (though Woolwich and Deptford, being close to

8372-464: Was the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan . The following are large natural harbors: Hulk (ship) A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to a ship whose propulsion system is no longer maintained or has been removed altogether. The word hulk also may be used as

8464-663: Was the world's largest dry dock). The Naval Base and Dockyard fell into Japanese hands during World War II, and became the target of Allied bombing raids . The base was transferred to the Singapore government in 1971, but is no longer in use by the Singapore Navy (who have since built 2 more modern bases in the island nation); there is, however, a continuing RN presence at the British Defence Singapore Support Unit . The US Navy also has

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