Royal Navy Dockyard

Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned

From the reign of

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 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

) were fully privatised.

Function

Most Royal Dockyards were built around docks and slips. Traditionally,

-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,

. 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 the metal hulls of the ships themselves).

One thing generally absent from the Royal Dockyards (until the 20th century) was the provision of naval

^: p.375ff 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 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 the Royal Navy; (c) Installation and maintenance of machinery and equipment in naval establishments; (d) Provision of

to Royal Navy vessels alongside in the naval base and to adjacent naval shore establishments; and (e) manufacture of some items of ships' equipment".^[5]

Nomenclature

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,

and several of the overseas yards) the installation was often designated HM Naval Yard rather than 'HM Dockyard' in official publications (though 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:

Historical overview

The origins of 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

but this 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 the river and the constraints of their sites.

By the mid-seventeenth century,

; 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.

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).

Admiralty Floating Dock

No. 1 at HMD Bermuda in 1934

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 a comprehensive rebuilding of the Yard at Sheerness (1815–23).^{[3]: pp.4–11}

Through the

. 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 the

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.

Organisation

Senior personnel

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 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.^[13]

The principal officers varied over time, but generally included:

• the Master-Shipwright (in charge of shipbuilding, ship repair/maintenance and management of the associated workforce)
• the Master Attendant (in charge of launching and docking ships, of ships 'in ordinary' at the yard, and of ship movements around the harbour)
• the Storekeeper (in charge of receiving, maintaining and issuing items in storage)
• the Clerk of the Cheque (in charge of pay, personnel and certain transactions)
• the Clerk of the Survey (in charge of maintaining a regular account of equipment and the transfer of goods)

(In practice there was a deliberate overlap of responsibilities among the last three officials listed above, as a precaution against embezzlement).^[4]

The next tier of officers included those in charge of particular areas of activity, the Master-Caulker, Master-Ropeworker, Master-Boatbuilder, Master-Mastmaker.^[13]

In Dockyards where there was a ropewalk (viz Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth) there was an additional officer, the Clerk of the Ropeway, who had a degree of autonomy, mustering his own personnel and managing his own raw materials.^[7]

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

After 1832

With the abolition of the Navy Board in 1832, the Admiralty took over the dockyards and the commissioners were replaced by

The Clerk of the Survey post had been abolished in 1822.[7] 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.^[14]

With the development of steam technology in the 1840s came the senior Dockyard appointment of Chief Engineer.

In 1875, the Master-Shipwrights were renamed Chief Constructors (later styled Manager, Constructive Department or MCD).^[15]

In the latter half of the 19th century, those being appointed as Master Attendants (in common with their namesakes the

.

For much of the twentieth century,^[16] the principal Dockyard departments were overseen by:^[17]

• Captain of the Dockyard
• Manager, Constructive Department (MCD)
• Manager, Engineering Department (MED)
• Senior Electrical Engineer (SEE)
• Senior Naval Stores Officer (SNSO)

Associated establishments

Ships' ordnance (guns, weapons and ammunition) was provided independently by the

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 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 the Dockyard itself.

United Kingdom dockyards

Royal Dockyards were established in Britain and Ireland as follows (in chronological order, with date of establishment):

15th century

• Portsmouth Dockyard (1496) Rose to prominence during the wars with France, late 18th century. Expanded significantly in the nineteenth century with new facilities for steam engineering and ironclad shipbuilding.^[7] Privatised 1993. In November 2013 the operator BAE Systems announced that it was closing its shipbuilding facility at Portsmouth; part of the shipyard will remain open for repair/maintenance.^[18]

16th century

• Woolwich Dockyard (1512) Important shipbuilding centre, 16th–17th centuries. Became a specialist steam yard 1831. Closed 1869.^[7]
• Erith Dockyard (1512) Erith Dockyard was used as an advance base for routine maintenance before ships were transferred to Deptford Dockyard.^[19] It closed due to persistent flooding in 1521.^[20] However, according to naval historian Nicholas A. M. Rodger although Erith dockyard closed it was an important center of naval administration of the English Navy from 1514 into the 1540s.^[21]
• Deptford Dockyard (1513) Important shipbuilding centre, 16th-17th centuries. Experimental yard for new technology, early nineteenth century. Closed 1869. (The adjacent victualling yard, which supplied the Thames and Medway yards, remained open for a further 98 years.)
• Chatham Dockyard (1567) The leading Royal Dockyard during the 16th–17th centuries, when the Fleet was principally based in and around the River Medway.^[22] Began to suffer from silting in the eighteenth century, but remained active. During the nineteenth century, other more accessible yards led on fleet repairs and maintenance, while Chatham focused more on shipbuilding. The following century, it specialised in building submarines. In 1960 the adjacent Royal Navy barracks and facilities were closed; the Dockyard itself closed in 1984. (Today the site is preserved as Chatham Historic Dockyard.)^[7]

17th century

• Irish Squadron, and later as a cruizer base. Closed by 1812, its facilities having relocated to Haulbowline
  (see below).
• Harwich Dockyard (1652) Active during the Anglo-Dutch Wars; closed 1713 (a small Naval yard remained on site, with refit/stores facilities, until 1829.)^[7]
• Sheerness Dockyard (1665) Originally built for storing and refitting; for much of its history served as a support yard for Chatham. Shipbuilding began in 1720 (mostly smaller ships). Entire dockyard rebuilt to a single design by John Rennie Jnr in 1815–26. Closed 1960 (site taken over as a commercial port).
• Deal Naval Yard (1672) Provided basic repair and supply facilities for ships at anchor nearby in the Downs (albeit without the possibility of ships approaching the shore). Closed in 1864.
• Plymouth Dockyard (1690) Pre-eminent, alongside Portsmouth, during the wars with France (1793 onwards). Known as Devonport since 1843.^[23] Significant expansion for steam engineering, 1844–53 and 1896–1907. Shipbuilding ceased in 1971, but the Yard remains active as a maintenance and repair facility.^[24]

19th century

• Pembroke Dockyard (1815) Unlike all the previous yards, Pembroke was built purely for shipbuilding rather than for repair and maintenance. It was successor to a yard at Milford Haven leased by the Navy Board for shipbuilding since the late eighteenth century.^[25] Active through to the end of World War One, the yard was closed temporarily in 1923, reopened in the 1930s and closed permanently in 1947. (A small naval base remained on the site until 2008.)^[7]
• Portland Dockyard (1845) Previously in use as an anchorage, a yard was established here to provide coal for the new steam-powered ships of the Navy. In the 1850s there were plans for dry-docks and building slips, but these were not carried through. Very active through two World Wars, the Dockyard closed in 1959; site taken over as a commercial port. (Adjacent Naval Base and RN Air Station closed in 1995–99).^[8]

• Haulbowline Dockyard (1869) Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour was established as a Naval Victualling Yard in 1811 (in succession to an earlier base at Kinsale further along the coast).^[4] It was extended in 1869 in order to create a sizeable Royal Navy Dockyard, specialising in ship repair and maintenance. In 1923 the island was handed over to the Irish government; Haulbowline remains the principal Naval base of the Republic of Ireland. A steelworks was established on the site of the Dockyard in 1938.^[26]

20th century

• Rosyth Dockyard (1909) Built with a strategic view to countering the threat from Germany. Closed after World War One, reopened 1939, and has remained open since. Privatized in 1993, but continues to build and maintain Britain's warships.
• Dover Dockyard (1913) In 1847 the government began construction on Dover's Admiralty Pier, envisaged as forming the western arm of a protected haven. This project was only completed after work began on the eastern pier in 1898; the Admiralty Harbour was formally opened in 1909. During both World Wars Dover served as a ship repair station and was listed as a Naval Dockyard.
• floating dry dock was towed here from Portsmouth in 1914 and was in use for the duration of the war.^[27] Closed after the war, but the Navy maintained the site as an oiling station during World War II, finally withdrawing in 1993.^[28]
• Scapa Flow Dockyard (1939) Established at Lyness Naval Base and operational through World War II.

Other

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 was no strategic impetus to develop it into a full-blown Dockyard.^[3] 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.^[4]

A different (and, within the UK, unique) establishment was

Gunboats were small, shallow-draft vessels, developed after 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.^[29]

Overseas dockyards

Caribbean

In 1728

Antigua Naval Dockyard was established at English Harbour which had been used by the Navy since 1671 as a place for shelter and maintenance.^[7] 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 a cultural centre and public marina called Nelson's Dockyard

.

Jamaica (1675) Jamaica Dockyard A naval official was stationed in

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 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.^[7]

Now Naval Heritage Center.

British North America and North Atlantic

Bermuda (1795) (Imperial fortress)

Bermuda Maritime Museum

, pedestrian mall and cruise ship dock.

Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard, Esquimalt, Canada. In 1865, 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 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 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 the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

• Amherstburg, Ontario
  operated from 1796 to 1813. Preserved as national historic site and municipal park.
• Grand River Naval Depot, Port Maitland, Ontario – planned facility was never built and now site of Port Maitland Sailing Club.
• Gunboats
  were built here. Fort Lennox historic site is now preserved. Rest of island is naturalised as parkland.
• Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Kingston, Canada. The RN dockyard operated at Point Frederick from 1789 to 1853; the site was expanded during the War of 1812. It is now closed, this yard was near where the Royal Military College of Canada is now situated.
• Navy Island Royal Naval Shipyard on Navy Island near Niagara Falls, Ontario (1763–1813). Island has naturalised and now owned by Parks Canada. Not open to public.
• Penetanguishene Naval Yard, Penetanguishene, Ontario operated from 1813 to 1834; transferred to British Army until 1856. Now site preserved as Discovery Harbour.
• Naval Shipyards, York (Upper Canada) from 1798 to 1813. Later became commercial hub for shipyards and wharfs. Since filled in and re-developed as retail and residential neighbourhood.

India and Far East

Ceylon

(1813) The naval dockyard at

Eastern Fleet for a time during World War II. In 1957 it was handed over to the Royal Ceylon Navy;^[8] today it is the SLN Dockyard of the Sri Lanka Navy

.

Hong Kong (1859) There was an RN Dockyard from 1859 to 1959 on

People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison since 1997 and rest became the Tamar Complex Central Government Complex (Hong Kong)

.

India

During the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy took over

Cochin

. Other facilities were located in Calcutta, and several other places in the Indian administration – e.g. Aden.

US Navy also has 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 the Second World War (though the territory, and with it control of the base, was returned to China in 1930).^[3] Used by Japanese forces during World War II and after by People's Liberation Army, some historic buildings remains today.

Mediterranean

Malta (1800) (Imperial fortress)

Knights of Malta, became the main base for the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet

. The Royal Dockyard closed in 1959; a private yard operated on site thereafter.

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.^[3] One of the first Royal Naval Hospitals

was established here in 1711.

Gibraltar (1704)^[7] (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).^[3] HM Dockyard 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.^[33]

(A Z berth provides the facility for nuclear submarines to visit for operational or recreational purposes, and for non-nuclear repairs.)

Australasia

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 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.^[3]

.

Other

Ascension Island

A dockyard and naval base was established in 1816 Georgetown following Napoleon's imprisonment on Saint Helena; it went on to serve as a victualling, repair and supply station for the West Africa Squadron. A Naval Hospital was established on site in 1832, and new facilities for servicing steam warships were added in the 1860s.^[3] Naval activity had substantially decreased by the end of the 19th century, but the island remained under Admiralty control until 1922. Still partially supports Falklands' Garrison at Mare Harbour since the 1980s.

Aden

Red Sea Force during World War II

. Base closed after independence and now home to civilian dockyards.

South Africa (1796)

In 1795 Britain inherited two small

SANDF

See also

• List of Royal Navy shore establishments
• Naval Dockyards Society
• Royal Naval Armaments Depot
• Arson in royal dockyards

References

1. ^ Hawkins, Duncan (Spring 2015). "Deptford's Royal Dockyard: archaeological investigations at Convoy's Wharf, Deptford, 2000–2012" (PDF). London Archaeologist. 14 (4): 87–97. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
2. ^ English Heritage: Thematic Survey of Naval Dockyards in England
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Coad, Jonathan (2013). Support for the Fleet: Architecture and engineering of the Royal Navy's bases, 1700–1914. Swindon: English Heritage.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Lavery, Brian (1989). Nelson's Navy. London: Conway.
5. ^ "Devonport and Rosyth". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 89. House of Commons. 20 December 1985. col. 375.
6. ^ "Devonport Royal Dockyard". Babcock International. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "Research guide B5: Royal Naval Dockyards : The Royal Navy : Research guides : The Library : Researchers : RMG". www.rmg.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012.
8. ^ ^{a b c} Copy of government briefing paper
9. ^ "Defence". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 26. House of Commons. 1 June 1982. col. 1068.
10. ^ "Sales of the Royal Dockyards" (PDF). National Audit Office. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
11. ^ "1998 - F.M.R.O. taken over by Fleet Support Limited". Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
12. ^ Listing text Part of the 17th-century Officer's Terrace survives in Devonport, but it was mostly destroyed in the Blitz
13. ^ ^{a b} J. D. Davies, Pepys's Navy: ships, men and warfare 1649–89, Seaforth Publishing 2008.
14. ^ "Portsmouth Dockyard timeline".
15. ^ "Portsmouth Dockyard timeline".
16. ^ "Portsmouth Dockyard timelines".
17. ISBN 9781848320468
    .
18. ^ BBC news report
19. ISBN 9780140297249
    .
20. ISBN 9781848320314
    .
21. ISBN 9780140297249
    .
22. ^ Naval Dockyards Society
23. Devonport
    on 1 January 1824).
24. ^ local news report
25. ^ Pembroke Dock: History Archived 7 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
26. ^ local history site Archived 18 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
27. ^ "1912 – Largest Floating Dock Arrives Portsmouth". Dockyard Timeline. Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
28. ^ "History". Cromarty Forth Port Authority. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
29. ^ "Historic Buildings Report" (PDF). English Heritage. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2015.
30. ^ Jones, Simon (12 April 2016). "Story behind historic map of island's reefs". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
31. ^ Lagan, Sarah (8 April 2016). "Families brought together for launch". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
32. ^ "Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada". Canada's Historic Places. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
33. ^ Hansard Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
34. ISBN 9788180696244
    .

External links

• Naval Dockyards Society