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DOCKYARDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 366 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DOCKYARDS . In the fullest meaning of the word, a " See also:

dock- yard " (or " See also:navy yard " in See also:America) is a See also:government See also:establishment where warships of every See also:kind are built and repaired, and supplied with the men and stores required to maintain them in a See also:state of efficiency for See also:war. Thus a dockyard in this extended sense would include slips for See also:building See also:ships, workshops for manufacturing their machinery, dry docks for repairing them, stores of arms, See also:ammunition, See also:coal, provisions, &c., with basins in which they may See also:lie while being supplied with such things, and an establishment for providing the personnel necessary for See also:manning them. But in practice few, if any, existing dockyards are of so See also:complete a nature; many of them, for instance, do not undertake the building of ships at all, while others are little more than harbours where a See also:ship may replenish her stores of coal, See also:water and provisions and carry out See also:minor See also:repairs. Private firms are relied upon for the construction of many ships down to an advanced See also:stage, the government dockyards completing and equipping them for See also:commission. See also:Great See also:Britain.—Previous to the reign of See also:Henry VIII., the See also:kings of See also:England had neither See also:naval arsenals nor dockyards, nor any See also:regular establishment of See also:civil or naval See also:officers to provide ships of war, or to See also:man them. There are, however, strong evi- dences of the existence of dockyards, or of something answering thereto, at very See also:early See also:dates, at See also:Rye, See also:Shoreham and See also:Winchelsea. In See also:November 1243 the See also:sheriff of See also:Sussex was ordered to enlarge the See also:house at Rye in which the See also:king's galleys were kept, so that it might contain seven galleys. In 1238 the keepers of some of the king's galleys were directed to cause those vessels to be breamed, and a house to be built at Winchelsea for their safe custody. In 1254 the bailiffs of Winchelsea and Rye were ordered to repair the buildings in which the king's galleys were kept at Rye. At See also:Portsmouth and at See also:Southampton there seem to have been at all times depots for both ships and stores, though there was no regular dockyard at Portsmouth till the See also:middle of the 16th See also:century. It would appear, from a curious poem in See also:Hakluyt's Collection called " The Policie of Keeping the See also:Sea," that See also:Littlehampton, unfit as it now is, was the See also:port at which Henry VIII. built " his great Dromions Which passed other great shippes of the See also:commons." The " dromion," " dromon," or " See also:dromedary " was a large war-ship, the prototype of which was furnished by the See also:Saracens.

See also:

Roger de Hoveden, See also:Richard of See also:Devizes and See also:Peter de Longtoft celebrate the struggle which Richard I., in the " See also:Trench the Mer," on his way to See also:Palestine, had with a huge dromon,—" a marvellous ship ! a ship than which, except See also:Noah's ship, none greater was ever read of." This See also:vessel had three masts, was very high out of the water, and is said to have had 1500 men on See also:board. It required the See also:united force of the king's galleys, and an obstinate fight, to See also:capture the dromon. The See also:foundation of a regular See also:British navy, by the establishment of dockyards, and the formation of a board, consisting of certain commissioners for the management of its affairs, was first laid by Henry VIII., and the first dockyard erected during his reign was that of See also:Woolwich. Those of Portsmouth, See also:Deptford, See also:Chatham and See also:Sheerness followed in See also:succession. See also:Plymouth was founded by See also:William III. See also:Pembroke was established in 1814, a small yard having previously existed at See also:Milford. The most important additions yet made at any one See also:period to the dockyard and See also:harbour See also:works required to meet the necessities of the British See also:fleet were those sanctioned by the Naval Works Acts of 1895 and subsequent years, the See also:total estimated cost, as stated in the See also:act of 1899, being over 231 millions See also:sterling. The works proposed under these acts were classified under three heads, viz. (a) the enclosure and See also:defence of harbours against See also:torpedo attacks; (b) adapting naval ports to the See also:present needs of the fleet; (c) naval See also:barracks and hospitals. Under the first heading were included the defensive harbours at See also:Portland, See also:Dover and See also:Gibraltar. Under heading (b) were included the deepening of harbours and approaches, the dockyard extensions at Gibraltar, Keyham (See also:Devonport), Simons See also:Bay, and Hong-See also:Kong, with sundry other items. Under heading (c) were included the naval barracks at Chatham, Portsmouth and Keyham; the naval hospitals at Chatham, Haslar and Haulbowline; the colleges at Keyham and See also:Dartmouth; and other items.

Great Britain possesses dockyards at Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham, See also:

Malta and Gibraltar, each in See also:charge of an See also:admiral-See also:superintendent, and at Sheerness and Pembroke in charge of a See also:captain-superintendent, together with establishments at See also:Ascension, Bermuda, Simons See also:Town (Cape of See also:Good See also:Hope), See also:Queenstown (Haulbowline); Hong-Kong, Portland, See also:Sydney and Weihaiwei. The See also:Indian Government has dockyards at Bombay and See also:Calcutta. The medical establishments include Ascension, Bermuda, Cape of Good Hope, Chatham, Dartmouth, See also:Deal, Gibraltar, Haslar, Haulbowline, Hong-Kong, Malta, See also:Osborne, Plymouth, Portland, Portsmouth, Sheerness, Sydney, See also:Yarmouth, See also:Yokohama and Weihaiwei. The arrangements for the administrative See also:control of the dock-yards have varied with those adopted for the regulation of the navy as a whole. (See See also:ADMIRALTY See also:ADMINISTRATION; and NAVY: See also:History.) At the present See also:time, whether at See also:home or abroad, they lie within the See also:province of the controller of the navy (the third See also:lord of the board of admiralty); and the director of dockyards, whose See also:office, replacing that of surveyor of dockyards was created in See also:December 1885, is responsible to the controller for the building of ships, boats, &c., in dockyards, and for the See also:maintenance and repair of ships and boats, and of all See also:steam machinery in ships, boats, dockyards and factories. The director of naval construction, who is also See also:deputy-controller, is responsible, not only for the See also:design of ships, but for their construction, in the sense that he approves great See also:numbers of working drawings of structural parts prepared at the dockyards. But the director of dockyards is the admiralty See also:official under whose instructions the See also:work goes on, involving the employment and supervision of an See also:army of artisans and labourers. Instructions, therefore, emanate from the admiralty, but the details lie with the dockyard officials, and in practice there is a considerable decentralization of duties. The See also:chief See also:function of a dockyard is the building and maintaining of ships in efficiency. The constructive work is carried out under the care of the chief constructor of the yard, in accordance with plans sent down from the admiralty. The calculations for displacement, involving the See also:draught of water forward and aft, have already been made, and, in See also:order to ensure accuracy in the carrying out of the design, an admirable See also:system has been devised for weighing everything that is built into the new ships or that goes on board; and it is astonishing how very closely the actual displacement approximates to that which was intended, particularly when the tendency of weights to increase, in perfecting a ship for commission, is considered. The ship having been built to her launching See also:weight, the See also:duty of putting her into the water devolves upon the chief constructor of the yard, and failures in this See also:matter are so extremely rare that it may almost be said they do not occur.

As soon as the ship is water-See also:

borne the responsibility falls upon the king's harbour See also:master, who has charge of her afloat and of moving her into the fitting basins. When the ship has been brought alongside the See also:wharf, the responsibility of the chief constructor of the yard is resumed, and the ship is carried forward to completion by the affixing of See also:armour plating (if that has not been done before launching), the mounting of guns, the See also:instalment of engines, boilers, and See also:electrical and See also:hydraulic See also:gear, and the fitting of cabins for officers, See also:mess places for men, and storerooms, and a vast See also:volume of other work unnecessary to be specified. In regard to the complicated details of guns and torpedoes, the captains of the gunnery and torpedo See also:schools have a function of supervision. The captain of the fleet reserve also closely watches the work, because, when the heads of all departments have reported the ship to be ready, she has to be inspected by the See also:commander-in-chief at the port, and then passed into the fleet reserve as ready for sea, and there the captain of the fleet reserve is responsible for her efficiency. Other important officers of a dockyard are the chief engineer; the superintendent civil engineer, who has charge of the work involved in keeping all buildings, docks, basins, caissons, roads,- &c., in repair; the naval See also:store officer, who has charge of most of the stores in the dockyard; and the See also:cashier of the yard, whose name sufficiently expresses his duties. The system of conducting business at the dockyards is analogous to that which prevails at the admiralty. There is See also:personal communication between the officers responsible for the work, and facilities are afforded for coming to rapid decisions upon matters that are in See also:hand, and the operations are conducted with an ease which contributes much to efficiency. In 1844 the See also:custom was introduced of all the See also:principal officers of the dockyard See also:meeting at the superintendent's office at 9.30 A.M. every See also:day, to hear the orders from the admiralty and discuss the work of the day. But this system of " readings " was abolished at the beginning of 1906, the naval establishments inquiry See also:committee considering that the assembling of the officials was unnecessary since the communications after reception are copied and sent to the departments concerned. The See also:police force necessary in a dockyard is in some cases supplied from the See also:London See also:metropolitan police, and is under the orders of the superintendent of the yard for duties connected with it, and under the See also:commissioner .of police for the discipline and disposition of the force. The charges are, of course, paid by the admiralty, and the system answers well. United States.—The See also:shore stations under control of the Navy See also:Department (see also ADMIRALTY ADMINISTRATION), and collectively known as naval stations, are under different names according to their nature.

Of those called Navy Yards, and intended for the See also:

general purpose of See also:sources of See also:supply and for repairs of ships, there are within the United States eight in number. Two of them are on the Pacific See also:coast, situated on See also:Puget See also:Sound, at Bremerton, See also:Washington; and at See also:Mare See also:Island, near See also:San Francisco. The other six are on the See also:Atlantic coast, and are situated at Portsmouth, N.H.; See also:Boston, See also:Mass.; See also:Brooklyn, N.Y.; See also:Philadelphia, Pa.; Washington, D.C.; and See also:Norfolk, Va. There are also naval stations at Port Royal and See also:Charleston, S.C.; See also:Key See also:West and See also:Pensacola, Fla.; New See also:Orleans, La.; See also:Guantanamo, See also:Cuba; See also:Culebra and San Juan, See also:Porto Rico; See also:Honolulu, H.I.; See also:Cavite, P.I.; Tutuila, See also:Samoa; and Island of See also:Guam, in the Ladrones Islands. The floating dock See also:Dewey, having a lifting capacity of 18,5oo See also:gross tons with a See also:free-board of 2 ft., was stationed in the Philippine Islands in 1906. Besides these, there are important naval stations established for See also:special purposes, which in some cases are also available for ports of supply and for repairs. These are: the U.S. Naval See also:Academy, See also:Annapolis, Md., for the instruction of naval cadets; the training stations at See also:Newport, R.I., and Yerba Buena Island, Cal., for the instruction of apprentices; the proving ground at" Indian See also:Head, Md., on the See also:Potomac See also:river, where all government-built See also:ordnance is tested; the War See also:College at Newport, R.I., for the instruction of officers; the torpedo station at Newport, fbr the instruction of officers and men in torpedoes, See also:electricity and submarine diving; the naval See also:observatory at Washington; and the marine See also:post at See also:Sitka, See also:Alaska. Coaling depots have been established at Honolulu, Pago Pago, Samoan Islands, and at See also:Manila, P.I. Naval hospitals are located at the Portsmouth, Boston, New See also:York, Philadelphia, Washington, Norfolk and Mare Island yards; at See also:Las Animas, Colo.; at Newport, R.I.; Canacao, ,Sitka, Alaska; and Yokohama, See also:Japan. The commandant of a navy yard and station, who is usually a See also:rear-admiral, is its commander-in-chief. His official assistants are called heads of departments.

The captain of the yard, who is next in succession to command, has general charge of the water front and the ships moored there, and of the police of the navy yard; it is his duty to keep the commandant informed as to the nature and efficiency of all work in progress. The equipment officer has charge of anchors, chains, See also:

rigging, sails and the electric generating plant. The other heads of departments are the ordnance officer, the naval constructor, the See also:engineering officer, the general storekeeper, the paymaster of the yard, the surgeon and the civil engineer. The clerks and draughtsmen employed by these officers are appointed under civil service rules, and their employment is continuous so See also:long as funds are available. The foremen are selected by competitive examination, and their number is fixed. In the employment of See also:mechanics and labourers, veterans are given preference, after which follow persons previously employed who have displayed especial efficiency and good conduct. The rates of See also:wages are determined semi-annually by a board of officers, who ascertain the wages paid by private establishments in the vicinity of the navy yard. Eight See also:hours constitute the legal work day. When emergencies necessitate longer hours the workmen are paid at the See also:ordinary See also:rate plus 50%. The nature and extent of work to be performed upon naval vessels is determined by the secretary of the navy; the commandant then issues the necessary orders. The material required is obtained by a system of requisitions, which provide for the See also:purchase from the lowest See also:bidder after open competition. Heads of departments initiate the purchase of materials which are See also:peculiar to their own work; ordinary commercial articles, however, are usually carried in a special stock called the " Naval Supply Fund," which may be See also:drawn upon by any head of department.

All materials are inspected, both as to quantity and quality, by a board of inspectors consisting of three officers. See also:

France.—The See also:French coast is divided into five naval arrondissements, which have their headquarters at the five naval ports of which See also:Cherbourg, See also:Brest and See also:Toulon are-the most important, See also:Lorient and See also:Rochefort being of lesser degree. All are building and fitting-out yards. See also:Corsica, which has naval stations at See also:Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio, See also:Bonifacio and other places, is a dependency of the See also:arsenal at Toulon. On the See also:African coast there are docking facilities in See also:Algeria. See also:Bizerta, the Tunisian port, has been made a naval See also:base by the deepening and fortifying of the See also:canal which is the approach to the inner See also:lake. There are arsenals also at See also:Saigon and See also:Hai-phong, and an establishment at Diego See also:Suarez. The subsidiary establishments in France are the See also:gun foundry at Ruelle; the See also:steel and See also:iron works at Guerigny, where anchors, chains and armour-See also:plate are made; and the works at Indret, on an island in the See also:lower See also:Loire, where machinery is constructed. There are many private See also:shipbuilding establishments in the See also:country, the most important being the Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee at La Seyne, on the lesser roadstead at Toulon where many French and See also:foreign warships of the largest classes have been built. The same See also:company has a building yard at See also:Havre. Other establishments are the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, at See also:Saint Nazaire; the Normand Yard, at Havre; and the Chantiers de la See also:Gironde, near See also:Bordeaux. Each of the arrondissements above mentioned is divided into sous-arrondissements, having their centres in the great commercial ports, but this arrangement is purely for the embodiment of the men of the Inscription Maritime, and has nothing to do with the dock-yards as naval arsenals.

In each See also:

arrondissement the See also:vice-admiral, who is naval See also:prefect, is the immediate representative of the See also:minister of marine, and has full direction and command of the arsenal, which is his headquarters. He is thus commander-in-chief, as also See also:governor-,designate for time of war, but his authority does not extend to ships belonging to organized squadrons or divisions. The naval prefect is assisted by a rear-admiral as chief of the See also:staff (except at Lorient and Rochefort, where the office is filled by a captain), and a certain number of officers, the special functions of the chief of the staff having relation principally to the efficiency and personnel of the fleet, while the " See also:major-general," who is usually a rear-admiral, is concerned chiefly with the materiel. There are also See also:directors of stores, of naval construction, of the medical service and of the submarine defences (which are concerned with torpedoes, mines and torpedo-boats), as well as of naval ordnance and works. The prefect directs the operations of the arsenal, and is responsible for its efficiency and for that of the ships which are there in reserve. In regard to the constitution and maintenance of the naval forces, the administration of the arsenals is divided into three principal departments, the first concerned with naval construction, the second with ordnance, including gun-mountings and small-arms, and the third with the so-called submarine defences, dealing with all torpedo materiel. See also:Germany.—With the expansion of the See also:German navy considerable additions have been made to the two principal dockyards. These are Wilhelmshaven, the naval headquarters on the See also:North Sea, and See also:Kiel, the headquarters on the Baltic, See also:Danzig being an establishment of lesser importance, and Kiao-chau an undeveloped base in the Shantung See also:peninsula, See also:China. The chief official at each home dock-yard is the superintendent (Oberwerftdirektor), who is a rear-admiral or See also:senior captain directly responsible to the naval secretary of state. Under the superintendent's orders are the chief of the Ausriistung department, or captain of the fleet reserve, the directors of ordnance, torpedoes, See also:navigation, naval construction, engineering and harbour works, with some other officers. The chiefs of the constructive and engineering departments are responsible for the building of ships and machinery, and for the maintenance of the hulls and machinery of existing vessels; while the works department has charge of all work on the quays, docks, &c., in the dockyard and port. A great advance has been made in increasing the efficiency and capabilities of the imperial dockyards by introducing a system of continuous work in the building of new ships and effecting alterations in others, and German material is exclusively used.

The See also:

Schichau Works at See also:Elbing and Danzig, the Vulkan Yard at See also:Bredow, near See also:Stettin, the See also:Weser Company at See also:Bremen, and the establishment of Blohm and See also:Voss at See also:Hamburg, are important establishments which have built many vessels for the German navy, as well as for foreign states. See also:Italy.—The principal See also:Italian state dockyards are See also:Spezia, See also:Naples and See also:Venice, the first named being by far the most important. It covers an See also:area, including the water spaces, of 629 acres, and there are five dry docks, three being 433 ft. long and 105 ft. wide, and two 361 ft. long and 98 ft. 6 in. wide. The dockyard is very completely equipped with machinery of the best British, .German and Italian makes, and it has built several of the finest Italian ships. The number of hands employed in the yard averages 4000. There are two building slips, and for smaller vessels there are two in the neighbouring establishment of San Bartolommeo (which is the head-quarters for submarine See also:mining), and one at San Vito, where is a Government gun factory. Castellammare di Stabia is subsidiary to Naples. A large dry dock has been built at See also:Taranto. There is a small naval establishment at Maddalena Island on the Strait of Bonifacio. The Italian Government has no gun or torpedo factories, nearly all the ordnance coming from the See also:Armstrong factory at See also:Pozzuoli near Naples, and the torpedoes from the Schwarzkopf factory at Venice, while armour-plates are produced at the important works at See also:Terni. Machinery is supplied by the firms of Ansaldo, Odero, Orlando, Guppy & See also:Hawthorn and See also:Pattison.

Thethree establishments first named have important shipbuilding yards, and have constructed vessels for the Italian and foreign navies. The Orlando Yard at See also:

Leghorn is Government See also:property, but is leased by the See also:firm, and possesses five building slips. See also:Austria-Hungdry.—The naval arsenal is on the well-protected harbour of See also:Pola, in See also:Istria, which is the headquarters of the See also:national navy, and includes establishments of all kinds for the maintenance of the fleet. There are large building and docking facilities, and a number of warships have been built there. There is a construction yard also at See also:Trieste. A new coaling and torpedo station is at Teodo, large magazines and stores are at Vallelunga, and the mining establishment is at Ficella. The shipbuilding See also:branch of the navy is under the direction of a chief constructor (Oberster-Ingenieur), assisted by seven constructors, of whom two are of the first class. The engineering and ordnance branches are similarly organized. See also:Spain.—The See also:Spanish dockyards are of considerable antiquity, but of diminishing importance. There is an establishment at See also:Ferrol, another at See also:Cartagena, and a third at See also:Cadiz. They are well equipped in all necessary respects, but are not provided with continuous work. A See also:recent arrangement is the specialization of the yards, Ferrol being designed for larger, and Carthagena for smaller, building work.

The ordnance establishment is at Carraca. See also:

Russia.—In Russia the naval ports are of two classes. The most important are See also:Kronstadt, St See also:Petersburg and See also:Nikolayev. Of lesser importance are See also:Reval, Sveaborg, See also:Sevastopol, See also:Batum, See also:Baku and See also:Vladivostok. The administration of the larger ports, except St Petersburg, which is under special regulations, is in the hands of vice-admirals, who are commanders-in-chief, while the smaller ports are under the direction of rear-admirals. All are directly under the minister of marine, except that the See also:Black Sea ports and Astrabad, on the See also:Caspian, are subordinate to the commander-in-chief at Nikolayev. Sevastopol has grown in importance, and become mainly a naval harbour, the commercial harbour being removed to See also:Theodosia. The See also:Russian government has also proposed to remodel the harbour works at St Petersburg and Kronstadt. The See also:Emperor See also:Alexander III. Port at See also:Libau, on the Baltic, is in a region less liable to be icebound in the See also:winter. There are no strictly private yards for the building of large vessels in Russia, except that of the Black Sea Company at Nikolayev. Messrs See also:Creighton build torpedo-boats at Lebo in See also:Finland, and the admiralty has steel works at Ijora, where some torpedo-boats have been built.

Other ordnance and steel works are at Obukhov and Putilov, Japan.—The principal See also:

Japanese dockyard, which was established by the Shogunate in 1866, is See also:Yokosuka. French naval constructors and See also:engineers were employed, and several wooden ships were built. The Japanese took the administration into their own hands in 1875, and built a number of vessels of small displacement in the yard. The limit of See also:size was about 5000 tons, but the establishment has been enlarged so that vessels of the first class may be built there. There is a first-class See also:modern dry dock which will take the largest battleship. Shipbuilding would be undertaken to a larger extent but for the fact that nearly all material has to come from abroad. Down to 1905 all the important vessels of the Japanese navy were built in Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States, but at the end of that See also:year a first-class cruiser of 13,500 tons (the " Tsukuba ") was launched from the important yard at Kure. There are other yards at Sassebo and Maisuru.

End of Article: DOCKYARDS

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