Floating Drydocks

[Brian James]

Floating drydock at Swan Hunter Shipyards, Wallsend on Tyne,early 1900's.

[timlewin]

in 1950 my father served as Flotilla gunnery officer with the 1st flotilla (actually 8 C class destroyers, unusually for the time when most flotillas were cut back in numbers) based in Malta with the Med Fleet. I was 4 years old at the time and in common with many managed to contract polio. Not many memories of this but two that I do have is the view of the huge floating dock in Grand Harbour below Bighi hospital, and the other of being flown back to GB for treatment in the Lord Mayor Treloar hospital at Alton (West Sx.) in an Avro York full of injured military personel.

Anyone got any pictures of that FD?

[DaveH]

Sorry Tim , my only FD is the one moored off Harwich opposite HMS Ganges in the 50's .Seems we Sussex boys are somewhat linked in that I too suffered
polio in 1947 at 10 but fully recovered .That was a blazing summer followed by a freezing winter with snow the likes of which I have never seen since.

DaveH

[timlewin]

that was the year I was born, my parents told me about it. There is a little local print of a book called "Lavender Cottage" I think which is about post war life in Hastings, it from a diary written in that winter. My polio left me with a limp on left side, I have a chum who had a badly broken leg which never really was repaired properly, I told him we look like windscreen wipers when we walk together.

[ivorthediver]

Floating drydock at Swan Hunter Shipyards, Wallsend on Tyne,early 1900's.

Thanks Brian.... you must have been reading my mind earlier , I obviously know of them..... but have never seen a decent picture of one before

[DaveH]

Floating Dock Harwich 1953

Harwich AFD.jpg

There you are Ivor another one

[ivorthediver]

Thank you Dave for your kindness , its a bit like London Buses ......none for hours then three in a row

Often wondered how they carried out their work and indeed ..how they worked ....albeit a wonderful bit of kit ...Now in hind site I know that they are flooded to float its charge inside and then pumped out to reflect ....or transit , and if available connect up to services to carry out repairs .

Brilliant invention to meet an urgent need .

Again my thanks mate

[timlewin]

it was a floating dock in Ceylon that finally did for poor old Valiant. she was in the dock and they were pumping out when the schedule of pumping went catastrophically awry, the weight of the ship was totally miscalculated, the dock broke in half, or rather folded in half with Valiant inside. The damage to the ship was very extensive, two of her 4 screws were wrecked and had to be removed there. with the war coming to an end she was sent home at walking pace arriving at Plymouth to be paid off and used as an accommodation ship for trainee stokers before going finally to the brokers.
tim

[James b]

A nice view of Floating docks at Sembawang Singapore..

[ivorthediver]

it was a floating dock in Ceylon that finally did for poor old Valiant. she was in the dock and they were pumping out when the schedule of pumping went catastrophically awry, the weight of the ship was totally miscalculated, the dock broke in half, or rather folded in half with Valiant inside. The damage to the ship was very extensive, two of her 4 screws were wrecked and had to be removed there. with the war coming to an end she was sent home at walking pace arriving at Plymouth to be paid off and used as an accommodation ship for trainee stokers before going finally to the brokers.
tim

I never knew that Tim , thanks for that piece of information , and what an inconspicuous end for such a magnificent vessel .