Floating Dry Docks

[Brian James]

The Barquentine Nest pictured in the 3,500 ton Floating Dry Dock Surabaya 1 at Surabaya in May 1917....The Dock was ordered at William Hamilton & Co Shipyard, Glasgow in 1912. She was launched at Port Glasgow on June 21st 1912 as Soerabaya 1. She was towed to Victoria Harbour in Greenock for trials. Surabaya Dock of 3,500 tons was 320 feet long and 80 feet wide. Actual lift capacity was 3,560 tons, and ships with a draught of up to 18 feet could use it. The dock consisted of 18 watertight compartments, each could be flooded separately. Two electro-engines drove two centrifugal pumps. It was expected that electricity was provided by a power station on shore. Nevertheless, there were two Cochran boilers, which could drive a generator if the drydock would have to be used outside the port. On July 6th 1912 Surabaya Dock of 3,500 tons left Greenock towed by the ocean tug Thames of Smit International. On July 24th the convoy passed Gibraltar. On August 3rd it arrived in Malta, from whence it left on the 5th. On August 16th the convoy arrived in Port Said. On September 4th it passed Perim at the southern exit of the Red Sea, and on September 5th it arrived in Aden. The convoy left Aden on September 16th. On October 13th they arrived in Colombo. On October 30th 1912 the ships arrived in Sabang, Aceh, the first harbour in the Dutch East Indies. On November 19th 1912 they arrived at Surabaya. The voyage of 9,000 sea miles set a distance record for towing a dry dock with one tug.