The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

had a number of floating drydocks for the repair of warships where there was no fixed dry dock available. The docks did not receive a name and were known as "Admiralty Floating Dock" with a number. In size they went up to ones capable of lifting the largest Royal Navy battleships.

List

;19th Century *Admiralty Floating Dock Bermuda - Royal Naval Dockyard, Ireland Island,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, moored in the camber of what was to become the ''North Yard'' of the dockyard when the ''South Yard'' was constructed at the turn of the Century. 1869-1906. It was intended to be scrapped by a German company, but this was prevented by the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and it remains across the mouth of the Great Sound at Spanish Point, crumbling away in the shallows of Stovell Bay. ;Numbered docks HMS York in AFD1 at HMD Bermuda in 1933

*Admiralty Floating Dock No. 1 - Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, 1902-1946. The largest floating drydock in the world when built, it was towed to Bermuda from Sheerness by two tugs in 1902. It was initially anchored off Agar's Island and Boss' Cove, at Spanish Point, Pembroke, pending completion of the new South Yard, its intended berth, at the Royal Naval Dockyard. Renamed from "Bermuda Dock" to AFD 1 in 1925. Clark & Standfield, 545 ft, 99 ft internal width with a lifting capacity of 11,700tons *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 2 - Haslar Creek ( HMS ''Dolphin'') from 1906: 1000 tons net capacity, designed to lift submarines; built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 3-

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, 1912, designed to lift three submarines. 290 ft, 1600 tons *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 4 -

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

, 680 ft, 32,000 tons lifting capacity *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 5 - Portsmouth Royal Dockyard 1912-1914 and 1919-1939. The world's largest floating dock at the time, it was moved to

Invergordon Invergordon (; or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area ...

for the duration of the First World War (pending completion of

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation i ...

), to enable dreadnoughts to be docked in Scotland. Moved to Alexandria in 1939; then in Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, 1946-1951. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 6 -

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

. built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson 280 ft, 2000 tons. Intended for Harwich to lift two destroyers at a time, moved to Sheerness in 1920. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 7 -

Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains ...

from 1914. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 8 - Originally constructed in two sections by Howaldtswerke at Kiel in 1917 as German Imperial Navy No. VIII. Claimed by UK in reparations for WWI, designated AFD8, and assigned to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. To increase capacity an additional mid-section was fabricated at Chatham. AFD8 was towed to

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

, where the hull was in separated into two original sections, and the mid-section inserted. Operational from October 1925. Reduced to hulk by 1948 and replaced by AFD No. 35 * Admiralty Floating Dock No. 9 -

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, also known as "Singapore Dock" or "Admiralty IX", 855 ft long, 55,000 tons capacity *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 10 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 11 -

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, 960 ft; lifting capacity 60,000 tons. Built for Southern Railway. The world's largest floating dock at the time, it was taken over by the Admiralty in 1939 and was used at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard until 1959, when it was sold to the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Dock Company. Sank off the coast of Spain in 1984, ''en route'' to Brazil. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 12 - At

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

, 380 ft, 2750 tons *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 13 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 14 - At Scapa Flow during WWII. Built by Palmers Hebburn, 240 ton lift, 142.5 ft *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 15 - At

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

and

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

during WWII. Built by Palmers Hebburn, 240 ton lift, 142.5 ft *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 16 - At

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

and

during WWII. Built by Palmers Hebburn, 240 ton lift, 142.5 ft *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 17 -

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. 2750 tons built at Devonport. Moved to Sydney in 1944 arriving in May 1945 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 18 - Clark Stanfield design, lifting capacity of 2750 tons *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 19 - Latterly at Vickers Shipbuilders/VSEL. Scrapped as base of pier at Gills Bay,

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 20 - Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute. 2750 tons. Replacement for AFD7. Used for submarines including X-craft *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 21 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 22 - Clark Stanfield design built at Chatham, lifting capacity of 2,750 tons, intended for the emergency docking of escort vessels and destroyers. Was at Coastal Forces Training Base at Fort William during World War 2, then towed to Trincomalee to replace A.F.D. 23 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 23- Built in Bombay in July 1944, with a lifting capacity of 50,000 tons. It was towed to

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

and moored off Sober Island. She sank on 8 August 1944 while HMS Valiant was in dock. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 26 - Fabricated in Calcutta, assembled in Bombay 1944, Braithwaite B/j Ltd.; conveyed to England via Trincomalee, Malta and Gibraltar. Employed at Chatham Royal Dockyard (1947-1951), then Harwich (1951-54), Falmouth (1954-55), Portland (1955-58), Portsmouth (1959-84) and Rosyth (1984-95). Moved to Hafnarfjördur, Iceland 1995 is still in operation, to be scrapped 2021 - 2022 *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 28 -Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. 1941-1946. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 35 -Malta. 1948 onwards. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 48 -Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. The smaller of two at Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda from 1946 (replacing a US lend-lease dock) until the dockyard was reduced to a base in 1951. Transferred to civil Government after 1951 and remained until 1972. *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 59 - launched Portsmouth, 1960, and moved to Barrow. long, for "destroyers, frigates and nuclear submarines" *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 60 -

Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

(now HMNB Clyde), 1965 onwards. Constructed in Portsmouth, operated at Faslane with a 6,000 ton capacity for nuclear submarines. Moved to Hafnarfjördur Iceland 1997 is still in operation *Admiralty Floating Dock No. 67 - 1945. Constructed from concrete. 800 ton capacity for service with RN Far East.Floating Dock is towed out East. 28 March 1945, Alfred Lock, Birkenhead. AFD 67, Concrete floating dock built within three...
IWM

Notes

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References

Auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom Floating drydocks