Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/329

DOCKYARDS 311 for skips of the line on the face next the river ; and two for smaller vessels, which launched into a basin or wet dock, 2GO by 220 feet. There were also three dry docks, one of them a double dock, communicating with the Thames, and the other a smaller one, opening into the basin. The number of men employed in this yard, in time of war, was about 1500, of whom one-half were shipwrights and artificers, and the other half labourers. There were, besides, 18 or 20 teams of 4 horses each, to drag timber and heavy stores. The proximity of Deptford yard to the capital is of great importance, in the convenience it affords for receiving from this great mart all the home manufactures and products which may be purchased for the use of the navy. It is the general magazine of stores and necessaries for the fleet, whence they are shipped off, as occasion requires, to the home yards, the outports, and the foreign stations, in store-ships, transports, coasting sloops, lighters, and launches, according to the distance they have to be sent. The management of Deptford naval store yard is now merged in that of the victualling yard, a most complete establishment of its kind. Till 1869 1 this management comprised a naval captain superintendent, with a master in the navy as his assistant. Under them a storekeeper, a store receiver, an accountant, an inspector of stores, and their respective staffs, conducted the administrative duties of the place. In 1869 the Board of Admiralty, in accordance with the recommendations of a departmental committee, abolished the offices of captain superintendent and master attendant, and placed the establishment under the civilian management of the storekeeper. The naval superintendents were appointed for five years, and after that time were withdrawn to make way for others. The superintending storekeeper is appointed as a permanent officer, and under him experience is accumulated and applied in all the manufactories and other business depart ments of the yard. The manufactures conducted by and for the Government at Deptford comprise biscuit making on such a scale as to supply, with the yield of the victualling yards at Gosport and Plymouth, biscuit enough for the whole navy, and also chocolate making, mustard making, flour grinding, and the operations of a large cooperage. Most of the salt beef required for the navy is salted and put up there. Deptl ord maybe called the heart of the victualling service. From its stores are shipped the whole of the con signments required for replenishment of depots abroad, as well as the requirements of the other two victualling yards in England, except that at the last-named the supplies of biscuits and flour are provided on the spot. The number of men employed at Deptford necessarily varies. During war upwards of a thousand men are required. The space occupied by the victualling yard is about 19 acres. There is a river frontage of 1700 feet, and a mean depth of 1000 feet. In 1877 there are employed in the naval store and victualling yard at Deptford 258 men on the establishment, and 390 men on the hired list, at a cost of 25,847. WOOLWICH DOCKYARD. This no longer exists as a naval station. Though retaining its name, it remains as a depot in the hands of the War Department, for whose work its river frontage of 3680 feet, and its docks and basins, afford excellent accommodation. Woolwich was the first and most ancient of all the dockyards, having been established in the reign of Henry VII. From it have been launched some of the finest and most celebrated ships of the English navy. In 1512 the "Harry Grace de Dieu " was built, and in 1552 was accidently burnt, there. In more modern times the " Nelson" and the " Ocean " were from Woolwich, and those latest specimens of the now extinct class of fighting ship, the "Trafalgar," "Agamemnon," and " Royal Albert." As an establishment for the building and repair of ships, especially steam ships, Woolwich was perhaps the completest and best furnished of all the dockyards. Its power to make and repair engines and all iron work, whether of ship or fittings, was so extensive as to enable the Government, before the introduction of iron clads, to be nearly independent of the private trade. With occupation for 1800 workmen, it was able to rely upon its own resources almost exclusively. Its proximity to London gave it other great advantages, including this, that the Admiralty were thereby enabled the more easily to supervise the constructive work for winch its architects were responsible. But for the fatal operation of two causes, the increased and increasing depth of ships of war, and the continuous silting of the river into the docks and basins of the yard, Woolwich would probably have remained one of the chief dockyards. Both these causes, however, operated. The depth of the " Nelson s " hold had to be lessened in order to ensure her passing Erith ; and it was stated in the Eiyltih Report, of the Select Committee on Finance (1818) that " the wharf wall at Woolwich, owing to the action of the tide on the foundation, is in a falling state, and in danger of being swept into the river, it being secured only in a temporary manner ; and requires to be immediately rebuilt in a direction that will preserve it from similar injury hereafter, and prevent, in a great degree, that accumulation of mud which has, in the course of the last ten years, occasioned an expense of upwards of 125,692, and would threaten in time to render the yard useless." Till 1869, however, notwithstanding the recom mendations of a parliamentary committee, and the frequent urgings of members on both sides of the House of Commons, Woolwich yard was kept open. Then, in accordance with a policy long commended, it was closed, steps were taken to dispose of the plant and material that remained, and the place itself was handed over, with its workshops and factories, to the War Department in 1872. Woolwich Division of Royal Marines. About the same time that the dockyard was broken up, the division of marines no longer in contact with ships and shipping was abolished, and its strength was distributed between the divisions at Chatham and Plymouth. CHATHAM DOCKYARD. This dockyard, founded by Queen Elizabeth, though not on the present site, is situated on the right bank of the Meclway, to which it presents a line of wharfage extending 10,000 feet, and of embank ment 4500 feet more. The superficial contents may be estimated at about 500 acres. The old part of the yard has seven building-slips on the front, from which ships are launched into the river, all equal to the building of ships of the line, and three others for frigates and smaller vessels. In the same front are four dry docks communicat ing with the Medway. At the southern extremity of the yard is the ropery, 1248 feet in length and 47^ feet in width, in which are employed about 250 persons. It is equal to the manufacture of every description of cordage required for the naval service, including the largest size cable. The hemp houses, 306 feet long by 36 feet wide, are equal to the stowage of 1600 tons of hemp and 3000 hauls of yarn. Next to these are the slips and docks, with the working-sheds and artificers shops close in the rear, an excellent smithery, timber-berths, seasoning sheds, deal and iron yard, &c., and beyond these, on the eastern extremity t)f the yard, the officers houses and gardens. The superintendent s house is situated nearly in the centre of the yard. The lower or north-eastern part of the old yard ia occupied by mast-ponds, mast-houses and slips, store-boat houses and slips, ballast wharf, timber-berths, and saw-pits. Before the construction of the extension works in 1867-

73, there was no wet dock or basin in Chatham-yard ; but tho