The Invergordon Archive

The dock depicted in the drawing is Admiralty Floating Dock No. 1 (AFD1) sometimes referred to as the “Bermuda Dock”. AFD1 is a “floating graving” type floating dock designed by Clark & Standfield for the British Admiralty and built by C.S. Swan and Hunter Ltd, Wallsend.

In the “floating graving” type dock, there are three separate pontoons each bolted to the continuous sidewalls on either side. Self docking was accomplished by unbolting the centre pontoon and sinking the dock allowing the centre pontoon to rise up. The pontoon was then reattached at the higher level and then raising the dock, thus lifting the centre pontoon clear of the water. A similar process could be applied to the other two pontoons, one at each end. Access to the underside of the sidewalls for repair was by careening.

The dock was launched in February 1902 and completed June 1902. She cost £226,000. She was stationed in Bermuda from 1902 to 1946 when she was sold and taken to Montevideo. Note that this dock should not be confused with the first Bermuda dock, which was designed by Campbell in 1869.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments


Your Name


Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.