Misplaced Pages

#748251

129-744: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is an area of HM Naval Base Portsmouth which is open to the public; it contains several historic buildings and ships. It is managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy as an umbrella organization representing five charities: the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust , the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth , the Mary Rose Trust , the Warrior Preservation Trust Ltd and

258-520: A hatchelling house, tarring house and storehouses) were laid out alongside and parallel to the ropehouse; they largely date from the same period. Later, in 1784, a large new house was built for the Dockyard Commissioner. Unusually for the time it was designed by a civilian architect ( Samuel Wyatt , with Thomas Telford as clerk-of-works); most other dockyard buildings were designed in-house. The dockyard chapel , built eighty years earlier,

387-510: A parliamentarian town during the civil war .) A resident Commissioner was first appointed in 1649; fifteen years later the Commissioner was provided with a house, and extensive gardens, at the centre of the yard. A new double dry dock (i.e. double the standard length so as to accommodate two ships at once) was built by the Commonwealth government in 1656, on what was then the tip of land at

516-601: A solar barque . Early Egyptians also knew how to fasten the planks of this ship together with mortise and tenon joints. The oldest known tidal dock in the world was built around 2500 BC during the Harappan civilisation at Lothal near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast in India . Other ports were probably at Balakot and Dwarka . However, it is probable that many small-scale ports, and not massive ports, were used for

645-443: A state-owned facility for building, repairing and maintaining warships ; for a time it was the largest industrial site in the world. From the 1970s, the term 'Naval Base' began to be used for Portsmouth (and other Royal Dockyards), acknowledging a greater focus on personnel and support elements alongside the traditional industrial emphases. In 1984 Portsmouth's Royal Dockyard function was significantly downsized and downgraded, and

774-533: A torpedo workshop (built to the east of No 12 dock in 1886). Before the end of the century, it was recognised that there would have to be still further expansion across all the Royal Dockyards in order to keep pace with the increasing likely size of future naval vessels. At Portsmouth two more dry docks, Nos 14 & 15, were built alongside the Repairing Basin in 1896; (within ten years these, together with

903-411: A " ship caisson " to close off the entrance to the basin (another innovation which soon became a standard design). To deal with the increasing number of docks, Bentham in 1797 proposed replacing one of the horse pumps above the reservoir with a steam engine. His plan was that the engine should be used not only to drain the reservoir (by night) but also to drive a sawmill and woodworking machinery (during

1032-426: A broad beam and heavily curved at both ends. Another important ship type was the galley, which was constructed with both sails and oars. The first extant treatise on shipbuilding was written c.  1436 by Michael of Rhodes, a man who began his career as an oarsman on a Venetian galley in 1401 and worked his way up into officer positions. He wrote and illustrated a book that contains a treatise on shipbuilding,

1161-410: A curved, progressive joint could not be achieved. One study finds that there were considerable improvements in ship speed from 1750 to 1850: "we find that average sailing speeds of British ships in moderate to strong winds rose by nearly a third. Driving this steady progress seems to be the continuous evolution of sails and rigging, and improved hulls that allowed a greater area of sail to be set safely in

1290-410: A dramatic and ongoing increase in the potential size of new vessels. The Dockyards found themselves having to expand in kind. At Portsmouth, plans were drawn up in the late 1850s for further land reclamation north and east of the new Steam Basin, and from 1867 work was begun on a complex of three new interconnected basins, each of 14–22 acres. Each basin served a different purpose: ships would proceed from

1419-407: A fore and aft sail on the mizzen. Ship-building then saw a steady improvement in design techniques and introduction of new materials. Iron was used for more than fastenings ( nails and bolts ) as structural components such as iron knees were introduced, with examples existing in the mid-18th century and from the mid-19th century onwards. This was partly led by the shortage of "compass timber",

SECTION 10

#1732847583749

1548-579: A galleon in 1559. The appointment of one Thomas Jermyn as Keeper of the Dock at Portsmouth is recorded in 1526, with a Clerk of the Stores being appointed from 1542. Contemporary records suggest that the dry dock was enlarged and rebuilt in 1523 in order to accommodate the Henry Grace à Dieu (the largest ship of the fleet at that time); but a hundred years later it is described as being filled with rubble. Following

1677-573: A given wind. By contrast, looking at every voyage between the Netherlands and East Indies undertaken by the Dutch East India Company from 1595 to 1795, we find that journey time fell only by 10 percent, with no improvement in the heavy mortality, averaging six percent per voyage, of those aboard." Initially copying wooden construction traditions with a frame over which the hull was fastened, Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Great Britain of 1843

1806-547: A group of 14 ships discovered in Abydos that were constructed of wooden planks which were "sewn" together. Discovered by Egyptologist David O'Connor of New York University , woven straps were found to have been used to lash the planks together, and reeds or grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams. Because the ships are all buried together and near a mortuary belonging to Pharaoh Khasekhemwy , originally they were all thought to have belonged to him, but one of

1935-499: A high degree of commercialization and an increase in trade. Large numbers of ships were built to meet the demand. The Ming voyages were large in size, numbering as many as 300 ships and 28,000 men. The shipbuilders were brought from different places in China to the shipyard in Nanjing , including Zhejiang , Jiangxi , Fujian , and Huguang (now the provinces of Hubei and Hunan ). One of

2064-428: A military threat to England, the strategic importance of Portsmouth grew. In 1689, Parliament ordered a new dry dock to be built there, large enough to accommodate the latest first-rate and second-rate ships of the line (which were too big for the existing docks). Work began in 1691; as with all subsequent extensions to the dockyard, the new works were built on reclaimed land (on what had been mud flats, to north of

2193-505: A modern stone dry dock (known today as No 1 dock, it currently accommodates the museum ship HMS M33 ). North of the reservoir a channel was dug leading to a new boat basin, beyond which several shipbuilding slips were constructed on reclaimed land at what became known as the North Corner of the dockyard. The rest of the reclaimed land was given over to storage space for timber with saw pits and seasoning sheds alongside, as shown in

2322-406: A range of sailing rigs that included the crab claw sail . The origins of this technology is difficult to date, relying largely on linguistics (studying the words for parts of boats), the written comments of people from other cultures, including the observations of European explorers at the time of first contact and the later more systematic ethnographic observations of the types of craft in use. There

2451-457: A set of gates, thus forming a second dry dock (called the "North Stone Dock" after it was rebuilt with stone altars in 1737, and known today as No 6 dock). Severed from the harbour, the Upper Wet Dock became a reservoir into which water from various nearby dry docks could be drained; it was vaulted and covered over at the end of the eighteenth century, but still exists today underground. By 1700

2580-465: A shipbuilding slip had been constructed off the (Lower) Wet Dock, parallel with the dry dock (roughly where No 4 dry dock is today). Between 1704 and 1712 a brick wall was built around the Dockyard, following the line of the town's 17th-century fortifications ; together with a contemporary (though altered) gate and lodge, much of the wall still stands, serving its original purpose. A terrace of houses for

2709-863: A similar design. Austronesians established the Austronesian maritime trade network at around 1000 to 600 BC, linking Southeast Asia with East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and later East Africa. The route later became part of the Spice trade network and the Maritime Silk Road . The naval history of China stems back to the Spring and Autumn period (722 BC–481 BC) of the ancient Chinese Zhou dynasty . The Chinese built large rectangular barges known as "castle ships", which were essentially floating fortresses complete with multiple decks with guarded ramparts . However,

SECTION 20

#1732847583749

2838-411: A single piece of hollowed-out log. At the sides were two planks, and two horseshoe-shaped wood pieces formed the prow and stern . These were fitted tightly together edge-to-edge with dowels inserted into holes in between, and then lashed to each other with ropes (made from rattan or fiber) wrapped around protruding lugs on the planks. This characteristic and ancient Austronesian boatbuilding practice

2967-518: A treatise on mathematics, much material on astrology, and other materials. His treatise on shipbuilding treats three kinds of galleys and two kinds of round ships. Shipbuilders in the Ming dynasty (1368~1644) were not the same as the shipbuilders in other Chinese dynasties, due to hundreds of years of accumulated experiences and rapid changes in the Ming dynasty. Shipbuilders in the Ming dynasty primarily worked for

3096-467: Is a famous example). Later Great Britain ' s iron hull was sheathed in wood to enable it to carry a copper-based sheathing . Brunel's Great Eastern represented the next great development in shipbuilding. Built-in association with John Scott Russell , it used longitudinal stringers for strength, inner and outer hulls, and bulkheads to form multiple watertight compartments. Steel also supplanted wrought iron when it became readily available in

3225-654: Is a possibility that they may have reached the Americas . After the 11th century, a new type of ship called djong or jong was recorded in Java and Bali. This type of ship was built using wooden dowels and treenails, unlike the kunlun bo which used vegetal fibres for lashings. The empire of Majapahit used jong, built in northern Java, for transporting troops overseas. The jongs were transport ships which could carry 100–2000 tons of cargo and 50–1000 people, 28.99–88.56 meter in length. The exact number of jong fielded by Majapahit

3354-600: Is known as the " lashed-lug " technique. They were commonly caulked with pastes made from various plants as well as tapa bark and fibres which would expand when wet, further tightening joints and making the hull watertight. They formed the shell of the boat, which was then reinforced by horizontal ribs. Shipwrecks of Austronesian ships can be identified from this construction as well as the absence of metal nails. Austronesian ships traditionally had no central rudders but were instead steered using an oar on one side. Austronesians traditionally made their sails from woven mats of

3483-571: Is noted in the works of Ibn Jubayr . The ships of Ancient Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty were typically about 25 meters (80 ft) in length and had a single mast , sometimes consisting of two poles lashed together at the top making an "A" shape. They mounted a single square sail on a yard , with an additional spar along the bottom of the sail. These ships could also be oar propelled. The ocean- and sea-going ships of Ancient Egypt were constructed with cedar wood, most likely hailing from Lebanon. The ships of Phoenicia seem to have been of

3612-623: Is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport ). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth ; it is located on the eastern shore of Portsmouth Harbour , north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight . For centuries it was officially known as HM Dockyard, Portsmouth : as a Royal Dockyard , Portsmouth functioned primarily as

3741-499: Is only a small body of archaeological evidence available. Since Island Southeast Asia contained effective maritime transport between its very large number of islands long before Austronesian seafaring, it is argued that Austronesians adopted an existing maritime technology from the existing inhabitants of this region. Austronesian ships varied from simple canoes to large multihull ships. The simplest form of all ancestral Austronesian boats had five parts. The bottom part consists of

3870-548: Is the name given to the portion of the base which is open to the public; it plays host to: The Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust has long sought to extend the area of the Historic Dockyard to cover Dry Docks 4 and 5 and the historic Block Mills building among others. In 2015 an architectural design competition for the project was won by Latz+Partner ; however, the Ministry of Defence subsequently indicated that property to

3999-715: Is the regulatory authority of the Dockyard Port of Portsmouth , an area of approximately 50 square miles (130 km ) that encompasses Portsmouth Harbour and the Eastern Solent. KHM Harbour Control is based in the Semaphore Tower building. Shipping movements are handled by a team of admiralty pilots headed by the Chief Admiralty Pilot. In 1836 the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was given accommodation within

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - Misplaced Pages Continue

4128-411: Is unknown, but the largest number of jong deployed in an expedition is about 400 jongs, when Majapahit attacked Pasai, in 1350. Until recently, Viking longships were seen as marking an advance on traditional clinker -built hulls where leather thongs were used to join plank boards. This consensus has recently been challenged. Haywood has argued that earlier Frankish and Anglo-Saxon nautical practice

4257-571: The ghe mành . Early Egyptians also knew how to assemble planks of wood with treenails to fasten them together, using pitch for caulking the seams. The " Khufu ship ", a 43.6-meter vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza in the Fourth Dynasty around 2500 BC, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of

4386-579: The k'un-lun po or kunlun bo ("ship of the k'un-lun [dark-skinned southern people]"). These ships used two types of sail of their invention, the junk sail and tanja sail . Large ships are about 50–60 metres (164–197 ft) long, had 5.2–7.8 metres (17–26 ft) tall freeboard , each carrying provisions enough for a year, and could carry 200–1000 people. The Chinese recorded that these Southeast Asian ships were hired for passage to South Asia by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and travelers, because they did not build seaworthy ships of their own until around

4515-702: The Abbasid period. Mughal Empire had a large shipbuilding industry, which was largely centred in the Bengal Subah . Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771. He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal. Documents from 1506, for example, refer to watercraft on

4644-569: The HMNB Devonport by 2023; HM Ship HMS  Argyll moved in the opposite direction. HMS  Monmouth and HMS  Montrose were also to move to Portsmouth. However, Monmouth retired in 2021, Montrose decommissioned in 2023 and Argyll and Westminster followed in 2024. Richmond became a Devonport ship on completion of her refit. St Albans moved to Devonport in July 2019 in preparation for her major refit. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

4773-588: The HMS Victory Preservation Company. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Ltd was created to promote and manage the tourism element of the Royal Navy Dockyard , with the relevant trusts maintaining and interpreting their attractions. It also promotes other nearby navy-related tourist attractions. The National Museum of the Royal Navy was first opened in Portsmouth in 1911. It changed its name to

4902-552: The Mary Rose respectively). While constructing a new entrance to the Basin, Bentham introduced the innovation of an inverted masonry arch to tie together the walls on either side. He went on to use the same principle in constructing the new dry docks attached to the basin; it soon became standard for dock construction around the world. In constructing the docks and basin he made pioneering use of Smeaton 's waterproof cement . He also designed

5031-533: The Napoleonic Wars were still built more or less to the same basic plan as those of the Spanish Armada of two centuries earlier, although there had been numerous subtle improvements in ship design and construction throughout this period. For instance, the introduction of tumblehome , adjustments to the shapes of sails and hulls, the introduction of the wheel, the introduction of hardened copper fastenings below

5160-463: The Persian Gulf . Evidence from Ancient Egypt shows that the early Egyptians knew how to assemble planks of wood into a ship hull as early as 3100 BC. Egyptian pottery as old as 4000 BC shows designs of early fluvial boats or other means for navigation. The Archaeological Institute of America reports that some of the oldest ships yet unearthed are known as the Abydos boats . These are

5289-453: The Sierra Leone river carrying 120 men. Others refer to Guinea coast peoples using war canoes of varying sizes – some 70 feet in length, 7–8 feet broad, with sharp pointed ends, rowing benches on the side, and quarterdecks or forecastles build of reeds. The watercraft included miscellaneous facilities, such as cooking hearths, and storage spaces for the crew's sleeping mats. From

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-461: The 14 ships dates to 3000 BC, and the associated pottery jars buried with the vessels also suggest earlier dating. The ship dating to 3000 BC was about 75 feet (23 m) long and is now thought to perhaps have belonged to an earlier pharaoh. According to professor O'Connor, the 5,000-year-old ship may have even belonged to Pharaoh Aha . The Austronesian expansion , which began c.  3000 BC with migration from Taiwan to

5547-536: The 17th century, some kingdoms added brass or iron cannons to their vessels. By the 18th century, however, the use of swivel cannons on war canoes accelerated. The city-state of Lagos , for instance, deployed war canoes armed with swivel cannons. With the development of the carrack , the west moved into a new era of ship construction by building the first regular oceangoing vessels. In a relatively short time, these ships grew to an unprecedented size, complexity, and cost. Shipyards became large industrial complexes, and

5676-577: The 30 acre site at Priddy's Hard , Gosport. The first development phase is due for completion in the summer of 2021, with the restoration of the ramparts and seven listed buildings, to include a new Coastal Forces Museum, micro-brewery, pub restaurant and holiday let. Thirty new homes will also be built this year with a further major development phase to follow in the near future. 50°48′04″N 1°06′36″W  /  50.801°N 1.110°W  / 50.801; -1.110 HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth ( HMNB Portsmouth )

5805-590: The 8–9th century AD. Austronesians (especially from western Island Southeast Asia ) were trading in the Indian Ocean as far as Africa during this period. By around 50 to 500 AD, a group of Austronesians, believed to be from the southeastern coasts of Borneo (possibly a mixed group related to the modern Ma'anyan , Banjar , and/or the Dayak people ) crossed the Indian Ocean and colonized Madagascar . This resulted in

5934-731: The Admiral Zheng He . Six voyages were conducted under the Yongle Emperor's reign, the last of which returned to China in 1422. After the Yongle Emperor's death in 1424, his successor the Hongxi Emperor ordered the suspension of the voyages. The seventh and final voyage began in 1430, sent by the Xuande Emperor . Although the Hongxi and Xuande Emperors did not emphasize sailing as much as the Yongle Emperor, they were not against it. This led to

6063-499: The Chinese vessels during this era were essentially fluvial (riverine). True ocean-going Chinese fleets did not appear until the 10th century Song dynasty . There is considerable knowledge regarding shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient Mediterranean. Large multi-masted seafaring ships of Southeast Asian Austronesians first started appearing in Chinese records during the Han dynasty as

6192-648: The Chinese, from the Old Javanese parahu , Javanese prau , or Malay perahu – large ship. Southern Chinese junks showed characteristics of Austronesian ships that they are made using timbers of tropical origin, with keeled, V-shaped hull. This is different from northern Chinese junks, which are developed from flat-bottomed riverine boats. The northern Chinese junks were primarily built of pine or fir wood, had flat bottoms with no keel, water-tight bulkheads with no frames, transom (squared) stern and stem, and have their planks fastened with iron nails or clamps. It

6321-600: The Dockyard (in Admiralty House) and in 1889 he was given HMS  Victory to be his ceremonial flagship . These privileges were inherited by the Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command (whose post was combined with that of Second Sea Lord in 1994), who continued to fly his flag from HMS Victory until 2012. That year the post of Commander-in-Chief reverted to the First Sea Lord , and with it

6450-472: The Great Stone Dock was rebuilt and a new dry dock (known today as No 4 dock) was built alongside it over a five-year period from 1767. During 1771–76 the former Upper Wet Dock was reconfigured to serve as a reservoir into which water from the dry docks could be drained by way of culverts (enabling ships to be dry docked much more speedily). From 1789 work was begun on replacing the old wooden South Dock with

6579-561: The Han dynasty junk ship design in the same century. The Chinese were using square sails during the Han dynasty and adopted the Austronesian junk sail later in the 12th century. Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails, and the junk rig of Chinese ships is believed to be developed from tilted sails . Southern Chinese junks were based on keeled and multi-planked Austronesian ship known as po by

SECTION 50

#1732847583749

6708-695: The Harappan maritime trade. Ships from the harbour at these ancient port cities established trade with Mesopotamia . Shipbuilding and boatmaking may have been prosperous industries in ancient India. Native labourers may have manufactured the flotilla of boats used by Alexander the Great to navigate across the Hydaspes and even the Indus , under Nearchos . The Indians also exported teak for shipbuilding to ancient Persia . Other references to Indian timber used for shipbuilding

6837-652: The Memorial Flotilla, the finest collection of small boats involved in late 19th and 20th century conflicts, as well as the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC), in Boathouse 4, where traditional boat building skills are taught. A large volunteer force is engaged on the restoration and operation of the Trust’s historic collection of boats. The Trust is also managing the regeneration of

6966-655: The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth to reflect its expanded responsibilities over the Royal Marines Museum , the Royal Navy Submarine Museum , the Fleet Air Arm Museum and Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower . The following ships and historic vessels are displayed at the dockyard: The National Museum of the Royal Navy is host to many original Naval artefacts, including one of

7095-601: The Naval Base, under a 99-year lease, as an heritage area, the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard . It allows members of the public to visit important maritime attractions such as Mary Rose , HMS  Victory , HMS  Warrior and the National Museum of the Royal Navy . The Naval Base Commander (NBC) since June 2022 is Commodore John Voyce. The harbour is under the control of the King's Harbour Master (KHM), who

7224-518: The Naval Base. The base is additionally home to a number of commercial shore activities, including the ship repair and maintenance facility operated by BAE Systems Maritime Services . The base is the oldest in the Royal Navy, and it has been an important part of the Senior Service 's history and the defence of the British Isles for centuries. It is home to one of the oldest surviving drydocks in

7353-404: The Royal Dockyards. As such, he took on responsibility for overseeing the continued rebuilding at Portsmouth and initiated further key engineering works. A prolific inventor and precision engineer, Bentham's initiatives at Portsmouth ranged from instituting new management principles in the manufacturing departments to developing the first successful steam-powered bucket dredger , which began work in

7482-484: The United States in a 15-year period just before the war was a grand total of two. During the war, thousands of Liberty ships and Victory ships were built, many of them in shipyards that did not exist before the war. And, they were built by a workforce consisting largely of women and other inexperienced workers who had never seen a ship before (or even the ocean). After World War II , shipbuilding (which encompasses

7611-458: The adjacent docks 12 & 13, had to be extended, and by the start of World War I Dock No 14 was over 720 ft in length). In 1843 construction began on a railway system within the dockyard. In 1846 this was connected to Portsmouth Town railway station via what became known as the Admiralty Line. By 1952 there was over 27 miles of track within the dockyard. Its use declined in the 1970s:

7740-501: The area in 1212. The docks were used by various kings when embarking on invasions of France through the 13th and 14th centuries, including the Saintonge War in 1242. Edward II ordered all ports on the south coast to assemble their largest vessels at Portsmouth to carry soldiers and horses to the Duchy of Aquitaine in 1324 to strengthen defences. The first recorded dry dock in the world

7869-412: The bottom planking of cogs . The north-European and Mediterranean traditions merged in the late 15th century, with carvel construction being adopted in the North and the centre-line mounted rudder replacing the quarter rudder of the Mediterranean. These changes broadly coincided with improvements in sailing rigs, with the three masted ship becoming common, with square sails on the fore and main masts, and

SECTION 60

#1732847583749

7998-415: The building which faces Admiralty House on South Terrace. Taking on students from the age of 14, this was the forerunner of Portsmouth Dockyard School (later Technical College) which continued to provide specialist training until 1970. The adoption of steam propulsion for warships led to large-scale changes in the Royal Dockyards, which had been built in the age of sail . The Navy's first 'steam factory'

8127-430: The camber was rebuilt in Portland stone between 1773 and 1785. On the other side of the camber, on newly reclaimed land, two more sizeable brick storehouses were built to serve as a sail loft and a rigging store; the reclaimed land was later named Watering Island after a fresh water supply was provided for ships mooring alongside. The Great Ropehouse, a double ropery over 1,000 ft (300 m) in length, dates from

8256-407: The day); he also envisaged linking it to a freshwater well, to enable water to be pumped through a network of pipes to various parts of the dockyard. A table engine , designed by Bentham's staff chemist James Sadler , was installed in 1799; it represented the first use of steam power in a Royal Naval Yard. By 1800 a second steam engine (a Boulton & Watt beam engine) was being installed alongside

8385-444: The development beyond that raft technology occurred in the "nursery" areas of the Mediterranean and in Maritime Southeast Asia . Favoured by warmer waters and a number of inter-visible islands, boats (and, later, ships) with water-tight hulls (unlike the "flow through" structure of a raft) could be developed. The ships of ancient Egypt were built by joining the hull planks together, edge to edge, with tenons set in mortices cut in

8514-411: The dockyard model of 1774. Several of Portsmouth Dockyard's most notable historic buildings date from this period, with several older wooden structures being replaced in brick on a larger scale. The three great storehouses (Nos 9, 10 & 11) were built between 1764 and 1785 on a wharf, alongside a deep canal (or camber ) which allowed transport and merchant vessels to moor and load or unload goods;

8643-450: The edges of the basins: five cranes, seven caissons and forty capstans were run on compressed air from the pump house. The "Great Extension" of Portsmouth Dockyard was largely completed by 1881. Alongside the new Basins new buildings were erected, on a huge scale, to accommodate new manufacturing and construction processes. These included a gun-mounting workshop (built alongside the pumping station in 1881) which produced gun turrets , and

8772-445: The end of the Ming dynasty in 1644. During this period, Chinese navigation technology did not make any progress and even declined in some aspect. In the Islamic world, shipbuilding thrived at Basra and Alexandria . The dhow , felucca , baghlah , and the sambuk became symbols of successful maritime trade around the Indian Ocean from the ports of East Africa to Southeast Asia and the ports of Sindh and Hind (India) during

8901-431: The engines by way of line shafts . At the same time as building his Wood Mills, Bentham, with his deputy Simon Goodrich , was constructing a Metal Mills complex a little to the north-east. Alongside a smithery were a copper-smelting furnace and refinery , and a steam engine which drove a rolling mill and tilt hammers . Begun in 1801, these facilities were for recycling the copper sheathing of ships' hulls. In 1804

9030-399: The establishment of Chatham Dockyard in the mid-1500s, no new naval vessels were built here until 1648, but ships from Portsmouth were a key part of the fleet that drove off the Spanish Armada in 1588. Naval shipbuilding at Portsmouth recommenced under the English Commonwealth , the first ship being the eponymous fourth-rate frigate Portsmouth launched in 1650. (Portsmouth had been

9159-414: The first. Meanwhile, Bentham designed and built a series of subterranean vaulted chambers over the reservoir, upon which he erected a pair of parallel three-storey workshops to contain reciprocating and circular saws, planning machines and morticing machines, built to his own designs, to be driven by the two engines (which were accommodated together with their boilers in the south workshop). Tanks installed on

9288-575: The government, under command of the Ministry of Public Works . During the early years of the Ming dynasty, the Ming government maintained an open policy towards sailing. Between 1405 and 1433, the government conducted seven diplomatic Ming treasure voyages to over thirty countries in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Eastern Africa. The voyages were initiated by the Yongle Emperor , and led by

9417-492: The harbour in 1802. The 1761 rebuilding plan had envisaged the old wooden double dock being refurbished, but Bentham instead proposed expanding the Basin (building over the double dock in the process) and adding a further pair of single docks built entirely of stone (unlike previous 'stone docks' which had had timber floors). The proposal was accepted; the new docks (now known as Nos 2 and 3 docks) were completed in 1802-3 and are still in place today (accommodating HMS Victory and

9546-507: The infrastructure required to transport the trees from their point of origin to the shipyards. Shipbuilders were usually divided into different groups and had separate jobs. Some were responsible for fixing old ships; some were responsible for making the keel and some were responsible for building the helm. After 1477, the Ming government reversed its open maritime policies, enacting a series of isolationist policies in response to piracy . The policies, called Haijin (sea ban), lasted until

9675-524: The introduction of outrigger canoe technology to non-Austronesian cultures in the East African coast. The ancient Chinese also built fluvial ramming vessels as in the Greco-Roman tradition of the trireme , although oar-steered ships in China lost favor very early on since it was in the 1st century China that the stern -mounted rudder was first developed. This was dually met with the introduction of

9804-525: The island of Luzon in the Philippines , spread across Island Southeast Asia . Then, between 1500 BC and 1500 AD they settled uninhabited islands of the Pacific, and also sailed westward to Madagascar. This is associated with distinctive maritime technology: lashed lug construction techniques (both in outrigger canoes and in large planked sailing vessels), various types of outrigger and twin-hulled canoes and

9933-485: The keel, the hull was made by overlapping nine strakes on either side with rivets fastening the oaken planks together. It could hold upwards of thirty men. Sometime around the 12th century, northern European ships began to be built with a straight sternpost , enabling the mounting of a rudder, which was much more durable than a steering oar held over the side. Development in the Middle Ages favored "round ships", with

10062-470: The latter half of the 19th century, providing great savings when compared with iron in cost and weight. Wood continued to be favored for the decks. During World War II , the need for cargo ships was so great that construction time for Liberty ships went from initially eight months or longer, down to weeks or even days. They employed production line and prefabrication techniques such as those used in shipyards today. The total number of dry-cargo ships built in

10191-513: The link to the mainline was closed in 1977 and locomotives ceased operating within the yard the following year. In 1876 a railway station was built on what became known as South Railway Jetty on Watering Island (west of the Semaphore Tower). It was served by a separate branch line which crossed the South Camber by way of a swing bridge and continued on a viaduct over the foreshore , joining

10320-484: The main line just east of Portsmouth Harbour railway station . A small railway station and ornamental cast-iron shelter served in particular the needs of Queen Victoria and her family, who would often transfer from yacht to train at this location; this line soon became the main arrival/departure route for personnel. The swing bridge and viaduct were damaged in the wartime blitz and subsequently dismantled in 1946. The Royal Naval Railway Shelter has recently been moved to

10449-534: The mating edges. A similar technique, but with the tenons being pinned in position by dowels, was used in the Mediterranean for most of classical antiquity . Both these variants are "shell first" techniques, where any reinforcing frames are inserted after assembly of the planking has defined the hull shape. Carvel construction then took over in the Mediterranean. Northern Europe used clinker construction , but with some flush-planked ship-building in, for instance,

10578-555: The most famous shipyards was Long Jiang Shipyard ( zh:龙江船厂 ), located in Nanjing near the Treasure Shipyard where the ocean-going ships were built. The shipbuilders could build 24 models of ships of varying sizes. Several types of ships were built for the voyages, including Shachuan (沙船), Fuchuan (福船) and Baochuan ( treasure ship ) (宝船). Zheng He's treasure ships were regarded as Shachuan types, mainly because they were made in

10707-479: The mould loft . Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both commercial and military, are referred to as naval engineering . The construction of boats is a similar activity called boat building . The dismantling of ships is called ship breaking . The earliest evidence of maritime transport by modern humans is the settlement of Australia between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. This almost certainly involved rafts , possibly equipped with some sort of sail . Much of

10836-538: The naturally curved timber that meant that shapes could be cut without weaknesses caused by cuts across the grain of the timber. Ultimately, whole ships were made of iron and, later, steel . The earliest known depictions (including paintings and models) of shallow-water sailing boats is from the 6th to 5th millennium BC of the Ubaid period of Mesopotamia . They were made from bundled reeds coated in bitumen and had bipod masts. They sailed in shallow coastal waters of

10965-515: The newly opened block mills before embarking from Portsmouth on HMS Victory , leaving Britain for the last time before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. From 1814 wooden covers were built over some of the slips and docks, to designs by Robert Seppings . From 1815 the system of Dockyard apprenticeship was supplemented by the establishment of a School of Naval Architecture in Portsmouth (for training potential Master Shipwrights), initially housed in

11094-557: The north of the Mary Rose will not be ceded for several years at least, due to the site's proximity to the berth of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers . Along with Woolwich , Deptford , Chatham and Plymouth , Portsmouth has been one of the main Royal Navy Dockyards or Bases throughout its history. Richard I ordered construction of the first dock on the site in 1194, while his successor John added walls around

11223-470: The north-west corner of the yard. It was joined by a single dry dock, just to the south; the yard's one shipbuilding slip (completed in 1651) stood between the two docks. These would all have been built of timber, rather than stone. By 1660 the dockyard had, in addition to these large-scale facilities for shipbuilding and repairs, a new rope house (1,095 ft (334 m) in length) and a variety of small storehouses, workshops and dwellings arranged around

11352-535: The old double dock) and the civil engineering involved was on an unprecedented scale. The work was entrusted to Edmund Dummer , naval engineer and surveyor to the Navy Board . His new dry dock (the "Great Stone Dock" as it was called) was built to a pioneering new design, using brick and stone rather than wood and with an increased number of 'altars' or steps (the stepped sides allowed shorter timbers to be used for shoring and made it much easier for shipwrights to reach

11481-533: The original sails from the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The Trafalgar Experience is an interactive walk-through gallery detailing the Battle of Trafalgar, ending with a panorama painted by William Lionel Wyllie . Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust (the "Trust") is responsible for the maintenance and the upkeep of all historic buildings within the heritage footprint of the Historic Dockyard, and operates an ongoing programme of conservation. In addition, The Trust founded

11610-533: The other side of the island and restored. By the end of the 19th century No 5 Slip had been uncovered and extended (to a length of 666 feet (203 m)) to become the yard's principal shipbuilding slip. At the same time the adjacent dry dock (No 9) was filled in to provide space for stacking steel plates, alongside which a further smithery (No 3 Engine Smithery) was erected in 1903. Meanwhile, slips 1–4 were repurposed (being no longer large enough for warship construction). Before long Nos 4 and 3 had been filled in, and

11739-484: The repairing basin, to the rigging basin, to the fitting-out basin, and exit from there into a new tidal basin, ready to take on fuel alongside the sizeable coaling wharf there. Three dry docks were also constructed as part of the plan, as well as parallel pair of sizeable locks for entry into the basin complex; the contemporary pumping station which stands nearby not only served to drain these docks and locks, but also delivered compressed air to power equipment around

11868-416: The resilient and salt-resistant pandanus leaves. These sails allowed Austronesians to embark on long-distance voyaging. The ancient Champa of Vietnam also uniquely developed basket-hulled boats whose hulls were composed of woven and resin - caulked bamboo, either entirely or in conjunction with plank strakes . They range from small coracles (the o thúng ) to large ocean-going trading ships like

11997-491: The same period. It is, however, the sixth ropehouse (since 1665) to have stood on the site. Both its immediate predecessors were destroyed by fire (in 1760 and 1770) and the current building was itself gutted by fire in 1776 as the result of an arson attack . It was called a 'double' ropery because the spinning and laying stages took place in the same building (on different floors) rather than on two separate sites. Other buildings associated with ropemaking (including hemp houses,

12126-505: The senior officers of the yard was built at around this time (Long Row, 1715–19); later in the century it was joined by a further terrace (Short Row, 1787). In 1733 a Royal Naval Academy for officer cadets was established within the Dockyard, the Navy's first shore-based training facility and a forerunner of Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth . The second half of the eighteenth century

12255-450: The shipbuilder learned the techniques of shipbuilding from his family and is very likely to earn a higher status in the shipyard. Additionally, the shipbuilder had access to business networking that could help to find clients. If a shipbuilder entered the occupation through an apprenticeship, the shipbuilder was likely a farmer before he was hired as a shipbuilder, or he was previously an experienced shipbuilder. Many shipbuilders working in

12384-429: The ships built were financed by consortia of investors. These considerations led to the documentation of design and construction practices in what had previously been a secretive trade run by master shipwrights and ultimately led to the field of naval architecture , in which professional designers and draftsmen played an increasingly important role. Even so, construction techniques changed only very gradually. The ships of

12513-422: The shipyard were forced into the occupation. The ships built for Zheng He's voyages needed to be waterproof, solid, safe, and have ample room to carry large amounts of trading goods. Therefore, due to the highly commercialized society that was being encouraged by the expeditions, trades, and government policies, the shipbuilders needed to acquire the skills to build ships that fulfil these requirements. Shipbuilding

12642-433: The shipyards, the marine equipment manufacturers, and many related service and knowledge providers) grew as an important and strategic industry in a number of countries around the world. This importance stems from: Historically, the industry has suffered from the absence of global rules and a tendency towards ( state - supported ) over-investment due to the fact that shipyards offer a wide range of technologies, employ

12771-649: The site of Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) that indicated the existence of a shipbuilders guild . Roughly at this time is the last migration wave of the Austronesian expansion , when the Polynesian islands spread over vast distances across the Pacific Ocean were being colonized by the (Austronesian) Polynesians from Island Melanesia using double-hulled voyaging catamarans . At its furthest extent, there

12900-528: The site, which was now enclosed by a wooden palisade . After the Restoration , there was continued investment in the site with the excavation of a new mast pond, begun in 1664, alongside which a mast house was built in 1669. Between 1665 and 1668 Bernard de Gomme fortified the dockyard with an earthen rampart (complete with one bastion and two demi-bastions ), as part of his wider fortification of Portsmouth and Gosport . As France began to pose more of

13029-499: The society building it could produce. Some key industrial advances were developed to support shipbuilding, for instance the sawing of timbers by mechanical saws propelled by windmills in Dutch shipyards during the first half of the 17th century. The design process saw the early adoption of the logarithm (invented in 1615) to generate the curves used to produce the shape of a hull , especially when scaling up these curves accurately in

13158-429: The space beneath their cast iron covers converted into a shipbuilding workshop (No 3 Ship Shop); the neighbouring No 2 Slip was used for hauling up torpedo boat destroyers for a time, while No 1 was used as a boat slip. Shipbuilding#Modern shipbuilding manufacturing techniques Until recently, with the development of complex non-maritime technologies, a ship has often represented the most advanced structure that

13287-478: The stronger flushed deck design derived from Indian designs, and the increasing use of iron reinforcement. The flushed deck originated from the Bengal rice ships, with Bengal being famous for its shipbuilding industry at the time. Iron was gradually adopted in ship construction, initially to provide stronger joints in a wooden hull e.g. as deck knees, hanging knees, knee riders and the other sharp joints, ones in which

13416-450: The timber ground east of the Basin; as well as providing storage space, they accommodated workshops for a variety of trades, including joiners, wheelwrights, wood-carvers, capstan-makers and various other craftsmen. A new smithery was also built nearby, immediately to the north (the latest in a succession of smiths' shops to have been built on the site); dating from 1791, it was mainly occupied with anchor making. Ten years later this process

13545-549: The treasure shipyard in Nanjing. Shachuan , or 'sand-ships', are ships used primarily for inland transport. However, in recent years, some researchers agree that the treasure ships were more of the Fuchuan type. It is said in vol. 176 of San Guo Bei Meng Hui Bian (三朝北盟汇编) that ships made in Fujian are the best ones. Therefore, the best shipbuilders and laborers were brought from these places to support Zheng He's expedition. The shipyard

13674-425: The underside of vessels needing repair). Extensively rebuilt in 1769, the Great Stone Dock is now known as No.5 dock. Along with the new dock, Dummer proposed that two wet docks (non-tidal basins) be built: the first ("Lower") Wet Dock was entered directly from the harbour and provided access to the Great Stone Dock; since much expanded, it remains in place (now known as "No. 1 Basin"). The second ("Upper") Wet Dock

13803-437: The upper floor provided a head of water for Bentham's aforementioned dockyard-wide pipe network, providing both salt water for firefighting and fresh water for various uses (including, for the first time, provision of drinking water to ships on the wharves) sourced from a newly sunk 274 ft well. Between the two Wood Mills buildings a single-storey workshop was built in 1802 to accommodate what soon came to be recognised as

13932-679: The use of Victory as flagship. The Second Sea Lord is now based at the Henry Leach Building on Whale Island , which is also the headquarters of the Fleet Commander . Some of the following ships (e.g. the patrol vessels) are not based in Portsmouth, but form part of the Portsmouth Flotilla . In changes to base porting arrangements announced in November 2017, HM Ships Westminster , Richmond , Kent and St Albans were to move to

14061-603: The waterline, the introduction of copper sheathing as a deterrent to shipworm and fouling, etc. In the early decades of the Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1825) western ship design remained largely based on its traditional pre-industrial designs and materials and yet greatly improved in safety as "the risk of being wrecked for Atlantic shipping fell by one-third, and of foundering by two thirds, reflecting improvements in seaworthiness and navigation respectively." The improvement in seaworthiness has been credited to adopting

14190-437: The western edge of the basin, housed a series of workshops: for construction and repair of boilers, for punching and shearing and for heavy turning ; there was also an erecting shop for assembling the finished engines. The upper floor housed pattern shops, fitting shops and other light engineering workshops. Line shafts throughout were powered by an 80 hp steam engine accommodated to the rear. A new Brass and Iron Foundry

14319-450: The widest iron span in Britain when built in 1845). Developments in shipbuilding technology, however, led to several of the new amenities having to be rebuilt and expanded (almost as soon as they were finished). A much larger Iron Foundry was opened in 1861, immediately to the east of its predecessor; it was further expanded in the following decade. In 1867 a very large Armour Plate Workshop

14448-432: The works were extended to accommodate machinery for the rolling of iron to make bars and bolts. A millwrights ' shop was also established nearby. The Wood Mills, Block Mills, Metal Mills and Millwrights' department were all placed under Goodrich's supervision as Mechanist to the Royal Navy. In 1800, the Royal Navy had 684 ships and the Dockyard was the largest industrial complex in the world. In 1805 Horatio Nelson toured

14577-432: The world's first steam-powered factory for mass production: Portsmouth Block Mills . Marc Brunel , father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel , famously designed the machines, which manufactured ships' pulley blocks through a total of fifteen separate stages of production. Having been presented with Brunel's designs, which would be built by Henry Maudslay , Bentham incorporated them into his woodworking complex and linked them to

14706-497: The world. The former Block Mills are of international significance, having been the first factory in the world to employ steam-powered machine tools for mass production. The Royal Naval Museum has been on the site since 1911. In 1985 a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and Portsmouth City Council created the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust to manage part of the historic south-west corner of

14835-518: Was a key period in the development of Portsmouth (and indeed of the other Royal Dockyards). A substantial planned programme of expansion and modernisation was undertaken from 1761 onwards, driven (as would be future periods of expansion) by increases both in the size of individual ships and in the overall size of the fleet. In the 1760s the Lower Wet Dock (by then known as the Great Basin) was deepened,

14964-551: Was also built soon afterwards, on the southern edge of the basin, and in 1852 the Great Steam Smithery was opened alongside the Steam Factory (where Bentham's Metal Mills had formerly stood), containing a pair of steam hammers designed by James Nasmyth . The infrastructure and buildings were designed by a group of Royal Engineer officers, overseen by Captains Sir William Denison and Henry James . (The new steam basin

15093-434: Was built at Woolwich in 1839; but it soon became clear that the site was far too small to cope with this revolutionary change in ship building and maintenance. Therefore, in 1843, work began in Portsmouth on further reclamation of land to the north of the then Dockyard to create a new 7-acre basin (known today as No 2 Basin) with a sizeable factory alongside for manufacturing marine steam engines . The Steam Factory, on

15222-486: Was built in Portsmouth by Henry VII in 1495. The first warship built here was the Sweepstake of 1497; of more significance were the carracks Mary Rose of 1509 and Peter Pomegranate of 1510—both were rebuilt here in 1536. The wreck of the Mary Rose (which capsized in 1545, but was raised in 1982) is on display in a purpose-built museum. A fourth Tudor warship was the galleass Jennett , built in 1539 and enlarged as

15351-504: Was built over what had been the boat pond and boat houses; so in 1845 a new facility (No 6 Boathouse) was built alongside the mast pond, to the south, which was converted into a boat pond.) Three new dry docks were constructed over the next 20 years, opening off the new basin, and another was built on reclaimed land west of the basin, immediately north of the shipbuilding slips. The slips were now five in number, with Nos. 3–5 being covered by interlinking metal roofs (believed to have comprised

15480-435: Was demolished to make way for the new Commissioner's house and a new chapel ( St Ann's Church ) was built nearby. At the same time a set of offices for the senior officers of the yard was built (in place of an earlier office block), overlooking the docks and basin; it continues to provide office space to this day. After the old Commissioner's House had been demolished, four identical quadrangular buildings were built, flanking

15609-399: Was entered by way of a channel. To empty the dry dock, Dummer designed a unique system which used water from the Upper Wet Dock to drive a water-wheel on the ebb tide , which in turn powered a set of pumps. (At high tide, an auxiliary set of pumps was used, powered by a horse gin .) In 1699 Dummer adapted the channel leading to the Upper Wet Dock, enabling it to be closed off at each end by

15738-766: Was formally renamed the 'Fleet Maintenance and Repair Organisation' (FMRO). The FMRO was privatised in 1998; in 2002, shipbuilding (which had not taken place on site since the late 1960s) resumed in the form of block construction , but this again ceased in 2014. Today, Portsmouth is the home base for two-thirds of the Royal Navy surface fleet , including the two aircraft carriers, HMS  Queen Elizabeth and HMS  Prince of Wales . Naval logistics, accommodation and messing are provided on site, with personnel support functions (e.g. medical and dental; education; pastoral and welfare) provided by Defence Equipment and Support . Other functions and departments, e.g. Navy Command Headquarters support staff, are also accommodated within

15867-525: Was much more accomplished than had been thought and has described the distribution of clinker vs. carvel construction in Western Europe (see map [1] ). An insight into shipbuilding in the North Sea/Baltic areas of the early medieval period was found at Sutton Hoo , England, where a ship was buried with a chieftain. The ship was 26 metres (85 ft) long and 4.3 metres (14 ft) wide. Upward from

15996-539: Was not the sole industry utilising Chinese lumber at that time; the new capital was being built in Beijing from approximately 1407 onwards, which required huge amounts of high-quality wood. These two ambitious projects commissioned by Emperor Yongle would have had enormous environmental and economic effects, even if the ships were half the dimensions given in the History of Ming . Considerable pressure would also have been placed on

16125-628: Was opened, filling the space between the new North and South dry docks on the eastern side of the basin. In 1860 policing of the dockyard was also transferred to the new No. 2 Division of the Metropolitan Police , a role it fulfilled until 1933. Technological change affected not only ships' means of propulsion, but the materials from which they were built. By 1860 wooden warships, vulnerable as they were to modern armaments, had been rendered largely obsolescent. The changeover to metal hulls not only required new building techniques, but also heralded

16254-444: Was the first radical new design, being built entirely of wrought iron. Despite her success, and the great savings in cost and space provided by the iron hull, compared to a copper-sheathed counterpart, there remained problems with fouling due to the adherence of weeds and barnacles. As a result, composite construction remained the dominant approach where fast ships were required, with wooden timbers laid over an iron frame ( Cutty Sark

16383-426: Was under the command of Ministry of Public Works . The shipbuilders had no control over their lives. The builders, commoner's doctors, cooks and errands had lowest social status. The shipbuilders were forced to move away from their hometown to the shipyards. There were two major ways to enter the shipbuilder occupation: family tradition, or apprenticeship. If a shipbuilder entered the occupation due to family tradition,

16512-414: Was unknown when the Chinese people started adopting Southeast Asian (Austronesian) shipbuilding techniques. They may have been started as early as the 8th century, but the development was gradual and the true ocean-going Chinese junks did not appear suddenly. The word "po" survived in Chinese long after, referring to the large ocean-going junks. In September 2011, archeological investigations done at

16641-473: Was vividly described: "The immense masses of the anchors, the ponderous hammers, the vast size of the bellows, the roaring of the flaming furnaces, the reverberations of the falling cumbrous hammers, and the fiery pieces of metal flying in all directions, are truly awful, grand and picturesque". In 1796 Samuel Bentham was appointed Inspector General of Naval Works by the Admiralty with the brief of modernising

#748251