The sun., 1897-02-07
THE WORLDS DRY DOCKS.
MORE THAN OSE-HALF or THEN
OTNED BY GREAT BRITAIN

q a
OWNED BY GREAT BRITAIN
Few In the United states-Need OF Greater
Docking Facilities on Hoth the At
Iantic and Pacinc Coa-t--sizes OF DOCKS
No country in the world whose marlne-na-
val or mercautiio-is OF Importance. Is SO poor
ly supplied with dry docks and facilities Tor
harboring Its shipping az is the United states.
In the event Of sudden war this country would
be in q deplorable condition on account OF the
limited number and lack Of capacity OF Its
Government docks. and. unlike Great Britain
il has comparatively few private docks OF largo
size which could be pressed into service.
There are now in the United states Just three
docks that are capable Of accommodating tho
largest naval vessels Ono is at Port Orchard
on the Pacific coast. one at Port Royal. and the
other at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. or course
there are other dry dooks-altogether about
sixty-three In the whole United States-of
smaller proportions. but not sumcient
mum Der Of the larger docks 70 accommodate tho
needs Of growing navy and perchanos TO sup
ply the wants Of the larger vessels OF the Amer
lean mercantile marine.
The total numocr Of dry docks In the world
Is 022. Of which Great Britain owns or con-
trols about 5o'per cent Of the entire number.
280 being within tho confines OF England. Ire
land, and Scotland. while she has at least 10
IN Australia. 10 in China. 80 In India and tho
and British Columbia, in the West Indies,
and AZ Malta. The remainder are DIVIDED
among twenty-one other nations, the unisea s
States having O3, France 80. Germany 32,
spain IA. Holland IL, Italy l3. Sweden -. and
Belgium II. In England the naval dock yards
5i,S to So feet i Of water on the siis At Ports.
mouth there ar. nine dry docks having from
thrsc docks with from a734 TO s5li feet Of wsterj
At Queenstown there are two Cocks With 3gls
feet Of water The two priyse Sy dosEs a. III,
The dry dock in connection with the,Em.
single craving dock In the world. being 761
fet long. osks feet wide, aud having depth OF
milton 1a'i gallons. witch. wiSS a ssip % in ssn So
eDptido ia from ono to two hours. kussis
has three large decks at Cronstadt. capable Of
the north coast at Havrs two dry docks. each
with 2sIs feet of water on the stills. and az
feet, and one with 81 feet of.water. On: the
south coast. at Toulon, there are two docks
wth 80 feet on water , Zach S ana Two hs with SsM
dock at Ferrol with 32lS feet OF water on .he
sill; Italy has two docks at Genoa with gs
one at laramie. with 3ajt feet. and one at
docks at. Pola with 27A aud 80 i,et, Of water;
Turkey has . dock At COnHtan tinople with 80
feet Of S TS and tnsAna @ hes Of s M..a sn
ada has one dock at Esauimait. B. G., with
2dls feet, and another at Lewis ION the 81
dock at Halifax. =. g., which was opened in
september. 1850. Is one OF the largest docks OF
It's kind on this conlnen.. aid can be adapted
TO vessels COL feet long.
As has already been stated there are only
three docks In the United states capable OF
| accommodating the newer and larger vessels of
the: navy. :he: other Goyernment docks at
Brooklyn, League Island. and Norfolk being
draught vessels. AT least three other large
docks with dsph % q w ~1sT Ss, not ,S h1a 80
coast cess ~ and nd two @ on the Pacific. % 0 Atlantic
The new dock at Port Orchard between Seat.
tie and Tacoma is 015 feet In length. l3o feet
in width at soping. and $40 feet long and 81
feet wide on the bottom. and is tho largest on
the Pacific coast, and At the same time takes
and is capable OF accommodating any vessel
now afoat. II Is about lao feet longer than
the Mare Island docs and 200 feet iOIssr so: 5s:R
at the Brooklyn Navy Ynrd, which has Just
been completed. Is so feet In length at tho
Of IS feet and an entrance width OF i6l feet:
II /, built OF oak. withs concrete bottD IN. and
$. C.. dock Is $50 feet long and has q depth OF
but 20 feet whi;h, exeept at very high tides,
dif,icult and somewhat risky matter. The
larger docks at Erie Basin are 620xs5x25. The
Newport News dock 10 63oxl3 30x:5 feet.
The regulations OF the Navy Department re-
auire that all steel vessels shall be docked.
cleaned. and painted at least once in six
months. anu tnht unuer Snail
more than nine months elapse without dock
ing. Naval vessels at foreign stations are. Of
course. Obliged To use such docks. Govern
ment or private. as are nesreet Rt hand. In
the summer OF 1895 the cruiser Columbia was
one OF the first vessels to use the magnificent
Empress dock at southampton, which 10
owned by the London and southwestern Rail-
way. The expenses OF such docking are in
many cases enormous. In Government docks,
| which. however. are not always available. the
| expense is mainly ;or the labor OF preparing
the dock and taking the vessel In and out. A
yezeel lil n n TaNas q Oregon would ahonf
| $500. Where private docks are secured tho
| charges are considerably higher. Competi-
| tion At European ports. particularly in Great
| Britain. has. however. lowered the docking
| charges TO o minimum, out the charges at other
foreign ports. such asin India. China, Australia,
| and New Zealand. arc very high, and the s1-
penses 10 such vessel as tho Indiana would
| not be les. than about $4,000, TO which must
be added tho additional cost OF scra Ding. clean
| ing, and painting. which 10 about $1,000.