Trafalgar Dry Dock

Trafalgar Dry Dock is a dry dock constructed in 1905, with enlargements made in 1913 and 1922. It is built of concrete, requiring 130,000 cubic yards of concrete for its original construction. The dock features steel entrance gates operated by direct acting vertical engines and has stepped sides with a series of concrete linking stairways. By 1913, although it was the largest dry dock in the world, it was not large enough to accommodate the newly built SS Olympic, leading to its enlargement. During this enlargement, the original steel gates were removed and replaced with a sliding steel caisson, which allowed the water level inside the dock to be maintained against a falling tide. In 1922, the dock was enlarged again to fit the SS Berengaria, which involved cutting a V-shaped section into the head of the dock, leaving only 10 inches between the side of the ship and the dock wall. From 1924 onwards, larger Cunard liners began to be serviced by a large floating dock, and after 1933, by the King George V Graving Dock. The dry dock is included for its historical interest due to its connection with earlier ocean-going liners.