Number 8 Dock

SX 4456 SE PLYMOUTH NORTH YARD, Devonport Dockyard 740-1/90/197 No.8 Dock

GV II

Dry dock. Begun 1896; extended twice prior to 1914. Built of Cornish granite, supplemented by supplies from Norway. Over 700 feet long and of traditional form with altars stepped inwards, flights of steps and arched entries. HISTORY: built as part of the Key ham extension to the Devonport Dockyards, begun in 1896 and prompted by the need for more docking and berthing facilities. Devonport was thought to be the first port of call in wartime; by 1914 it had become the largest naval base in Western Europe. Five Dreadnoughts, in addition to other battleships and cruisers forming part of Admiral Fisher's expansion of the fleet, were constructed here prior to 1914. Included, with its related Pumping Station (qv), as an example of the largest shipbuilding docks in a naval yard, representative of a period in which naval construction was of prime national strategic significance, and international consequence.

Listing NGR: SX4480856192