DOCKYARDS A..ND NAVAL B.k.SES. 11-.7 --1 bases - - - t ; 2 _ aa:_ -Le azA: 7-e hi; 7 =:". =:. =_ -2:•=.: _ 7 This = - - ••• _ 7=-2. 172 7: 22y by - e- - --7_ - - _..c- - • _ - 7.
- - •z- - "e.
az :71: 11.." t : 3. -1_,= - • - • .• - - - - " Z 2:2 := '11 -- " - - - 1::. — - - z 7- _ _ _ _ - - - - .
, - - - 7- 7= 1.Z " = • - - - 7=-- "= -"=;-= _• = - - - :7_72 - "-- "------; -" s=f-:-.
"-" = --='- - _7_ -_-_z =7_ 3.
tO :7 = 7=7 = -- 7_1 be by - - "" "-2. :7 :f - z--.--z - :f Great - - - f - - - : ..-71:-..:TFerl of a few z z- -7z - _ _ - - -r__7 z 7-- - - - - seaport ;•,= • • t _ t 1 it:la-rice' of the z • * = -2 t of3.7 : : f 7 a z que _ _ - - -,.:=.:tpers.
s. --. - - ; V f 1_ 7. • 7 - _ t " _ f- 1_1_ R • ,t7f- -.."=="z -:"=7 :f 'Rye :72-±7t2 "Z- z =--;D4 de_______ - 7 Z t 7 .1- .71 t 7to - - ' .3 = 7. 2 : 7 rr. at :7_ laid the faun_ --z - at the latter7-7 r - d at Wool - - - - =__: f E :Fit royal dockwas. 1.112 z.:::::ard at Portsmouth - - f Henry VII. Queen - a: and Sheerness and CH a II. aftc-r the Restora _ 7 _ _ _ 5 treat a part inrloclryard tmtil 1689, when _ -.ick at Devonport.
Tbe 2.7 Wa-i 77. in 1814 and was 1-y the .71 (QueenstOwn I S3: the the control of th; Navy Bozr:_4. ' in : King Henry VIII. The Admiralty were responsible only for the fleet at sea Viii. The Admiralty were responsible only for the fleet at sea and this dual control of the Navy had many disadvantages. It led to extravagance and allowed mismanagement and corruption which, several times in the history of the country, came near to bringing about national disaster. With the Reform Bill in 1832, the Admiralty and the Navy Office were amalgamated and the present system of dockyard administration came into being. Dur ing the i 9th century a gradual change came over the dockyards with the transition from sail to steam and many additions were made to meet the needs of the modern fleet. The most important improvements at any one period were brought about by the Naval Works Act of 1895, which sanctioned a large number of new works. Defensive harbours were commenced at Portland, Dover and Gibraltar and also dockyard extensions at the latter place. At Devonport dockyard the great Keyham extension was started and new works were put in hand at Hongkong and Simon's Town. At the same time the building of naval barracks at the three home ports began, together with new hospitals at Chatham, Haslar and Haulbowline and colleges at Dartmouth and Keyham.
The growing German menace in the North sea, in the opening years of the present century, compelled the Admiralty to seek a new base on the east coast, farther north and easier of approach than Chatham. In i9o3 the Government approved the creation of a new naval dockyard at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. The out break of the World War found this base far from complete and the defence of the anchorage against submarines, in common with other naval anchorages, had been almost entirely neglected. The work was pressed on and before the end of the war, a very fine dockyard had been completed. Its facilities were such that the biggest ships of the Grand Fleet could be docked and refitted there whilst a large fleet could lie in safety behind boom defences.
In 1914 Great Britain possessed large dockyards at Ports mouth, Plymouth, Chatham and Malta, as well as the uncompleted works at Rosyth, at all of which the largest ships could be docked. Smaller establishments existed, in home waters, at Sheerness, Portland, Haulbowline and Pembroke. At Gibraltar, Hongkong, Bermuda, Simon's Town (Cape of Good Hope) and Sydney (N.S.W.) were dockyards of old standing with dry docks for the largest ships and there were minor establishments at Ascension, Wei-Hai-Wei, Colombo, Bombay and Calcutta, the two last men tioned belonging to the Indian Government. Yet, with all this array of permanent dockyards, the World War made necessary the establishment of other naval bases. Scapa Flow became the main base of the Grand Fleet equipped only for storing, ammu nitioning and "running repairs." Cromarty Firth became the second base of the fleet and with the aid of a large floating dock was able to complete the repairs of the biggest ships badly dam aged in battle. Harwich, Dover and Immingham acted as bases for light forces and Mudros, Alexandria and other places became bases during particular operations. With the surrender of the German fleet and the changes brought about by post war condi tions, Rosyth lost its importance. The great dockyard was re duced to a condition of care and maintenance and so remains. In the interests of economy and the general reduction of armaments the dockyards at Haulbowline and Pembroke were closed down and a reduction in establishment was made at other places.
The result of the World War brought about a reorientation in British sea power and the growth in the size of capital ships has necessitated the provision of a base in the Far East, capable of maintaining a modern fleet. Hongkong, the only base in those waters for British naval forces, is quite inadequate and, moreover, under the Washington Treaty, no additions or improvements can be made there. The agreement, however, prescribed certain exact limits which definitely excluded Singapore from any prohi bitions. That port has been selected for the new dockyard because it lies upon the flank of the sea route to Australia and New Zea land, while behind it are the waters of the Indian ocean and the great British possessions that lie around them. Singapore threat ens no one, for it is as far from Japan as Gibraltar is from New York and it is very nearly antipodal to the latter place. But it ensures that, if need be, a battle fleet with all its attendant auxiliaries can be moved into such a position as to afford security to that part of the British empire that lies east of Suez. Without such a base there would be a grave risk in sending heavy ships so far from docking and repairing facilities, for Malta, the nearest large dockyard, is 6,000m. from Singapore. The importance of this dockyard to the sea security of the empire is perhaps not yet fully understood in England, but in Australia and New Zealand and the British possessions in the Far East its necessity is fully appreciated. The work of creating it was put in hand in 1923, checked for a year in 1924 and restarted in the following year. The estimated cost of the new base is L9,000,000.
Dockyard Administration.—The system under which British dockyards are administered is uniform for all, whether the yards are large or small, at home or abroad. The control of all dock yards is vested in the controller of the navy (the third sea lord) . At the Admiralty, working under the controller are the director of naval construction, by whom all ships are designed, and the engineering, ordnance, torpedo, electrical and other technical de partments, each responsible for the design of its own material. The director of dockyards, also working under the controller, is the Admiralty official under whose instructions the work in the dockyards goes on, involving the control of an army of artisans and labourers and the keeping of costing accounts. Instructions emanate from the Admiralty, the details are left to the dockyard officials and in practice there is considerable decentralization.
Each dockyard is under the charge of an admiral or a captain superintendent, according to its size. His deputy as a rule acts as King's harbour master and is responsible for the berthing and moving of ships in the port. The chief dockyard officers are the constructive manager, the engineer manager, the naval store of ficer, the electrical engineer, whose names explain their duties, the civil engineer, in charge of all buildings, docks, basins, etc., the cashier, expense accounts officer and medical officers. Technical matters regarding guns and torpedoes are supervised by the captains of the local gunnery and torpedo schools. There being close personal communication between responsible officers, rapid decisions can be taken in matters arising between the departments as the work progresses and operations are thus conducted with ease and efficiency.
France.—The French coast is divided into five arrondissements having the headquarters at the naval ports of Cherbourg, Brest, Toulon, Lorient and Rochefort. All these are building and fitting out yards. Corsica has naval bases at Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio. On the African coast there are docking facilities at Algiers and fortified bases at Oran and Bizerta. There are naval establishments at Saigon and Haiphong in the Far East and at Diego Suarez in Madagascar. There is a gun foundry at Ruelle: steel works at Guerigny, where anchors, cables and armour plates are made : machinery works are at Indret, an island in the River Loire, and there are many private shipbuilding establishments.
In each arrondissement the vice-admiral, who is the naval pre fect, is the representative of the minister of marine and has full direction and command of the arsenal. He is commander-in chief and governor designate in time of war, but his authority does not extend to ships belonging to organized squadrons. The naval prefect is assisted by a rear-admiral as chief of the staff whose special functions are the efficiency of the personnel of the fleet, whilst the "major-general," who is usually another rear admiral, is concerned with the material. There are also directors of stores, of naval construction, of the medical service, of naval ordnance and of works as well as of the submarine defences which include torpedoes, mines and torpedo-boats. The prefect directs the operation of the whole dockyard and port and is re sponsible for the efficiency of ships there in reserve.
Germany.—In the first years of the present century, during the expansion of the German fleet, two great modern dockyards were built at Wilhelmshaven on the North sea and at Kiel in the Baltic with a ship canal connecting the two. Smaller establish ments were maintained at Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Flensburg, Swinemiinde, Danzig and at Kiao-Chau in the Far East. The last-named two were lost to Germany as the result of the World War, and with the disappearance of the German fleet as an important one, all the dockyards have been much reduced.
The chief official at each German dockyard is the superin tendent, who is a rear-admiral or captain directly responsible to the naval secretary of State. Under the superintendent's orders are the captain of the fleet reserve, the directors of ordnance, torpedoes, navigation, naval construction, engineering and har bour works, besides other officers. Considerable progress is being made in the re-organization of the German Navy, within the limits of the Versailles Treaty. Important private shipyards exist at Elbing in East Prussia, at Bredow, near Stettin, at Bremen and at Hamburg, which though primarily commercial are all capable of building warships.
Italy.—The Italian Navy is particularly well equipped with modern dockyards. The chief establishment is at Spezia, where there are four large docks and two large building slips in a very completely equipped dockyard. At Naples there are small dry docks with building slips at the subsidiary establishment at Castellamare, across the bay. Taranto and Venice both possess large docks and building slips. A small naval base exists at Mad dalena in Sardinia and, as the result of the World War, the valuable Austrian dockyards at Trieste and Pola became Italian property. The Italian Government has no gun or torpedo fac tories, most of the ordnance being made by the Armstrong firm at Pozzuoli and torpedoes by Schwarzkopf at Venice, whilst armour plates are supplied by the important steel works at Terni. Machinery is supplied by private firms of which there are large numbers.
Japan.—The first dockyard was established in Japan in 1866 at Yokosuka, and this still remains the principal establishment in the country. At first, French naval constructors and engineers were employed but, in 1875, the Japanese took the administration into their own hands. At that time the largest ship that could be constructed in Japan was 5,00o tons, but the dockyard expanded rapidly and is now able to build and dock the largest and most modern ships. Until after the close of the Russo-Japanese War, in 1905, all the important ships of the Japanese fleet were built in Great Britain, France, Germany or the United States. In that year a large first-class cruiser was launched at the new dockyard at Kure and since then the Japanese have only gone abroad for the first ship of each new type. These have been copied in their own establishments, which are thoroughly equipped for producing ships and material second to none, in spite of the fact that a large proportion of the raw material has to come from abroad. Besides Yokosuka, there are now large modern dockyards at Kure, where an armour plate factory has been established; at Sasebo and at Maizuru. Ryojun (Port Arthur) became Japanese after the war with Russia, and there are other naval establishments at Masampo, Takeshiki (Tsushima Is.), Ominato and at Bako in the Pescadores. Docking facilities for large ships also exist at Tokyo, Yokohama and Uraga.
Soviet Russia.—Of the present state of the Russian dockyards very little is known. Before the break up of Russia, important dockyards existed at Kronstadt and Petrograd and at Nikolayev in the Black sea, with lesser establishments at Archangel, Sevasto pol, Batum, Baku, Vladivostock, Reval, Libau and Sveaborg. The World War removed the last-named three from Russian possession and the naval effectiveness of the remainder is now probably negligible. Ordnance and steel works exist at Obukhov and Putilov but their output is at present unimportant.
Spain.—The Spanish dockyards at Ferrol, Cartagena and Cadiz are old establishments which, of recent years, have not kept pace with the times. The fleet is, however, now being steadily mod ernized and will, in the not far distant future, become a factor in the balance of sea power amongst the States with a Mediter ranean littoral. At both Ferrol and Cartagena there are large dry docks. The larger ships are built at Ferrol, Cartagena deal ing only with torpedo craft and gunboats; both dockyards are being brought up to date. The dockyard at La Carraca (Cadiz) has four dry docks but no building slips and is used chiefly as a base for gunboats and torpedo craft. There is a small naval establishment at Port Mahon in the Balearic Islands and con siderable commercial building and repair yards belonging to private firms at Barcelona, Gijon, Santander and Bilbao.
Minor Naval Powers.—Naval dockyards are maintained by all the Powers who possess fleets, but those in European waters which have not been mentioned above are of secondary impor tance and are only capable of serving the small navies that they maintain. In South America, although the dockyards themselves are small, the largest capital ships can be docked at Buenos Aires and Puerto Belgrano in Argentina, at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and at Talcuhuano in Chile. (S. T. H. W.) The shore establishments under control of the navy department are known as navy yards and naval stations. The navy yards are equipped with dry-docks, and shops for general repairs and alter ations to vessels of the fleet. They are also provided with build ing ways for the construction of new vessels. Each yard is equipped for the manufacture of certain equipment used in the naval service and has a supply department for supplying stores and equipment to vessels in active commission and for outfitting new vessels. There are several important naval stations established for special purposes.
Navy Yards.—There are eight navy yards within the conti nental limits of the United States. Of these, six are on the Atlantic coast and two on the Pacific coast. Those on the Atlantic coast are situated at Portsmouth, N.H. (Kittery, Me.) ; Boston, Mass.; New York (Brooklyn), N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa. ; Norfolk, Va. ; and Charleston, S.C. Those on the West coast are situated at Mare island, Calif., and Bremerton, Wash.
Naval Stations are located at New Orleans, La.; Guantanamo, Cuba ; St. Thomas, Virgin islands ; San Diego, Calif.; Pearl Har bor, Hawaii; Tutuila, Samoa; Guam; Cavite and Olongapo, P.I. Of these stations, Pearl Harbor, Cavite and Olongapo are fitted similarly to navy yards for the minor repairs of vessels of the fleet. The stations at Pearl Harbor and Olongapo have dry docks; that of Olongapo being the floating dry-dock "Dewey." Submarine Bases are located at New London, Conn. ; Hamp ton Roads, Va. ; Key West, Fla. ; Coco Solo, Canal Zone; San Pedro, Calif.; Astoria, Ore. ; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii ; and Cavite, P.I. These bases are fitted with small machine shops and bar racks for officers and enlisted men, and bear the same relation to submarines as a mother ship. The station at New London has a school for the instruction of officers and enlisted men in submarine work.
Naval Operating Bases are located at Hampton Roads, Va.; Key West, Fla. ; Canal Zone ; San Diego, Calif. ; San Francisco, Calif.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These bases are centres from which men of war can operate and be maintained in time of peace or war, and they afford anchorage space for a large number of vessels.
Naval Air Stations are located at Anacostia, D.C. ; Hampton Roads, Va. ; Chatham, Mass. ; Squantum, Mass. ; Lakehurst, N.J.; Cape May, N.J.; Pensacola, Fla. ; Canal Zone; San Diego, Calif.; Sand Point, Wash. ; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These stations are fitted with hangars, small machine shops and landing fields for the general repair and operations of shore base aircraft.
Training Stations, for training newly enlisted men, are located at Newport, R.I. ; Hampton Roads, Va. ; San Diego, Calif., and Great Lakes, Ill.
Naval Hospitals are located at Portsmouth, N.H. ; Boston, Mass. ; Newport, R.I. ; New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa. ; Wash ington, D.C. ; Annapolis, Md. ; Norfolk, Va. ; San Diego, Calif.; Mare island, Calif.; Bremerton, Wash. ; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Cavite, P.I.
Other Special Stations are : the Naval War college at New port, for the instruction of officers; Naval academy at Annapolis, Md., for the training and education of midshipmen prior to com missioning as officers; Engineering Experimental station at An napolis, Md. ; and Experimental Laboratory at Bellevue, D.C., for experimental work in engineering; Aircraft factory, Philadelphia, Pa., for building and testing of aircraft ; Torpedo stations at Newport, R.I., Alexandria, Va., and Keyport, Wash., for building, repairing and testing of torpedoes, and torpedo parts ; Naval Gun factory, Washington, D.C., for construction of naval ordnance; Naval Ordnance plant, South Charleston, W.Va., for the manu facture of armour and gun forgings; powder factory, Indian Head, Md., for the manufacture of powder; Naval Proving ground, Dahlgren, Va., for testing of naval ordnance ; Naval Mine depot, Yorktown, Va., for the storage of mines and explosives; Helium plant, Fort Worth, Texas, for the production of helium gas used in lighter-than-air craft ; Naval observatory, Washington, D.C., for the purpose of furnishing astronomical data and nautical instruments to naval vessels and aircraft and furnishing time signals. Fueling depots have been established at Melville, R.I. ; Yorktown, Va. ; La Playa, Calif.; Tiburon, California.
The officer ordered to command a navy yard or naval station is the commandant. He is usually a rear admiral and is the rep resentative of the navy department in all matters within the limits of his command and is responsible for business transacted therein. The principal aids to the commandant are the captain of the yard and the manager. The captain of the yard, who is next in succes sion to command, has general charge of the water-front, yard craft and ships moored there, the police force, fire department and other purely military activities as distinct from industrial activ ities. The manager is the officer in charge of the industrial activ ities, including the labour force, productive shops and offices. He is directly responsible to the commandant for all industrial work performed at the yard. Under the manager are the inside super intendent, outside superintendent, plant superintendent and ac counting superintendent. The other yard heads of departments are known as supply officer, public works officer, medical officer.
With few exceptions, the entire working force of the yards and stations is employed under the rules of the civil service. All are graded under a uniform efficiency-marking system. The employ ment is continuous as long as funds and work are available. Upon decrease of funds or work the force is reduced by discharging those having lowest efficiency ratings. Veterans are given a prefer ence in case of discharge when their efficiency rating is good or better. The wages are, by law, required to be based upon the wages paid for corresponding trades in the vicinity of the local yards and stations. The wage scale is revised each year by a local wage board and a departmental wage board. In addition to all national and executive order holidays, each yard employee is granted 3o days' leave each year with full pay. Eight hours con stitute a day's work and employees are paid 50% additional for all overtime and holiday work. Overtime is only authorized in case of extraordinary emergencies when necessary to save life or Government property.
The nature and extent of repair work necessary upon naval vessels is submitted by commanding officers to the commandant of the yard who approves those that can be accomplished with the funds allotted by the various bureaus of the navy department. Alterations must be approved by the department and funds allotted before being undertaken by yards.
Navy yards are permitted to do work for other Government departments when such work does not interfere with naval work. They are not permitted to compete with private plants for private work and can only undertake private work with departmental ap proval when such work is in the nature of an emergency and can not be performed by any private plants in the vicinity.
The department has under its control 64 radio stations and 57 radio compass stations. The radio stations are for naval commu nications and do not compete with private stations. The compass stations are available to merchant as well as naval vessels, upon request direct to station, furnishing bearings and position.
(Y. S. W.)