OLD DEVONPORT . UK
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ROYAL DOCKYARD  |  SOUTH YARD

DOCK 2

Dock 2 was formerly the Head Dock and the Stern Dock.

Between May 1740 and February 1741 a dam was placed across the Graving Slip to the north of the First Dock so that a pair of Dock gates could be erected.  This was in order to convert the Slip into a Double Dock, the first to be constructed in this country.  The gates were completed on September 19th 1741.  Work on the construction of the Dock walls themselves started on December 1st 1742 and was completed some twelve months later.

The inner of the Double Docks, known as the Head Dock, measured 200 feet between the head and the inside gates, while the Stern Dock was slightly shorter at 190 feet.  The depths varied slightly, too, with the Stern Dock being 25 feet and the Head Dock 1 foot deeper.  Both were 52 feet in width.

In 1859 work started on converting the combined Head Dock and Stern Dock in to one Long Dock.  Because the site lay below water level at all states of the tide, a Cofferdam had to be constructed at the entrance so that work could be carried out in the dry.   The construction work, which took three years, was undertaken by Messrs Kitt and Son.  Brickwork was directly embedded in the shillet rock and then Portland stone facing was laid on top and around the Dock wall.  Portland stone was also used on the sill while elsewhere granite masonry was used.

An unfortunate accident occurred on Saturday December December 29th 1860, when a truck carrying a heavy block of granite came off the rails and rolled over the side of the Dock, taking its horse and driver with it.  The horse broke one of its fore legs but managed to stand up and be comforted by the first person on the scene, a soldier.  'The driver stood up; he could not speak, but placed one hand of his face and head, and pointed  to it with the other.  His head had been violently dashed against a block of granite', reported the Western Morning News.  After treatment at the Dockyard Surgery he was taken home in a cab.  The names of the horse or driver were not stated. 

Soon after the completion of the Dock (in August 1863), it was renumbered as Dock 2.  The first ship to enter the enlarged Dock 2, which took place on Thursday October 22nd 1863, was the iron screw steam frigate HMS "Black Prince".  The depth of water in the Dock was 30 feet, enough to cover the ship's stern draft of 26 feet 10 inches.  The docking was watched by the Superintendent of the Dockyard, Rear-Admiral Thomas C Symonds CB and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who happened to be visiting the area.  It was expected at the time that the new Dock would be renamed Prince's Dock in honour of the occasion but that never seems to have happened.

Major alterations were made to Dock 2 during 1897 because it was now too narrow at the bottom to accommodate modern cruisers with their bilge keels.  As a result of the removal of the Portland stone altars to within 15 feet of the floor level, the width at that level was increased by 17 feet.  Cornish granite from Penryn was used to create new altars at a steeper pitch.  The work was nearly finished when it was decided to increase the length and when the Dock was completed in May 1898, it measured 460 feet 6 inches by 73 feet wide at the entrance.  Roman numerals inscribed in to the Dock walls mark the height of the water.

Only the cruisers HMS "Powerful" and HMS "Terrible" were barred from entering the Dock.  HMS "Niobe" was the first ship to use Dock 2 to have her bottom sheathed with copper and submerged torpedo tubes fitted. 

The official measurements given by the Ordnance Survey in 1912 were that Dock 2 was 462 feet 3 inches in length and 79 feet 8 inches width at the entrance, where it was entered through lock gates.  Outside the gates was Floating Caisson U to enable the Dock to be lengthened or work undertaken on the lock gates in the dry. 

Between Dock 2 and Dock 3 was Jetty number 8,upon which the South yard Signal Station was situated.

At the head of Dock 2 was the Main Dock Pump House (SO 87 and SO 89) and a Joiners' Shop.

Dock 2 and its associated bollards and capstans is a Grade II* Listed Building.