Bible Encyclopedias
Dockyards

United States

The shore stations under control of the Navy Department (see also Admiralty Administration), and collectively known as naval stations, are under different names according to their nature. Of those called Navy Yards, and intended for the general purpose of sources of supply and for repairs of ships, there are within the United States eight in number. Two of them are on the Pacific coast, situated on Puget Sound, at Bremerton, Washington; and at Mare Island, near San Francisco. The other six are on the Atlantic coast, and are situated at Portsmouth, N.H.; Boston, Mass.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk. Va. There are also naval stations at Port Royal and Charleston, S.C.; Key West and Pensacola, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Guantanamo, Cuba; Culebra and San Juan, Porto Rico; Honolulu, H.I.; Cavite, P.I.; Tutuila, Samoa; and Island of Guam, in the Ladrones Islands. The floating dock Dewey, having a lifting capacity of 18, Soo gross tons with a free-board of 2 ft., was stationed in the Philippine Islands in 1906.

Besides these, there are important naval stations established for special purposes, which in some cases are also available for ports of supply and for repairs. These are: the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., for the instruction of naval cadets; the training stations at Newport, R.I., and Yerba Buena Island, Cal., for the instruction of apprentices; the proving ground at Indian Head, Md., on the Potomac river, where all governmentbuilt ordnance is tested; the War College at Newport, R.I., for the instruction of officers; the torpedo station at Newport, for the instruction of officers and men in torpedoes, electricity and submarine diving; the naval observatory at Washington; and the marine post at Sitka, Alaska. Coaling depots have been established at Honolulu, Pago Pago, Samoan Islands, and at Manila, P.I. Naval hospitals are located at the Portsmouth, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Norfolk and Mare Island yards; at Las Animas, Colo.; at Newport, R.I.; Canacao, P.I.; Sitka, Alaska; and Yokohama, Japan.

The commandant of a navy yard and station, who is usually a rear-admiral, is its commander-in-chief. His official assistants are called heads of departments. The captain of the yard, who is next in succession to command, has general charge of the water front and the ships moored there, and of the police of the navy yard; it is his duty to keep the commandant informed as to the nature and efficiency ofall work in progress. The equipment officer has charge of anchors, chains, rigging, sails and the electric generating plant. The other heads of departments are the ordnance officer, the naval constructor, the engineering officer, the general storekeeper, the paymaster of the yard, the surgeon and the civil engineer. The clerks and draughtsmen employed by these officers are appointed under civil service rules, and their employment is continuous so long as funds are available. The foremen are selected by competitive examination, and their number is fixed. In the employment of mechanics and labourers, veterans are given preference, after which follow persons previously employed who have displayed especial efficiency and good conduct. The rates of wages are determined semi-annually by a board of officers, who ascertain the wages paid by private establishments in the vicinity of the navy yard. Eight hours constitute the legal work day. When emergencies necessitate longer hours the workmen are paid at the ordinary rate plus 50 0 0. The nature and extent of work to be performed upon naval vessels is determined by the secretary of the navy; the commandant then issues the necessary orders. The material required is obtained by a system of requisitions, which provide for the purchase from the lowest bidder after open competition. Heads of departments initiate the purchase of materials which are peculiar to their own work; ordinary commercial articles, however, are usually carried in a special stock called the " Naval Supply Fund," which may be drawn upon by any head of department. All materials are inspected, both as to quantity and quality, by a board of inspectors consisting of three officers.

France

The French coast is divided into five naval arrondissements, which have their headquarters at the five naval ports of which Cherbourg, Brest and Toulon are the most important, Lorient and Rochefort being of lesser degree. All are building and fitting-out yards. Corsica, which has naval stations at Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio, Bonifacio and other places, is a dependency of the arsenal at Toulon. On the African coast there are docking facilities in Algeria. Bizerta, the Tunisian port, has been made a naval base by the deepening and fortifying of the canal which is the approach to the inner lake. There are arsenals also at Saigon and Hai-phong, and an establishment at Diego Suarez.

The subsidiary establishments in France are the gun foundry at Ruelle; the steel and iron works at Guerigny, where anchors, chains and armour-plate are made; and the works at Indret, on an island in the lower Loire, where machinery is constructed. There are many private shipbuilding establishments in the country, the most important being the Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee at La Seyne, on the lesser roadstead at Toulon where many French and foreign warships of the largest classes have been built. The same company has a building yard at Havre. Other establishments are the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, at Saint Nazaire; the Normand Yard, at Havre; and the Chantiers de la Gironde, near Bordeaux.

Each of the arrondissements above mentioned is divided into sous-arrondissements, having their centres in the great commercial ports, but this arrangement is purely for the embodiment of the men of the Inscription Maritime, and has nothing to do with the dockyards as naval arsenals. In each arrondissement the vice-admiral, who is naval prefect, is the immediate representative of the minister of marine, and has full direction and command of the arsenal, which is his headquarters. He is thus commander-in-chief, as also governordesignate for time of war, but his authority does not extend to ships belonging to organized squadrons or divisions. The naval prefect is assisted by a rear-admiral as chief of the staff (except at Lorient and Rochefort, where the office is filled by a captain), and a certain number of officers, the special functions of the chief of the staff having relation principally to the efficiency and personnel of the fleet, while the " major-general," who is usually a rear-admiral, is concerned chiefly with the materiel. There are also directors of stores, of naval construction, of the medical service and of the submarine defences (which are concerned with torpedoes, mines and torpedo-boats), as well as of naval ordnance and works. The prefect directs the operations of the arsenal, and is responsible for its efficiency and for that of the ships which are there in reserve. In regard to the constitution and maintenance of the naval forces, the administration of the arsenals is divided into three principal departments, the first concerned with naval construction, the second with ordnance, including gun-mountings and small-arms, and the third with the so-called submarine defences, dealing with all torpedo materiel. Germany. - With the expansion of the German navy considerable additions have been made to the two principal dockyards. These are Wilhelmshaven, the naval headquarters on the North Sea, and Kiel, the headquarters on the Baltic, Danzig being an establishment of lesser importance, and Kiao-chau an undeveloped base in the Shantung peninsula, China. The chief official at each home dockyard is the superintendent (Oberwerftdirektor), who is a rear-admiral or senior captain directly responsible to the naval secretary of state. Under the superintendent's orders are the chief of the Ausriistung department, or captain of the fleet reserve, the directors of ordnance, torpedoes, navigation, naval construction, engineering and harbour works, with some other officers. The chiefs of the constructive and engineering departments are responsible for the building of ships and machinery, and for the maintenance of the hulls and machinery of existing vessels; while the works department has charge of all work on the quays, docks, &c., in the dockyard and port. A great advance has been made in increasing the efficiency and capabilities of the imperial dockyards by introducing a system of continuous work in the building of new ships and effecting alterations in others, and German material is exclusively used. The Schichau Works at Elbing and Danzig, the Vulkan Yard at Bredow, near Stettin, the Weser Company at Bremen, and the establishment of Blohm and Voss at Hamburg, are important establishments which have built many vessels for the German navy, as well as for foreign states.

Italy

The principal Italian state dockyards are Spezia, Naples and Venice, the first named being by far the most important. It covers an area, including the water spaces, of 629 acres, and there are five dry docks, three being 433 ft. long and 105 ft. wide, and two 361 ft. long and 98 ft. 6 in. wide. The dockyard is very completely equipped with machinery of the best British, German and Italian makes, and it has built several of the finest Italian ships. The number of hands employed in the yard averages 4000. There are two building slips, and for smaller vessels there are two in the neighbouring establishment of San Bartolommeo (which is the headquarters for submarine mining), and one at San Vito, where is a Government gun factory. Castellammare di Stabia is subsidiary to Naples. A large dry dock has been built at Taranto. There is a small naval establishment at Maddalena Island on the Strait of Bonifacio. The Italian Government has no gun or torpedo factories, nearly all the ordnance coming from the Armstrong factory at Pozzuoli near Naples, and the torpedoes from the Schwarzkopf factory at Venice, while armour-plates are produced at the important works at Terni. Machinery is supplied by the firms of Ansaldo, Odero, Orlando, Guppy & Hawthorn and Pattison. The three establishments first named have important shipbuilding yards, and have constructed vessels for the Italian and foreign navies. The Orlando Yard at Leghorn is Government property, but is leased by the firm, and possesses five building slips.

Austria-Hungary

The naval arsenal is on the well-protected harbour of Pola, in Istria, which is the headquarters of the national navy, and includes establishments of all kinds for the maintenance of the fleet. There are large building and docking facilities, and a number of warships have been built there. There is a construction yard also at Trieste. A new coaling and torpedo station is at Teodo, large magazines and stores are at Vallelunga, and the mining establishment is at Ficella. The shipbuilding branch of the navy is under the direction of a chief constructor (Oberster-Ingenieur), assisted by seven constructors, of whom two are of the first class. The engineering and ordnance branches are similarly organized.

Spain

The Spanish dockyards are of considerable antiquity, but of diminishing importance. There is an establishment at Ferrol,. another at Cartagena, and a third at Cadiz. They are well equipped in all necessary respects, but are not provided with continuous work. A recent arrangement is the specialization of the yards, Ferrol being designed for larger, and Carthagena for smaller, building work. The ordnance establishment is at Carraca.

Russia

In Russia the naval ports are of two classes. The most important are Kronstadt, St Petersburg and Nikolayev. Of lesser importance are Reval, Sveaborg, Sevastopol, Batum, Baku and Vladivostok. The administration of the larger ports, except St Petersburg, which is under special regulations, is in the hands of vice-admirals, who are commanders-in-chief, while the smaller ports are under the direction of rear-admirals. All are directly under the minister of marine, except that the Black Sea ports and Astrabad, on the Caspian, are subordinate to the commander-in-chief at Nikolayev. Sevastopol has grown in importance, and become mainly a naval harbour, the commercial harbour being removed to Theodosia. The Russian government has also proposed to remodel the harbour works at St Petersburg and Kronstadt. The Emperor Alexander III. Port at Libau, on the Baltic, is in a region less liable to be icebound in the winter. There are no strictly private yards for the building of large vessels in Russia, except that of the Black Sea Company at Nikolayev. Messrs Creighton build torpedo-boats at Abo in Finland, and the admiralty has steel works at Ijora, where some torpedo-boats have been built. Other ordnance and steel works are at Obukhov and Putilov.

Japan

The principal Japanese dockyard, which was established by the Shogunate in 1866, is Yokosuka. French naval constructors and engineers were employed, and several wooden ships were built. The Japanese took the administration into their own hands in 1875, and built a number of vessels of small displacement in the yard. The limit of size was about 5000 tons, but the establishment has been enlarged so that vessels of the first class may be built there. There is a first-class modern dry dock which will take the largest battleship. Shipbuilding would be undertaken to a larger extent but for the fact that nearly all material has to come from abroad. Down to 1905 all the important vessels of the Japanese navy were built in Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States, but at the end of that year a first-class cruiser of 13,500 tons (the " Tsukuba ") was. launched from the important yard at Kure. There are other yards at Sassebo and Maisuru.