Portland Dockyard
See Wikipedia entry for Portland Harbour.
1849 Construction of the southern breakwaters began to the design of James Meadows Rendel.
A yard was established here to provide coal for the new steam-powered ships of the Navy.
In the 1850s there were plans for dry-docks and building slips, but these were not carried through.
1893 As part of defence works against torpedo attack, work began on the two northern breakwaters in 1893 and, at that time, the southern breakwaters were topped with paved roads.
1914 As a defensive measure, the old battleship HMS Hood was sunk across the south entrance.[1]
Very active through two World Wars
1959 the Dockyard closed; site was taken over as a commercial port.
(Adjacent Naval Base and RN Air Station closed in 1995-99).
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 'Civil Engineering Heritage - Southern England' Ed R. A. Otter, Publ. Thomas Telford Ltd for I.C.E., 1994