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MAHS and the Floating Drydock HM Bermuda
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Constructing a conventional drydock in Bermuda was not practical because the native limestone was too porous to hold back the water suffciently. A
novel, if expensive, alternative was the so-called floating drydock, essentially an amalgam of a dock and a very large ship.
Bermuda's drydock was constructed at the Campbell and Johnstone Shipyard on the Thames River, beginning in 1866. Two years in the making, the drydock was a
marvel of comtemporary industry. It was the largest wrought-iron structure in the world at that time, reportedly held together by more than 3 million rivets.
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And while expensive, it appeared to have been worth the cost. As noted in a contemporary report:
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"The floating dock at Bermuda which was launched last year, and is so far successful, is paid for, having cost altogether about £300,000. It is a most ingenious
construction, and well worth the money spent upon it. It will be most useful, as it is much better to repair ships at Bermuda, if possible, instead of sending
them home."
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Colburn's United Services Magazine 1869.
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