THE DRY DOCK 'QUESTION,

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1129, 27 June 1867, Page 3

THE DRY DOCK 'QUESTION,

It is fortunate for the port and province of Auckland that this question is being so thoroughly ventilated, as well by men of science as by men of common sense ; cngineers-in-chief, cngiueers-iu-aid, men in Council, and men in the country, practical seamen, and long-shore cognoscenti have, each and all of them, contributed to throw some light on the subject, be it in suggestion of a site or in recommendation of a construction adequate to our wants and commensurate _ with our means. I have no intention to dilate on either of those points. 3ly only desire, at the present juncture, is to request a reprint of certain extracts relative to the Sydney docks and patent slips which appeared in the jSTew Zeaxaxd Herald in September, 1864, and which, on the suggestion of the late Captain Cracroft, and with the approval of Admiral Beaufort of the Hydrographic Office, were reproduced in the Nautical Magazine of March and April, 1865. The information therein set forth was derived from the fountain head ; that respecting the Fitzroy Dock, Cockatoo Island, from Captain Mann, Superintending Engineer, with whom the writer in 1546-7 was as earnestly engaged in urging upon the New South Wales Government the construction of that dock, as he lias since been in earnestly counselling the Government of this province to take active measures for providing Auckland witli like means of maritime accommodation. Contrast the nautical appliances of Sydney in 1545 with those of Sydney in 1864. e In November, 1845, Le Shin, a French corvette d charge,, commanded by Commodore Berard, arrived in Sydney. She was leaky, had been some years in the Pacific, and required to be overhauled, and refitted. There was then but one patent slip—Fotheringham's, at the corner of King and Sussex streets, —and it was unequal to receive a ship of a greater capacity than 500 tons. Lc Itliin measured about 1,000 tons. There was no dry-dock,—consequently, there remained 110 other alternative than to have, her hove down, which was effected, at considerable coat and difficulty, at Moore's Wharf. At this time the Cockatoo dry-dock was a subject of tolerably acrimonious discussion. It was nearly pooh-poohed in the Legislative Council. The Admiralty were disposed to give it a qualified support, such as would enable the sailing " donkeys" of that day to enter—no provision being made for the " screws" of a short sixteen years' creation. It was reserved for the writer of these reminiscences to demonstrate that through a forty-five feet entrance— the widtli of Admiralty restriction —even the Juno, a small paddle-wheeler, the property of Mr. Benjamin Boyd, could not effect a passage. There are now docks, slips, and arsenals of a very superior degree ; and of these J proceed to speak, not in rotation, but according to the date in which I was enabled to make my tour of inspection. The first of theso is a floating dock, which is moored in the vicinity of the gas works. The City of Melbourne barque, a well known Auckland and Sydney trader was there, and then being stripped, re-caulked, and re-coppered. This dock can accommodate a ship of 400 tons. It is dry and convenient, and has engines attached to pump out the water when the vessel has been taken in and blocked. This operation is performed by opening the valves and submerging the dock. When the ship is in position the valves are closed, the water discharged, and then the dock and ship rise to the line of flotation. The arrangement is simple, expeditious, and economical. The entire cost of the dock is something under £10,000. It is perfectly watertight; lies in shore, and in immediate contiguity with the timber yard and artificers' shops of its proprietors. Such a dock would be of inappreciable service in the port of Auckland ; and I am informed by Captain Rountree, constructor of Mr. Mort'a dry dock at "Waterview, that a floating dock capable of receiving ships of 2,000 tons, could bo built and stationed in this port, fitted with all working essentials,-for a sum of £25,000. Docks whether on shore or afloat require to be stationary. They cannot employ a Himalaya to tow them from bay to bight. The best of them, however, are but make-shifts, being as my very good friend, your correspondent " Old llopeyavn" asserts, a creation "only for one generation." Speaking of Mort's dock, it is a Bplendid one, situated at the head of Waterview Bay, hewn out of the solid freestone rock. It is 360 feet in length, 26 feet deep, and 72 feet wide at the entrance, which is closed by a wooden caisson. Waterview Bay is the rendezvous of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam fleet; and there they have other appliances beside the dock for the repair and refit of their own and other ships. Waterview Dock is leased to this company, and they in turn have sublet it to Mr. Cuthbert, shipbuilder, Miller's Point, who, in conjunction with, the eminent engineering firm of Messrs. P. IT. Eussell & Co., executes the various works that come under the denomination of mercantile marine repairs. To this end the Messrs. Russell have an extensive branch of their iron foundry, with all modern means and appliances, placed on tlie immediate confines of this magnificent dock, which is pumped dry on an average in six hours by powerful steam machinery that lift 3 twenty tons per minute. There is ample space for a ship of 2,000 tons register; and bo frequently has more accommodation been demanded, that the Messrs. Kussell have it in contemplation to erect a patent slip of the largest dimensions in immediate contiguity. The charge is one shilling per ton for docking,—sixpence per ton for each succeeding day. The in coming rniil ship remains her month in Waterview Bay, where she is docked, cleaned,* and ready to take her nest month's mail in apple-pie order. On occasion of my second visit to this quarter, I found the Northam preparing to be docked, the Madras ready to take her departure with the August mail. Tbfo is another very important establishment of the P. and O. Company here. It is a washhouse, where all the bed and table linen of the company's shipsis washed, dried, and madeupby steam. They have, likewise, an extensive range of buildings for various descriptions of ship and ether stores. Every facility is afforded to visitors, and a steamboat constantly plies between the Phoenix Wharf and the bay, the faro being threepence either way. It lias been stated that Mort's Dock was built at a cost exceeding £100,000, and that it does not return the proprietor 4 per cent on his outlay. May it not be asked whether the Fitzroy Dock would not have sufficed for the shipping requirements of Sydney. The dock at Cockatoo Island is another of those establishments which conduce bo materially to the. maritime ascendancy and mercantile prospority of Sydney. It has been a work of many years, and constructed mainly by the labour of the convicts of that penal settlement I paid two visits —H.M.S. Falcon, being docked on the first, and H.M.S. Esk, on the second occasion. Vast changes and very great improvements have taken place within the last Bixteen years. The island is out down in many quarters,

■whilst, a grand and spacious quay has been formed by the debris. This quay extends on all sides. The prisoners' barracks havo been enlarged—now edifices for officers and guards havo arison; but it is more than questionable if the freo and felon labour that is necessarily brought into contact in such nn araonal can bo employed -without prejudice to both parties. There ore some 200 felons of the 'worst Btamp detained there ; nnd tho turbulenco of such characters, keeps the solitary cells—hewn out of the solid rock and entered by a ladder from above—in occupation. Such an institution is an odious blot on the fair face of tho Parramatta Eiver, and becoming prison discipline cannot possibly be maintained in an establishment open to all ships that stand in need of repair. Cockatoo Dock is now in full working order. Its present length is SSOfcot; but ecca vat ions arc rapidly pushing forward, by which it will be oxtendod to 100 feet. It is soma 80 feet in width ; but tho ontranco gate (closed by au iron caisson) is much too narrow being but CO feet. Even this limited width is duo to the sound senso of Captain Mann, the resident engineer, who, disregarding injudicious obstructions, added 15 feet to the original Admiralty plan, which restricted the gateway to 15 feet. In other respects tho dock is admirable! with a splendid row of workshops, furnished with tho finest machinery for engineering purposes attached. Tho arsenal is tho property of tlie New South "Wales Government: H.M. ships are privileged to tho gratuitous uso.of it and its appliances. All repairs, nevertheless, are performed by contract with Sydney shipwrights, tho mechanics being daily conveyed to and irom tlie island. Merchant ships are also peimitted tho uso of tho dock, tho scale of charges being tho same as at Waterview. Tho pumps for discharging tho wator are very powerful, the dock being freed in the courso of three hours. It is docks, slips, wharves, steam-tups, and other superabundant maritime subsidiaries that constitute the true riches of Sydney. Tlieso aro multiplied in every form and in every direction. Wero Auckland only to attempt a movement in a similar manner, she could not fail to developo a material progress mid prosperity of the last eonsequenGo to her as a growing naval and mercantile emporium. Tlierd is no better managed and, probably, no more important maritime institution south of the equator than the Australasian Steam Navigation Company; whether they bo regarded as navigators, constructors, Or refittera, excellence is tho aim in all their undertakings. Their ships are of the highest class, —their commanders are picked seamen and gentlemen,—their Eeivants aro civil and attentive, — their tables are well furnished, —and nothing that can conduce to the comfort and convenience of passengers is omitted. New ships of the most approved design and of the greatest speed continue to arrive from Britain, or are turned out, of equal beauty, stability, and capacity, from their own arsenal; which, for completeness, extent, and the skill of its artificers may honestly compare with many of the high class establishments of the old country. Commencing business, not many years back, as tho Hunter Biver Steam Navigation Company, this co" partuery has swiftly and surely worked its successful ■way, until now it commands tho traflic of nearly the entire Australasian coast. Six and thirty years ago, an old Margate hoy sufficed for the goods and passenger trade of Sydney and tho Hunter. The hoy was succecded by tho Sophia Jane, a sometime Gravetend steamer; she in turn gave placo to the l<ose, Thistle, and Shamrock, tho latter doing the Melbourne and Launceston work. They wero marvellous boats in their time, and Btrove hard to make it " pay." They havo disappeared before a fleet of such power and capacity that one of the number —a Bmaller one—proved competent to take tho mail service to Galle in hand. The Australasian Company's Works are most corncomplete in every department of maritime construction and refit. The patent slip was laid down at a heavy cost—close upon £100,000. It takes up ships of 1,000 tons register, and would, I believe, receive even larger. It is rarely without some occupants, whether in construction or repair. The City of Adelaide, at the time of one of my frequent visits, a powerful and splendid ship, fresh from tho factories of Greenock or Port Glasgow, was being repainted and put in trim for the Melbourne line ; and the ribs and several sections of the plating of a light draught paddle steamer, of some 600 tons, designed by Mr. MeArthur, the company's engineer and superintendent—a gentleman of great and approved ability— had their respective stations at the tail and head" of this magnificent maritime railway. It was on this spot that the Waikato gunboat Pioneer was built; and it is at this spot that the vast preponderance of the steam marine of Australia take their turn of cleansing and refit. It would be quite foreign to the intention of these sketches to enter into miuuto description of this or any similar colonial arsenal. Suffice it that the Australian Company have omitted no means of improvement, mental, mechanical, or material, in rendering this, their great maritime entrepot, the most perfect, and efficient of any of the colonial dependencies of Great Britain. | "A Northern," at Hokianga, objects to the construction of any dock in Auckland, lest lie and others might be required to pay the piper. A strange objection—would not Hokianga profit largely by the consumption of spars and timber required at a dock-yard > I cannot but consider that the ways and means for such works could be largely supplemented were the Provincial Government, like that of Sydney, to sell or grant long and easy leases of their harbour endowments ou which private persons might erect their own wharves. In 1828, there were but two small wharves in Sydney—the Kings and Campbells—look at it now, with every indentation from Tort Macquarie to the bridge at Pynuont, f.tudded with wharves, foundries, work-shops, and every necessary appliance. Is it not by facilities such as these that Sydney has become the great naval depot ol the South Pacific I And cannot Auckland, with no reef or bar to impede the entrance of the largest ships, and with a harbour in wlicli fleets might manoeuvre, enter into successful competition.' 1 D. B. June 25, 1567.