Calliope Dock

Royal Navy steam-and-sail corvettes HMS Calliope and HMS Diamond in the dock during opening festivities 1888.
Survey ship HMNZS Resolution of the Royal New Zealand Navy in the dock in 2008.

The Calliope Dock is a historical stone dry dock on the grounds of the Devonport Naval Base, in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand. It was built in 1888 to service ships of the British Royal Navy, and is still in use today.

History

At the time of its construction, it was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and a strategic asset for the Royal Navy. It was named for Calliope Point, out of which it had been hewn by hand over three years. Coincidentally, one of the two first ships to enter it (as a show of her capacity) was HMS Calliope. Administered at first by the Auckland Harbour Board, the dock was transferred to the navy when the Auckland naval base moved from Torpedo Bay to Devonport, into a swamp area next to the dock.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Devonport Naval Base (from the New Zealand Naval Museum website. Accessed 2008-06-16.)
  2. ↑ Calliope (from Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966 Edition. Accessed 2008-06-16.)
  3. ↑ Development of naval repair facilities at Auckland, New Zealand 1841-1962 - Bell, J.A.; AMRINA Deputy Constructive Manager HMNZ Dockyard

External links

Coordinates: 36°49′49″S 174°47′10″E / 36.830241°S 174.786236°E / -36.830241; 174.786236

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.