The “dromion,” “dromon,” or “dromedary,” was a large war ship, the prototype of which was furnished by the Saracens. Roger de Hoveden, Richard of Devizes, and Peter de Longtoft celebrate the struggle which Richard I., in the “Trench the Mer,” on his way to Palestine, had with a huge dromon,—“a marvellous ship! a ship than which, except Noah’s ship, none greater was ever read of.” This vessel had three masts, was very high out of the water, and is said to have had 1500 men on board. It required the united force of the king’s galleys, and an obstinate fight, to capture the dromon.

The foundation of a regular navy, by the establishment of dockyards, and the formation of a board, consisting of certain commissioners for the management of its affairs, was first laid by Henry VIII.; and the first dockyard erected during his reign was that of Woolwich. Those of Portsmouth, Deptford, Chatham, and Sheerness followed in succession. Plymouth was founded by William III Pembroke was established in 1814, a small yard having previously existed at Milford.

From the first establishment of the dockyards to the present time, most of them have gradually been enlarged and improved by a succession of expedients and makeshifts, which answered the purposes of the moment; but the best of them have not possessed those conveniences and advantages which might bo obtained from a dockyard systematically laid out on a uniform and consistent plan, with its wharfs, basins, docks, slips, magazines, and workshops arranged according to certain fixed principles, calculated to produce convenience, economy, and despatch.

Neither at the time when our dockyards were first established, nor at any subsequent periods of their enlargement, could it have been foreseen what incalculable advantages would one day be derived from the substitution of machinery for human labour; and without a reference to this vast improvement in all mechanical operations, it could not be expected that any provision would be made for its future introduction; on the contrary, the docks and slips, the workshops and storehouses, were successively built at random, and placed wherever a vacant space would most conveniently admit them, and in such a manner as in most cases to render the subsequent introduction of machinery and railways, and those various contrivances found in large private manufacturing establishments, quite impossible, even in the most commodious of Her Majesty’s dockyards.

From a brief description of the royal dockyards as they now stand a general idea may be formed of their several capacities, advantages, and defects. Taking them in succession, according to their vicinity to the capital, the first is Deptford. —Deptford dockyard was first established about the year 1513, and continued to be a building yard, as well as a large depot for naval stores, until 1869, when it was closed as a building yard in pursuance of a recommendation of a committee of the House of Commons, which reported in 1864. The increasing size of ships of war rendered the yard unsuitable for any but the smaller types of vessels, while the continuous deposits of river mud, not only along the frontage but also in the docks and basins, rendered it a costly and decreasingly valuable place of construction. It had an interesting history. Not only were some of the most celebrated ships of the navy built there, but during the Great Plague the office of the Admiralty was removed thither from Seething Lane. Peter the Great worked in the yard as a shipwright, dwelling the while at Sayes Court, the residence of Evelyn, the author of Sylvia and of the diary not less famous than Pepys’s. Evelyn was the grantee of some of the ground on which the dockyard stood, for no other consideration than that there should always be a keel laid down in the yard. Queen Elizabeth’s Admiralty officials were at one time resident at Deptford; and thither went the queen in 1580 to confer the honour of knighthood on Sir Francis Drake, and to dine with him on board the ship in which he had circumnavigated the world.

Though closed as a building yard in 1869, in accordance with the recommendation of a committee of the House of Commons, part of the establishment, with suitable storehouses, was retained as a dépôt for naval stores, and as the one place from which shipments of stores to naval depots abroad should be made. Of the residue, part was sold to Mr Evelyn, who made the purchased part into a recreation ground for the Deptford people, and gave it to them. The rest was sold for a metropolitan meat market to the Corporation of London. When intact the front or wharf wall of this dockyard, facing the Thames, was about 1700 feet in length, and the mean breadth of the yard 650 feet; the superficial content about 30 acres. It had three slips for ships of the line on the face next the river; and two for smaller vessels, which launched into a basin or wet dock, 260 by 220 feet. There were also three dry docks,— one of them a double dock, communicating with the Thames, and the other a smaller one, opening into the basin. The number of men employed in this yard, in time of war, was about 1500, of whom one-half were shipwrights and artificers, and the other half labourers. There were, besides, 18 or 20 teams of 4 horses each, to drag timber and heavy stores.

The proximity of Deptford yard to the capital is of great importance, in the convenience it affords for receiving from this great mart all the home manufactures and products which may be purchased for the use of the navy. It is the general magazine of stores and necessaries for the fleet, whence they are shipped off, as occasion requires, to the home yards, the outports, and the foreign stations, in store-ships, transports, coasting sloops, lighters, and launches, according to the distance they have to be sent.

The management of Deptford naval store yard is now merged in that of the victualling yard, a most complete establishment of its kind. Till 1869 this management comprised a naval captain superintendent, with a master in the navy as his assistant. Under them a storekeeper, a store receiver, an accountant, an inspector of stores, and their respective staffs, conducted the administrative duties of the place. In 1869 the Board of Admiralty, in accordance with the recommendations of a departmental committee, abolished the offices of captain superintendent and master attendant, and placed the establishment under the civilian management of the storekeeper. The naval superintendents were appointed for five years, and after that time were withdrawn to make way for others. The superintending storekeeper is appointed as a permanent officer, and under him experience is accumulated and applied in all the manufactories and other business departments of the yard. The manufactures conducted by and for the Government at Deptford comprise biscuit making on such a scale as to supply, with the yield of the victualling yards at Gosport and Plymouth, biscuit enough for the whole navy, and also chocolate making, mustard making, flour grinding, and the operations of a large cooperage. Most of the salt beef required for the navy is salted and put up there. Deptford may be called the heart of the victualling service. From its stores are shipped the whole of the consignments required for replenishment of depots abroad, as well as the requirements of the other two victualling yards in England, except that at the last-named the supplies of biscuits and flour are provided on the spot. The number of men employed at Deptford necessarily varies. During war upwards of a thousand men are required. The space occupied by the victualling yard is about 19 acres. There is a river frontage of 1700 feet, and a mean depth of 1000 feet.

In 1877 there are employed in the naval store and victualling yard at Deptford 258 men on the establishment, and 390 men on the hired list, at a cost of £25,847.

Woolwich Dockyard. —This no longer exists as a naval station. Though retaining its name, it remains as a dépôt in the hands of the War Department, for whose work its river frontage of 3680 feet, and its docks and basins, afford excellent accommodation. Woolwich was the first and most ancient of all the dockyards, having been established in the reign of Henry VII. From it have been launched some of the finest and most celebrated ships of the English navy. In 1512 the “Harry Grace de Dieu” was built, and in 1552 was accidently burnt, there. In more modern times the “Nelson” and the “Ocean” were from Woolwich, and those latest specimens of the now extinct class of fighting ship, the “Trafalgar,” “Agamemnon,” and “Royal Albert.” As an establishment for the building and repair of ships, especially steam ships, Woolwich was perhaps the completest and best furnished of all the dockyards. Its power to make and repair engines and all iron work, whether of ship or fittings, was so extensive as to enable the Government, before the introduction of ironclads, to be nearly independent of the private trade. With occupation for 1800 workmen, it was able to rely upon its own resources almost exclusively. Its proximity to London gave it other great advantages, including this, that the Admiralty were thereby enabled the more easily to supervise the constructive work for which its architects were responsible. But for the fatal operation of two causes, the increased and increasing depth of ships of war, and the continuous silting of the river into the docks and basins of the yard, Woolwich would probably have remained one of the chief dockyards. Both these causes, however, operated. The depth of the “Nelson’s” hold had tobe lessened in order to ensure her passing Erith; and it was stated in the Eighth Report of the Select Committee on Finance (1818) that “the wharf wall at Woolwich, owing to the action of the tide on the foundation, is in a falling state, and in danger of being swept into the river, it being secured only in a temporary manner; and requires to be immediately rebuilt in a direction that will preserve it from similar injury hereafter, and prevent, in a great degree, that accumulation of mud which has, in the course of the last ten years, occasioned an expense of upwards of £125,692, and would threaten in time to render the yard useless.” Till 1869, however, notwithstanding the recommendations of a parliamentary committee, and the frequent urgings of members on both sides of the House of Commons, Woolwich yard was kept open. Then, in accordance with a policy long commended, it was closed, steps were taken to dispose of the plant and material that remained, and the place itself was handed over, with its workshops and factories, to the War Department in 1872.

Woolwich Division of Royal Marines.— About the same time that the dockyard was broken up, the division of marines—no longer in contact with ships and shipping— was abolished, and its strength was distributed between the divisions at Chatham and Plymouth.

Chatham Dockyard. —This dockyard, founded by Queen Elizabeth, though not on the present site, is situated on the right bank of the Medway, to which it presents a line of wharfage extending 10,000 feet, and of embankment 4500 feet more. The superficial contents may be estimated at about 500 acres. The old part of the yard has seven building-slips on the front, from which ships are launched into the river, all equal to the building of ships of the line, and three others for frigates and smaller vessels. In the same front are four dry docks communicating with the Medway. At the southern extremity of the yard is the ropery, 1248 feet in length and 47¾ feet in width, in which are employed about 250 persons. It is equal to the manufacture of every description of cordage required for the naval service, including the largest size cable. The hemp houses, 306 feet long by 36 feet wide, are equal to the stowage of 1600 tons of hemp and 3000 hauls of yarn. Next to these are the slips and docks, with the working-sheds and artificers’ shops close in the rear, an excellent smithery, timber-berths, seasoning sheds, deal and iron yard, <fcc., and beyond these, on the eastern extremity of the yard, the officers’ houses and gardens. The superintendent’s house is situated nearly in the centre of the yard. The lower or north-eastern part of the old yard is occupied by mast-ponds, mast-houses and slips, store-boat houses and slips, ballast wharf, timber-berths, and saw-pits.

Before the construction of the extension works in 1867- 73, there was no wet dock or basin in Chatham-yard; but the Medway, flowing along it in a fine sheet of water, in some degree answered the purpose of one. Owing to the shallowness of the water and the crooked navigation from Chatham round Upnor Point, ships were obliged to take in their water and ballast at one place, their stores and provisions at another, their guns, powder, and ammunition at a third; in consequence of which, a ship was usually longer in getting out to sea from Chatham than even from Deptford.

The necessity of improving the accommodation at Chatham forced itself upon the attention of those who were responsible for the navy many years before the opportunity came for effecting the improvements. Pepys records a visit to Chatham in July 1663, to inspect the site of a projected wet dock. It was estimated to cost £10,000, and Pepys remarked that “the place indeed is likely to be a very fit place when the king hath money to do it with.” In effect, however, it was not taken in hand by the king, who allowed the Dutch, instead of docks, to be found in the Medway. It was not till 1867 that ground was broken for the extension works at Chatham, though the plans had been prepared and certain preparations made many months before, under the supervision of Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke, C.B. The extension works may be thus described. Three basins give access from Gillingham Reach, which formerly connected the mainland with the salt marshes. These marshes were covered with water every spring tide. The Government bought 150 acres of them, and proceeded to re-make the ground which forms the site of the new dockyard workshops and factories. The three basins communicate with each other by caissons, so that ships of the largest class can pass from the bend of the Medway at Gillingham to that at Upnor. Upnor Reach entrance, opposite Upnor Castle, is 80 feet wide, the others are 84 feet. The first (Upnor) basin is the repairing basin, which has an area of 22 acres, and a depth, in common with the others, of 33 feet at spring, and 30 feet at neap tides. On the south side of this basin, and opening into it, are four graving docks, each capable of receiving the largest man of war. From this basin a passage about 175 feet long leads to the “factory” basin, which has an area of 20 acres. Contiguous to it are being erected the engine and boiler factories, and the principal workshops necessary for iron war-ship building. Next to the “factory” basin is the fitting-out basin, with an area of 28 acres. In this place ships are to receive their sea stores and be got ready for service. Here, too, they will be dismantled and paid out of commission.

Very great engineering difficulties had to be contended against in prosecuting these works, owing chiefly to the soft mud and to the treacherous character of the ground on which foundations had to be laid. Convict labour was largely employed in the work of excavation, and in the manufacture of bricks, whereof 20,000,000 a year were turned out, at small cost, on the spot. The cost of these new works is reckoned at about £2,000,000.

A considerable piece of new ground (about 2000 feet in length by 200 in breadth) was added a few years ago to the upper part of the present Chatham dockyard, on which Mr Brunel erected one of the completest saw-mills in the United Kingdom. It is supposed to be equal to the power of fifty saw-pits and nearly one hundred sawyers, and is capable of supplying the dockyards of Chatham and Sheerness with all the straight-sawn timber that they can require. But the great advantage of the plau is in its application of the steam engine to the management and arrangement of timber, by which the labour and expense of a great number of horses are saved, and the obstruction and impediments to the general services of the yard avoided.

Since the introduction of iron as the material for ships hulls, Chatham has taken a more prominent place amongst dockyards. Most of the iron ships built in the royal yards have been built at Chatham and Pembroke,—the capabilities being greater at Chatham, where the “Achilles,” “Monarch,” “Glatton,” “Rupert,” “Raleigh,” “Bellerophon,” “Sultan,” “Alexandra,” “Temeraire,” and many also of the Musquito fleet of gunboats were built. At Chatham and Devonport the whole of the cordage required for the navy is manufactured; and, since 1869, the whole business of remanufacturing copper and old iron for the navy has been concentrated at Chatham.

The first division of royal marines, consisting of twenty-eight companies, is stationed at Chatham, in excellent barracks, situated near one of the extremities of the dockyard, and occupying nine acres of ground.

There was formerly a small victualling depot, situated partly in the parish of Chatham and partly in that of Rochester, from which the ships at Chatham and at Sheerness and the Nore received a supply of provisions and water. Ships now obtain their supplies from Deptford, except fresh meat and vegetables, which are obtained on local contracts on demand.

It may be found necessary to establish a fresh depot for victualling stores at Chatham when the port becomes developed as a place for fitting out and repairing as well as for building. This process of development is going on rapidly. In March 1873 the executive of the Sheerness steam reserve with their ship were removed to Chatham, and the steps necessary for transferring the principal powers and attributes of the exposed dockyard at Sheerness to the strongly defended port of Chatham will be quickly taken. The great difficulties of navigation in the Medway, combined with the successive forts and torpedo stations which stud the river, are calculated to make Chatham unassailable. As Hollingshed said of Lundy Island, there will be “no entrance but for friends.” When the Chatham works shall have been finished, the question will probably be revived whether Sheerness should not, as has been often recommended, be closed; but the advantages of having even a small yard whither ships only slightly injured by sea or by the enemy can run for repair, without having to thread the reaches of the Medway up and down, are so great that it is unlikely the place will be abandoned.

In 1876 Chatham dockyard was raised to a rear-admiral’s command. The number of workmen employed at Chatham yard in 1877 is 1478 established and 2022 hired men, at an aggregate cost of £220,138.

Sheerness Dockyard. —This dockyard is situated on...