Devonshire Dock Hall

Last crawled date: 4 years, 5 months ago

The BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shipyard at Barrow is one of the largest shipyards in Britain. It was expanded in 1986 by construction of a new covered assembly facility, the Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH), completed by Alfred McAlpine plc, on land that was created by infilling part of the Devonshire Dock with 2.4 million tonnes of sand pumped from nearby Roosecote Sands.53] DDH is the tallest building in Cumbria at 51 m. With a length of 268 m (879 ft), width of 51 m (167 ft) and an area of 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) it is the largest shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe. The DDH provides a controlled environment for ship and submarine assembly, and avoids the difficulties caused by building on the slope of traditional slipways. Outside the hall, a 24,300 tonne capacity shiplift allows completed vessels to be lowered into the water independently of the tide. Vessels can also be lifted out of the water and transferred to the hall. The first use of the DDH was for construction of the Vanguard-class submarines, and later vessels of the Trafalgar-class submarines were also built there. The shipyard is currently constructing the Astute-class submarines the first of which was launched on 8 June 2007. BAE is currently studying the design of a new class of ballistic missile submarines. BAE also has orders for submarine pressure domes for the Spanish Navy. #Devonshire_Dock_Hall #shipbuilding #submarine