Ships in Slips

The evolution of Chatham Dockyard's Slips through the Industrial revolution

One of the great things about working whee I work is the vast array of historical buildings ranging in age and purpose scattered over such a relatively small area. Every building has a purpose and function though it may have changed over the centuries.

Though a good chunk of the dockyard has gone (as has Pembroke) enough remains to tell the story and demonstrate evolution of purpose and one of the greatest examples are the covered slips which are often overlooked in preference for the historic vessels.

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Covered Slips 3 and 4

Throughout the eighteenth century ships were built in the slips which were basins that backed onto the river. Part of the process is “seasoning in frame” where the ships are left to settle and for the wood to basically get used to being together and settle which takes a long time… Once completed they were launched and brought into one of the docks for fitting out and completion. This work went on regardless of weather with men and ships exposed to the elements which often resulted in the Navy getting vessels already suffering from damp and rot.

To quote Midshipman H. H. Williams:

At Portland it blows, at Devonport it rains but that at Chatham it does both

The 1774 model of the dockyard which was gifted to George III. On the left are what would become Slip 3 and 4 and what would become dock 1 and 2 is on the right opposite the Clock tower building. The old Smith shop is the larger dark brown roofed building.

During the Napoleonic War a commission went out to Scandinavia to see how they dealt with the issues and the solution was covered slips.

Chatham has around seven slips and moves were made to cover the first three. Sadly Slip 1 (Covered in 1815) was demolished at the end of the nineteenth Century to make way for the railway lines going down to Anchor Wharf and Slip 2 (covered in 1813) was burnt down in 1966 but Slip 3 still remains.

The Dockyard’s work force was made up of Carpenters and skilled wood workers and the primary material available was wood so they started working with that. Robert Seppings, a Master Shipwright designed the roof and it is basically the upturned hull of a ship.

The roof interior showing the hoist used to bring boats up for storage on the Mezzanine floor. Behind it you can make out the staircase that leads up to the forward observation point. This forward office is where the rafters all come together like the spokes of a bicycle wheerl. You can also see the large window where the bowsprit would protrude and the beginning of the walkway across the top of the slip.

In the front, in the roof (up a rickety stair) is an office with windows that lookout over the river towards Darnet so they could watch the progress of vessels travelling down from Sheerness. A walk way runs along the roof for the shipwrights to monitor building from aboave and at the far end is an another office where they would work. The large window at the front is where the bowsprit would sit.

The light coming through the roof of Slip 3 (taken at the back facing forward. You can see the walkway working its way along the top as well.

Construction of the roof was completed in 1838 and at the time the three slips were the widest timber framed buildings in Europe.

The coping stone of the original dock can still be visible. Also in this shot are the Mezzanine support struts and the railway line built to bring heavy equipment in for storage.

The nature of ship building changed and the ships too large for the covered slips by the 1850s and eventually the dock was filled in (though you can still see the original flagstones) and the buildings used for storage. By the Edwardian period, and wanting to maximise space a mezzanine floor was put in to Slip 3 for the storage of ship’s boats in 1904.

The next to be covered were Slips 4,5 and 6 in 1847-8. By this point, a mere decade after the first three, wood is no longer the first choice building material and cast Iron is now in.

The cast iron roof trusses designed and built by the Royal Engineers which hold up the corrugated iron roof.

Although the Dockyard had smithery buildings they did lack the knowledge base of building with it so the task fell to the Royal Engineers who are based in nearby Brompton. The roof trusses are designed by them and the structure was built as the oldest cast iron roof structure, pre-dating Paddington Station (1854).

Looking back into Slip 4 showing the light coming in for construction and the large roof supports. In the middle is the crane that was put in during the twentieth century to aid with construction.

The crane is using the Victorian frame work.

These slips continued to be used well into the twentieth century for construction purposes with modern equipment using orgiinal fittings and structures such as the overhead crane.

Slip 7

Finally we have Slip 7 which was constructed in 1855 and is built using wrought and cast iron frame and is the earliest example of a modern trussed roof. This slip is still operated by a commercial concern for construction and repair work.

The Covered slips are a fantastic example of evolution through the industrial revolution all of them serve the same purpose but you move from master craftsmen working with wood to skilled and some skilled laborers working in iron and steel within thirty years.

The Covered slips viewed from the visitor’s carpark (South Mast Pond)