Mount Stuart Graving Dock 1 (Cardiff)

 water, dock (maritime), drydock

 Upload a photo

Some sources may tell you that a "Graving" dock is no different to an ordinary "Dry Dock". This isn't so. Whilst the basic operation and technology are the same a true "Graving" dock is designed & built for one purpose and one purpose only - namely the application of 'Graving' to the dried out hull of a wooden ship. Because 'graving' was the name for the sealant or sealing compound, made typically from hemp rope, and applied using hot pitch and tar, which was forced into the gaps between the bottom planks (strakes) of a wooden hulled ship in order to make it fully water-tight. Hence the need for a drying dock to dry out and leave the ship 'bottom' dry for several days even weeks before the application of the graving. In this way the working life time of a commercial wooden vessel was extended.These docks were all built between 1853 and the early 1900's at the very end of the evolution of working wooden ships.