Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH) (Barrow-in-Furness)

 construction firm / organisation, shipbuilding hall

Devonshire Dock Hall (often abbreviated to DDH) is a large shipbuilding hall that forms part of the BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shipyard in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Constructed in 1986 for Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, the covered assembly facility was named Devonshire Dock Hall (after the dock that lies next to it), it was 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.

DDH is the tallest building in Cumbria at 51 m. With a length of 260 m (850 ft), width of 58 m (190 ft) and an area of 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) it is also the second largest indoor shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe. Due to its size, Devonshire Dock Hall is visible from miles around, most notably from the Blackpool Promenade which is over 20 miles away.

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 (Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance). The shipyard is currently constructing the Astute-class submarines the first of which was launched on 8 June 2007. As of April 2011, the Royal Navy submarines Artful, Audacious, Agamemnon and Anson are all under construction inside Devonshire Dock Hall.


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