dry-dock

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea | 2006 | 700+ words | Copyright

dry-dock, a watertight basin, with one end, which can be closed and sealed by a caisson, open to the sea, in which ships can be docked for repair, examination, or cleaning of the underwater body. When a ship is to enter a dry-dock, the dock is flooded, the caisson withdrawn, and the ship floated in and held in position so that its keel is immediately above the lines of blocks prearranged on the floor of the dock. The caisson is replaced and the water in the dock pumped out, and the ship's keel settles on the blocks to support the weight of the hull as the water level falls. After the repair or cleaning of the ship, the dock is flooded, lifting the ship off the blocks, the caisson is withdrawn, and the ship is floated out.

See also floating dock; graving dock.

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