The story of Admiralty floating docks (AFDs) in Malta should have ended with the sinking and eventual long-drawn-out salvage and demolition of AFD 8 between 1940 and 1950 (see The Sunday Times of Malta, July 30 and August 6, 2017).

Indian personnel joining the sections.

In 1946, the Admiralty decided to build a new dry dock at Parlatorio Wharf. The old rule of thumb applied: dry docks were preferable, but they were expensive and took years to build. Floating docks could be built in half the time, and were cheaper and mobile.

In February 1943, a new £1,500,000 floating dock, Admiralty Floating Dock No.35 (AFD 35), was ordered in India for service in Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The dock was intended for the war effort in the Pacific but after the collapse of Japan it was decided to send surplus floating docks to home waters. AFD 35 was to be sent to Malta to replace AFD 8.

Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop completed fabrication of AFD 35 in Calcutta in May 1944. Assembly was completed at Bombay in May 1946. A cursory glance at the map of India shows that the distance between the two is 2,096 nautical miles. Calcutta (Kolkata) is in the Bay of Bengal, and Bombay (Mumbai) is in the Arabian Sea. How the sections were transported from one port to the other is not known. AFD 35 seemed to be destined to be towed over long distances from the start. An even longer one was planned.

‘Operation Snowhite’ was the code name given to the operation to tow floating docks AFD 22, 26, 35 from Bombay to Europe. Apart from AFD 35, the largest, AFD 22, was earmarked for Gibraltar and AFD 26 for the UK. The 4,000-mile voyage to Malta began from Bombay on March 20.

AFD 35 was an autonomous and highly complex vessel, with scores of work stations, ranging from offices, fuel tanks, wash rooms, paint, spare parts and canvas stores, crew’s quarters and machinery rooms

The huge dock was originally built in three sections. The fore and aft sections were joined together for the voyage. The centre section was towed separately. Seven tugs, including Mediator and Reward, two of the most powerful ocean tugs in the world, executed the 49-day tow at an average speed of five knots. Speed was reduced when rough seas were met in the Gulf of Suez and in the Mediterranean. The most challenging part of the operation was the passage, with just a few feet of clearance, through the railway swing bridge at El Ferdane, Port Said, in the Suez Canal.

The sections arrived off Grand Harbour on the evening of May 7. The centre section was towed in the next morning; the other followed in the afternoon. Both sections were moored at Boiler Wharf. Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop sent over several Indian personnel for the next part of the operation: to disassemble fore and aft sections and join them to the middle. The men were accommodated in the hulks of the war-damaged HMS Loyal and HMS Fareham. The work was completed in July 1948.

The sections being aligned for joining.

The combined sections made up a 261.4-metre-long, 52.4-metre-wide and 12.2-metre-deep floating workshop. The width between the walls was 38.6 metres and the height above the pontoon 12.2 metres. The dock was divided into seven sections, with sections 3, 4 and 5 making up the central, deeper section, and sections 1 and 2, and 6 and 7, fore and aft respectively. The total displacement was 28,000 tons, the lifting capacity 50,000, sufficient for HMS Vanguard, the largest warship in the Royal Navy.

AFD 35 was an autonomous and highly complex vessel, with scores of work stations, ranging from offices, fuel tanks, wash rooms, paint, spare parts and canvas stores, crew’s quarters and machinery rooms. The dock sank by gravity to a depth of 48 feet within two hours. There were seven 30,000-gallons-per-hour centrifugal pumps to empty the pontoon and raise ships for docking. The whole operation for sinking, manoeuvering the ship into the dock, mooring and shoring the vessel took about four hours.

There were four oil-fired boilers on the port side; they produced 20,000lbs of steam per hour. The boilers were installed in pairs in two pressurised compartments using the closed stokehold system. They supplied steam to three 1,000KW, 3,300-volt turbo-alternator sets in two separate engine rooms, the turbines running at 6,500rpm. The converting plant changed 1,200KW of alternating current to direct current.

From Boiler Wharf to Dockyard Creek on August 2, 1948.

Two evaporating plants provided 100 tons of distilled water per day. There were several power points for welding. Two travelling cranes on each of the side walls handled loads from two to four tons. Access from one side wall to the other was by flying bridge at the forward section; this could be opened to let vessels through.

The dock master had the overall responsibility for docking and undocking ships; the foreman of the yard was responsible for the docking arrangements. AFD 35 and its sisters AFD 9 and AFD 23 were the second largest British floating docks.

The August 1944 incident in which AFD 23 broke her back between sections 5, 6 and 7 while docking HMS Valiant in Trincomalee was still fresh in memory. On that occasion the battleship was docked while still heavily loaded with most of its ordnance. This, combined with incorrect distribution of weight on the keel blocks and a faulty pumping-out sequence, led to the total loss of AFD 23 and severe damage to the battleship.

Cross-section of the dock wall.

Salvage took years: it was only partly completed in 1968 and the aft section remains on the seabed. Given its seriousness, the incident was kept under wraps for a time; a similar mishap in Grand Harbour would have been impossible to conceal. This explained why docking procedures had to be followed to the letter.

The foreman of the yard had to complete the lowering of the rails 15 minutes before every docking. After the vessel had been docked or undocked, the foreman had to replace and secure all guardrails and stanchions. This had to be done before pumping started. When the vessel rested on the keel blocks, and was breast shored, the foreman secured the ends of the brows at the ship and dock ends with guard wires, to form a continuous guard rail. These wires were inspected daily before dark.

The dock had to be ready for use at short notice. Electricity was supplied to the ship as soon as pumping was completed. Fire and wash down pumps were on standby at all times. Heads (toilets), galleys, and all domestic services were kept clean, and keys logged in signature books. Ships were connected to dock and shore by telephone.

A log was kept of the docking operation and pumping sequence. The blocks were arranged before docking according to the ship’s keel plan. Shores (timber supports) were cut to size and positioned during pumping. Needless to say, operating a floating dock was much more labour-intensive than a dry dock. In 1964, its last year of operation in Malta, the dock was manned by five civilian officers, four Admiralty chargemen, 76 labourers, and 200 Malta Drydocks employees.

(To be concluded)

The combined fore and aft sections.