Why heavy warships were fitted out in graving docks

Between 1905 and 1950, the Royal Navy repeatedly asked Cammell Laird whether its dock could be enlarged, and the yard's answer was effectively that sufficient funding could make it happen. Plans at different moments considered lengths of roughly 1,000 or 1,200 feet. A large warship could be launched in relatively light condition with its machinery and shafts aboard, then moved into a graving dock for heavier fitting-out work. Workers positioned wooden blocks to support the hull, drained the dock, and installed propellers and superstructure with direct access below the waterline. The dock could then be flooded before the heaviest turret structures were loaded so buoyancy helped support the hull. Badly sequenced weight could distort a ship and alarm its constructors. The stepped sides and crane access of a modern dock were part of the construction process as well as later maintenance.