An open-ended floating dock could support a battleship longer than the platform itself if the hull was positioned correctly. A floating dock looked more vulnerable than a concrete graving dock because it could be holed like a ship. Yet a structure designed to flood down and rise again required extensive subdivision and strength throughout its hull. Damage might interrupt work without making the facility permanently unrecoverable, so mobility did not necessarily mean fragility.
Notable Point · 10:40-12:26
Subdivision made floating docks resilient
A floating dock could accept ships longer than itself, while subdivision made damage more likely to interrupt work than destroy the facility permanently.