Floating dry docks as mobile strategic infrastructure

How important were floating dry docks, and what was their most unusual use?

They provided movable repair capacity valuable enough to justify major wartime escorts. An unusual submarine-lifting example is recalled from an unpublished manuscript and is not identified more precisely.

Floating dry docks could provide major repair capacity, including the Turkish battlecruiser repair cited here. Clarke also recalls an unpublished manuscript describing a nuclear submarine raised by bringing a submerged floating dock up beneath it. The submarine is unnamed, and that story remains a recollection of the manuscript rather than an identified incident. A floating dock can replace damaged repair infrastructure near an operational area, helping return ships to service. During World War II, the protection assigned to moving these docks could include battleships, cruisers and carriers, drawing substantial forces away from other work. Some docks built during the world wars remained useful for decades, with modification and maintenance extending their service lives.