Preventive maintenance makes a fleet real

A floating dock could lift a ship clear of the water for inspection and hull work at an overseas station. Its open-ended form accommodated different ship lengths, provided the hull was positioned and supported correctly. The dock itself could be selectively flooded and careened so workers could clean fouling from its own bottom in Bermuda's harsh waters. The sequence makes clear that a maintenance system is also equipment with its own upkeep burden, not a permanent source of free capacity.