1889 – Alexandra Graving Dock, Harland & Wolff, Belfast

By the mid-1870s the existing drydock, the Hamilton Graving Dock, was too small to deal with the increasing size and numbers of vessels being constructed at Harland & Wolff. Work began in 1885 on what would become Alexandra Graving Dock, and it was designed to be splitable into shorter lengths using two caissons. Up to 500 men were employed on the project, excavating an estimated 300,000 cubic feet of earth. The dock was serviced by a pair of iron caissons, while a single storey pump house was constructed and remains today, albeit extended.

The Alexandra Graving Dock was formally declared open by H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor of Wales on 21 May 1889. Today, the dock is home to the 1914 ship HMS Caroline. Having served in both WW1 and WW2, she is one of only three surviving Royal Navy warships of the First World War and is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland.