Liverpool and the Mersey, Vol. 1: Gladstone Dock and the Great Liners
Front Cover, Liverpool and the Mersey, Volume 1: Gladstone Dock and the Great Liners by Ken Longbottom, 1995. Top Image is An Aerial View of Gladstone Dock During the Second World War. GGA Image ID # 20138c42ee
Synopsis
More than 190 rare archive photographs and maps, many never before published, recount the story of this most famous dock and the Great passenger Ships that were once a regular sight there.
History of the Gladstone Dock
Gladstone Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Bootle. The pier is connected to Seaforth Dock to the north and what remains of Hornby Dock to the south. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company operates part of Liverpool Freeport, Gladstone Dock.
The dock is named after Robert Gladstone, a merchant from Liverpool and second cousin of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone Dock was designed in the first decade of the twentieth century, and construction of the dock was eventually completed in 1927. It consisted of 3 mi (4.8 km) of quays and extensive warehouse space.
The graving dock was completed in 1913 before the rest of the pier became operational. At 1,050 ft (320 m) long and 120 ft (37 m) wide, it was designed to take the largest trans-Atlantic steamers of that time. The graving dock has since been converted into a wet dock (Gladstone Number Three Branch Dock).
The tremendous new dock, named the Gladstone Dock, has been essentially planned to be a graving dock for the repair and overhauling of those vast vessels that are now provided for the transatlantic traffic and for the still larger ones, which many predict will be constructed before this dock will have been in existence for many years.
It will be available as an ordinary wet dock for loading and discharging cargo and stores when not engaged for this purpose. The largest ocean liners at Liverpool should generally be taken into the docks to discharge their passengers, who typically leave via the great Prince's floating landing stage.
The new pier, while therefore of suitable length, is intentionally narrow compared to the more extensive wet docks, as it is only intended to hold one vessel at a time. In contrast, a wet dock would have a base width for ships at each side wall and a passageway along the center.
Timeline of the Gladstone Dock to World War II
1908
1908 was the time of the huge Atlantic liners. Gladstone Dock is designed to receive them but will not be finished for several years.
1913
A huge graving dock is completed at Gladstone Dock. It measures 1050ft long and 120 ft wide. This is large enough to take the largest transatlantic liners of that era. Gladstone also has an extensive entrance lock - 1,070 ft long and 130 ft wide. Gladstone Dock is the largest on the river.
1914
The Cunard liner, RMS Aquitania, was in Gladstone Graving dock when World War I broke out. She was damaged off the coast of Ireland in July 1914 and was converted into a trooper carrier while at Gladstone. The war slows the building of the dock.
1920
Passenger liner companies are putting pressure on the dock company to complete the job at Gladstone Dock. They are in urgent need of suitable space.
Gladstone Dock is finished. There is:
- A Wet Dock
- Two Branch Docks with a River Entrance
- A Massive 58 Acres of Water Space
- Three Miles of Quays
- Single, Double, and Triple-Floor Transit Sheds
1939
An anti-u-boat fleet was based at Gladstone Dock during World War II. The dock is also a base for transatlantic escorts and minesweepers.
From The Back Cover
Many docks in ports throughout the world can lay claim to fame, but it is doubtful if any can match the importance and significance of Liverpool's Gladstone Dock. Throughout its history it has been associated with some of the world's most celebrated ocean liners, and has reflected Britain's changing mercantile and naval fortunes.
Intended to relieve the acute congestion in Liverpool's docks, the Gladstone's construction began in 1910. Interrupted by the outbreak of war, it was not officially commissioned until 1927, and immediately entered the record books as having the largest area of enclosed water of any dock in the world, playing host to such ocean legends as the Lusitania, Aquitania, the second Mauretania and the Canadian Pacific `Empresses'.
During the Second World War the principal naval forces of Western Approaches Command were based in Gladstone Dock and played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic. However, post-war economic recovery was followed by a steady decline from the late 1960s onwards, and today Gladstone Dock is but a shadow of its former self.
However, if Liverpool's position as Britain's `Gateway to the West' at the start of the present century becomes Europe's `Gateway to the West' at the beginning of the next, then it may be that the final chapter of the story of Gladstone Dock is yet to be written.
Maritime historian Ken Longbottom has selected more than 190 rare archive photographs and maps, many never before published, to recount the story of this most famous dock and the great passenger ships that were once a regular sight there.
Mercey Docks and Harbor Board, The Port of Liverpool, Ninth Edition, © 1935, Littlebury Bros. Ltd., Liverpool, England, Soft cover, 160 Pages + 121 Pages Advertising + Fold-out Maps. Subjects include: History of the Port of Liverpool, Northern Extension Works, Bidston Dock, The Liverpool Docks, The Birkenhead Docks, The Landing Stage, Railway Traffic at the Mersey Docks, The Commerce of the Port, Histories of Shipping Companies, Histories of Insurance Companies.
Listing of Ocean Liners Referenced in This Book
- Adriatic
- Adriatic (II)
- Alsatian
- Albertic
- America
- Andania
- Andes
- Angelina Lauro
- Aquitania
- Ascania
- Athenia
- Aureol
- Ausonia
- Baltic
- Belgic
- Berengaria
- Britannic
- Britannic (II)
- Caledonia
- Calgarian
- Calgaric
- California
- Cameronia
- Campania
- Canada
- Canopic
- Carinthia
- Carinthia (II)
- Carmania
- Carmania (II)
- Caronia
- Caronia (II)
- Cedric
- Celtic
- Ceramic
- City of Benares
- City of Ely
- City of New York
- City of Paris
- City of Sydney
- Clan Campbell
- Clan MacTaggart
- Columbia
- Columbus
- Corinthian
- Corsican
- Cretic
- Dann Princess
- Dario
- De Grasse
- Demara
- Demosthenes
- Deseado
- Desna
- Devonian
- Dominion
- Dominion Monarch
- Done
- Dresden
- Drina
- Duchess of Atholl
- Duchess of Bedford
- Duchess of Richmond
- Duchess of York
- Empire Brent
- Empire Clyde
- Empress of Australia
- Empress of Australia (II)
- Empress of Britain
- Empress of Britain (II)
- Empress of Britain (III)
- Empress of Canada (II)
- Empress of Canada (III)
- Empress of England
- Empress of France
- Empress of France (II)
- Empress of Ireland
- Empress of Japan
- Empress of Scotland
- Empress of Scotland (II)
- Essiquibo
- Estranadurian
- Etruria
- Fairwind
- Florida
- Franconia
- Franconia (II)
- Galatea
- Georgie
- Germanic
- Gigantic
- Gladstone Star
- Great Eastern
- Hanoverian
- Hanseatic
- Haresfield
- Heliopolis
- Ile de France
- Imperator
- Ivernia
- Justicia
- Kaiserin Auguste Victoria
- Labrador
- Lancastria
- Lanconia
- Lapland
- Laurentic
- Letitia
- Leviathan
- Lucania
- Lusana
- Lusitania
- Majestic
- Manhattan
- Mardi Gras
- Margareta
- Marlock
- Mauretania
- Mauretania (II)
- Media
- Media (II)
- Megantic
- Melita
- Memphis
- Metagama
- Minnedosa
- Missenabie
- Monarch of Bermuda
- Mona's Queen
- Montcalm
- Montclare
- Montréal
- Montrose
- München
- Napier Star
- Newfoundland
- Newfoundland (II)
- Northland
- Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia (II)
- Oceanic
- Ocean Monarch
- Olympic
- Oranje
- Orbita
- Orca
- Orduña
- Oronsa
- Oroya
- Ortega
- Parthia
- Pasteur
- Patriotic
- Politician
- Queen Anna Maria
- Queen Elizabeth
- Queen Elizabeth 2
- Queen Mary
- Queen of Bermuda
- Recorder
- Regina
- Reina del Mar
- Republic
- Royal George
- Samaria
- Saxonia
- Scythia
- Statendam
- Stirling Castle
- Sylvania
- Tasmania Star
- Teutonic
- Tynwald
- Umbria
- Vandyck
- Van Heemskerck
- Vaterland
- Vedic
- Victorian
- Volendam
- Voltaire
- Wakefield
- Waverley
- Wild Goose
- Windsor Castle
GG Archives Catalog Listing
- Author: Ken Longbottom
- Title: Liverpool and the Mersey, Vol. 1: Gladstone Dock and the Great Liners
- Edition: 1st
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 128
- ISBN: 1-85794-053-9
- Publisher: Silver Link Publishing Limited
- Location: Wadenhoe, Peterborough, United Kingdom
- Pub. Date: June 1995
- Language: English UK
- Subjects:
- 1. Background to the new dock, 1895-1913,
- 2. The First World War, 1914-1918,
- 3. Completion of the Gladstone Dock and the inter-war years, 1919-1939,
- 4. The Second World War, 1939-1945,
- 5. The Post-war era, 1945-1995.
- Description: A Volume from the Maritime Heritage Series.
- Notes: Large Format Paperback.
- Size: 8 3/8" x 11"
- Dust Jacket: No
- List Price: GBP 14.99
Additional Text
"Timeline of the Gladstone Dock to World War II," in Trading Places: A History of Liverpool Docks, 2009.
"History of Gladstone Dock," in Wikipedia contributors, "Gladstone Dock," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gladstone_Dock&oldid=1076319071 (accessed December 3, 2023).
Th. Osborne, "The New Liverpool Dock," in International Marine Engineering, New York-London: Aldreich Publishing Company, Vol. XVIII, No. 10, October 1913, p. 431.