Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - A History of Penarth Dock by Roy Thorne . . .

In June 1904 the T.V.R. decided that more ship repairing facilities were needed at Penarth Dock. The Penarth shipbuilding and Ship Repairing Company which had been formed in 1878 had a slipway on the north side of the dock at the River Ely and a gridiron.

A gridiron was large baulks of timber laid horizontally to form a platform, and a wooden side on the river bank. The vessel would sail above the horizontal timbers with its side against the river bank staging and when the tide receded the ship was left high and dry.

A decision was made between the dock lessees, the T.V.R. and the Penarth Shipbuilding and Ship Repairing Company to provide a pontoon dry dock. It was designed by Messrs Clark and Standfield of Westminster and built by Messrs Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson of Wallsend-on-Tyne.

Its overall length was 382 feet and extreme width 75 feet. It was capable of taking vessels with a beam of 57 feet, with a draught of water up to 20 feet, and a weight of 4,500 tons. The pontoon was capable of lifting 1,000 tons dead weight in 45 minutes.

The dock was towed to Penarth in October 1909. When it arrived in Penarth Roads it was divided into two parts [actually it was four parts] and the separate sections were towed into the dock and reconnected. In April 1910 the pontoon began working and between then and January 1911 vessels totalling an aggregate of 110,000 tons were serviced. It was efficient.

The ship needing attention would sail into the pontoon and the whole raised out of the water. In 1911 the S.S. "Ardgryfe", 415 feet in length was raised out of the water in 55 minutes. The typical ship entering Penarth Dock could be accommodated by the pontoon which was capable of taking ships up to 4,500 tons. Amongst the ships using Penarth Dock were : -