- Vittoria Dock
Vittoria Dock is a dock in
Birkenhead ,Wirral Peninsula ,England . It was built between 1905 and 1909 within theGreat Float .The name 'Vittoria'
The dock is named after the
Battle of Vittoria , fought on21 June 1813 and was designed byA.G.Lyster .An alternative view is that Vittoria Dock has derived its name as a tribute to the first ship to circumnavigate the globe, Magellan's "Vittoria".citebook|title=Wirral Champion Journal, No.1|page=pp24-27|date=Spring 2000|isbn=(ISSN) 1470-2746-01] However, Magellan's ship was named after the church of "Santa María de la Victoria de Triana", therefore, this Vittoria naming may be questioned.
Vittoria Dock is sometimes incorrectly quoted as 'Victoria Dock', thought in reference to Queen Victoria.
History
During its construction on
6 March 1909 , a temporarydam collapsed, killing 14navvies . This incident is now referred to as theBirkenhead Dock Disaster .Between 1937 and 1941, HMS "Conway", a training ship, was based here. Between the 1920s and 1970s, the
Clan Line and Blue Funnel shipping companies had loading facilities at the dock. The dock fell into disuse as container shipping came in to use.When the
Warship Preservation Trust closed in February 2006, most of its exhibits, which included theRothesay class frigate HMS "Plymouth" and wooden hulled minesweeper HMS "Bronington", were later moved to Vittoria Dock for safe storage. [citeweb|url=http://homepages.enterprise.net/hyland/maps/interest/historic.html|title=Places of Interest - Historic Warships|accessdate=2007-10-12]Future
The dock is hoped to encompass part of
Wirral Waters , a redevelopment byPeel Group . An initial planning application was to be submitted in the summer of 2007. [ [http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/news/economy/uk%92s_biggest_urban_revival_%91to_transform_mersey_docklands%92_200609141701.html NW Enquirer article] ]References
External links
* [http://www.diduknow.info/docks/index2.html Trading Places - History of Liverpool Docks]
* [http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/docks/access/dock_history13.html Timeline History of Birkenhead Docks]
* [http://www.wirralwaters.co.uk/ Wirral Waters]
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