King George V Dock, London

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This article is about the dock in London. For other uses, see King George V Dock (disambiguation).

King George V Dock
MV 'Menestheus' in King George V Dock.jpg
The Blue Funnel Line cargo liner MV Menestheus in King George V Dock around 1960
LocationLondon
Coordinates51°30′13″N 0°03′35″E / 51.5037°N 0.0597°E / 51.5037; 0.0597Coordinates: 51°30′13″N 0°03′35″E / 51.5037°N 0.0597°E / 51.5037; 0.0597
Built1921
King George V Dock, London is located in London Borough of Newham
King George V Dock, London
Location of King George V Dock in London Borough of Newham

King George V Dock is one of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.

History[]

Begun in 1912 by the Port of London Authority, the King George V was the last of London's upstream enclosed docks to be built. After delay by the First World War, construction was completed in 1921.[1] Although at 64 acres (26 ha) of water it was smaller than the other royals, it had its own entrance from the Thames through a lock and bascule bridge. The dock could berth liners as large as the RMS Mauretania. At its western end was a large graving dock (since filled in) and machine shop used for ship repairs by Harland and Wolff. From the 1960s onwards, the King George V Dock experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks – as the shipping industry adopted containerisation, which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1981.[2]

Redevelopment in the late 20th century included the construction of London City Airport which was built on the north bank of the dock with a single runway and completed in 1987.[3] King George V station on the London City Airport branch of the Docklands Light Railway, which opened in December 2005, is named after the dock.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "King George V Dock". Port Cities. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  2. ^ "History". London's Royal Docks. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  3. ^ "The Royals". BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Government Approves DLR Woolwich Extension". Transport for London. 26 February 2004. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.

Further reading[]

  • Dockland: an illustrated historical survey of life and work in east London. London: NELP/GLC. 1983. p. not stated. ISBN 0-7168-1611-3.
  • Weinreb; Hibbert, eds. (1983). The London Encyclopedia. London: Macmillan. p. not stated. ISBN 0-333-30024-6.
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