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Floating Dry Dock

I am still researching this page. More than one floating drydock was in Malta including one which was constructed in 1912 and sunk on 21st June 1940.
Another arrived in Malta May 7th 1947 after being towed from the builders in India - some 4,000 miles away. This was called Operation Snowhite but the only reference
I have is 'The Times of Malta' May 9th 1947. In fact 3 docks left Bombay in convoy - AFD 35 for Malta, AFD 22 for Gibraltar & AFD 26 for the UK.
AFD standing for - Auxilliary Floating Dock.

Pre war photo of ship in floating dry dock.

Floating Dry Dock centre / bottom in Grand Harbour taken probably 1930's.

HMS Glorius in floating dry dock 1939.

Many pre war photos show an enormous floating structure in Grand Harbour & I have tried to find photos showing this important part of Maltese history.
Today Malta still has extensive dry dock facilities which have grown from this floating structure.

The film 'Battle of the River Plate' shows many pieces of footage shot in Malta & Gozo. The Floating Dry Dock is seen clearly in some of this footage taken around 1955/56.

The German Dry Dock

I have researched the photo below which may or may not have been taken in Malta.
In 1926 a reference is made of a 'German giant floating dock at Malta, showing HMS Royal Oak docking with tugs'. This dock was sent to Malta as part of war reparations following WWI.
Their is a report of HMS Westcott escorting a floating dry dry back to the UK on 28th January 1940.

 

Missing photo. Hopefully reinstalling when found.

Strange postcard showing a German cruiser in a floating dry dock after
sustaining damage in the Dardanelles, Turkey in 1915. I doubt this was taken in
Malta but I leave it on the page as a rare photo.