Shipyard

Dockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used intechangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

Prominent dockyards and shipyards

• Devonport Dockyard http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2002476.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1422130.stm, located in the city of Plymouth, England in the county of Devon is the largest naval base in Western Europe. It has 15 dry docks, four miles (6 km) of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, five basins and covers 650 acres (2.6 km²). It is the main refitting base for Royal Navy nuclear submarines and also handles work on frigates. It is the base for seven of the Trafalgar class nuclear powered hunter-killer submarines and many frigates, exploiting its convenient access to the Atlantic Ocean. It supports the Vanguard class Trident missile nuclear ballistic missile submarines in a custom-built refitting dock. It houses HMS Courageous, a nuclear powered submarine used in the Falklands War and open to the general publichttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1695215.stm. Facilities in the local area also include a major naval training establishment and the base for the Royal Marines.
• BAE Systems Marine, is a subsidiary of the global defence contractor BAE Systems, and forms Europe's largest Naval Shipbuilding Group. It currently operates three Shipyards in the United Kingdom; two large Shipbuilding yards on the River Clyde in Glasgow - which specialise in surface shipbuilding projects like the Type 45 Destroyer - and a Submarine Centre of Excellence at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. The latter is one of the few yards in the World capable of building nuclear submarines, like the Royal Navy's Vanguard class. BAE Systems are currently leading the "Carrier Alliance" to design and build the Future Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy, which will be Europe's largest Naval Shipbuilding project.
• Newport News Shipbuilding, part of Northrop Grumman, is the largest private ship builder in the US and the one best known for its unique capacity to build the Nimitz class aircraft carriers.
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, is one of the largest shipyards in the world; specializing in repairing, overhauling and modernizing ships and submarines. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the United States Navy
• Ingalls Shipbuilding, part of Northrop Grumman, located in Pascagoula, Mississippi repaired the USS Cole and builds offshore drilling rigs, cruise ships and naval vessels.
• Yantai Raffles http://www.yantai-raffles.com/ is the largest ship builder in China located in Yantai. It has built numerous cargo ships, tugboats and support vessels, as well as pleasure vessels such as yachts.
• The beach at Alang in the Indian state of Gujarat is the site of a large complex of shipbreaking yards which processes 50% of the ships that are salvaged.