Historic dock crane to stay
21 December 2005Plans have been scrapped to remove the last surviving dockside crane at the King George V Graving Dock in Southampton, UK.
The 6t crane has become a landmark symbol of the city’s maritime heritage after three other cranes at the dock of 10t, 20t, and 50t capacity, were reduced to scrap.
The smallest of the four cranes was also to be torn down, but local campaigners and the city’s newspaper - The Daily Echo - have won their battle to preserve it.
Pending agreement from the local council, which Echo business editor Ron Wain told Cranes Today was “likely to happen”, the crane and the chapter of history it represents will be saved.
The dock was opened on 26th July 1893 with a special ceremony during which King George V and Queen Mary sailed into the port aboard the Royal Yacht, Victoria & Albert.
