Today
The Royal Navy Dockyard consists of 14 dry docks (Docks Numbered 1 to 15, but there is no 13 Dock), four miles (6 km) of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, five basins and an area of 650 acres (2.6 km²). It is the base for the Trafalgar-class nuclear powered hunter killer submarines and the main refitting base for all Royal Navy nuclear submarines. Work was completed by Carillion in 2002 to build a refitting dock to support the Vanguard-class Trident missile nuclear ballistic missile submarines.
Locals and tourists have long been able to visit the Dockyard during "Navy Days", a two day event where visitors can tour the facility, go aboard active naval ships and watch various displays of naval prowess. Among the most popular attractions is the nuclear powered submarine HMS Courageous, used in the Falklands War.
Devonport serves as headquarters for the Flag Officer Sea Training, which is responsible for the training of all the ships of the Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, along with many from foreign naval services.
Plymouth Naval Base Museum is a maritime museum under development at Devonport at No.5 Wharf.
No.2 Wharf and No.3 Wharf has been passed over to Devonport Yachts, for the construction of superyachts.
Read more about this topic: HMNB Devonport
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“I rather think the cinema will die. Look at the energy being exerted to revive it—yesterday it was color, today three dimensions. I don’t give it forty years more. Witness the decline of conversation. Only the Irish have remained incomparable conversationalists, maybe because technical progress has passed them by.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)
“Justice begins with the recognition of the necessity of sharing. The oldest law is that which regulates it, and this is still the most important law today and, as such, has remained the basic concern of all movements which have at heart the community of human activities and of human existence in general.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)
“We’re in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)