Docks
‘Bristol without the docks… would still be only a large provincial town. But with their docks enterprise it was a great world-wide Imperial city’
Newspaper report of an address by the Lord Mayor to a meeting of dockers, 1915
The Bristol docks, especially those at Avonmouth, played an important role in transport operations throughout the war. Motor vehicles, animals, troops and goods were shipped into and out of Bristol. The Merchant Navy shipped food and materials into Bristol, and became a target for German submarines. 102 seamen from Bristol were killed during the war. The Royal Edward and Royal George passenger ships, which had taken emigrants to Canada before the war from Avonmouth, were requisitioned by the government and used to transport troops. The Royal Edward was torpedoed in 1915 and sank with great loss of life. Due to increased dangers of shipping and the demands of the war effort, commercial traffic into the docks fell every year during the war. However, shipbuilding was given a boost. Cargo ships built in Bristol, including the War Plum, War Damson and War Quince, replaced ships lost to submarines.
The Bristol docks, especially those at Avonmouth, played an important role in transport operations throughout the war. Motor vehicles, animals, troops and goods were shipped into and out of Bristol. The Merchant Navy shipped food and materials into Bristol, and became a target for German submarines. 102 seamen from Bristol were killed during the war. The Royal Edward and Royal George passenger ships, which had taken emigrants to Canada before the war from Avonmouth, were requisitioned by the government and used to transport troops. The Royal Edward was torpedoed in 1915 and sank with great loss of life. Due to increased dangers of shipping and the demands of the war effort, commercial traffic into the docks fell every year during the war. However, shipbuilding was given a boost. Cargo ships built in Bristol, including the War Plum, War Damson and War Quince, replaced ships lost to submarines.