The Matagorda Dock: Historical Highlights

In the mid-19th century, Spain lacked a dock where the large ships being built at the time could be efficiently and safely repaired. This was recognized by the government of the time, which declared through a Royal Order in April 1859 that it was “of national interest and a duty of the government to protect the creation of these maritime establishments in conditions capable of meeting the current and future needs of the merchant navy, which without the existence of docks and slipways, lacks solidity in the eventualities where maritime trade is most necessary.”

The Spanish Transatlantic Company, or more accurately, the company of Antonio López and Company, more interested than any other in having a good dock in Spain for its large vessels, and mainly driven by patriotic motives, planned in 1872 the construction of this maritime establishment.

Such large facilities, as is known, are difficult to bring to fruition unless established in important naval centers or with the help of governments or large corporations or, in rare cases, by some powerful shipbuilding company. But one of the most important entrepreneurial geniuses – a term that is so fashionable today – of the time: Antonio López y López. After overcoming multiple difficulties, with unwavering persistence, he managed in a few years and through the contribution of large amounts of money, to provide his homeland with an important element of prosperity for the country and the area.

Antonio López y López, founder of Compañía Trasatlántica Española

The dock was built between the Matagorda castle and the María creek in the bay of Cádiz, at the location 36º 30´ 30” North latitude and 0º 2´ 34” West longitude from the San Fernando Observatory. The area occupied by the facilities measured 80,760 square meters and at the beginning of the works was covered by tidal waters.

The dimensions of the dock in relation to the ships it could accommodate were, and I believe still are, as follows: total length between the door sill and the upper end of the head ladder, 165 meters; length between the lines of the searches and the foot of the ladder, that is, over stone pedestals, 150 meters; width or entrance width at the crown, 22.25 meters; same at the bottom, 17.65 meters; height at the doors from the ladder to the keel, 10.12 meters. The draft or height at the door at the highest high tide measures 7.95 meters; at mean high tide, 6.95 meters; at mean low tide 4.75 meters and at the lowest low tide, 3.80 meters.

These measurements prove the unbeatable dimensions of the dock, which made it one of the best in the world at the time; for when studied, we see that the double dock of Portsmouth, those of Birkenhead (numbers 1 and 2), those of Liverpool, Canada, and London (numbers 1 to 6), and those of Bombay (old and Duncan), which had more length than Matagorda, were inferior in draft; those of Devenport (numbers 2 and 3), in England, of Suez in Egypt, and of Ferrol in Spain, superior in draft, were very inferior in length, so I am in a position to assert that by both conditions there was not a single one that could be considered better than that of the Transatlantic.

The dock entrance formed a basin consisting of two piers 125 meters long, built with six meters wide at the crown and leaving a space of 60 meters wide between them, which formed the basin, now substantially modified.

The Matagorda factory viewed from the bay, in a photo from 1911

The important facilities that made up this naval factory had large workshops for the repair of iron ships – not yet steel – and machines, forges, foundries, boiler-making; materials for carrying out the careening of vessels, magnificent warehouses for storing goods, and railways linked to the national railway network.

The plans for the dock were executed by engineers M M. Bell & Miller from Glasgow; but the direction of the works was entrusted from the beginning to the Spanish engineer Eduardo Pelayo, who died shortly after holding an important position in the Company; I believe as a result of a work accident. At that time, the use and utilization of PPE was not mandatory as it is today.

The first ship built in the factory was the “Joaquín de Piélago,” undoubtedly one of the most luxurious ships of its kind built at the time, in which Spanish artists poured their efforts using national materials. Reviewing the specifications of one of the ships built in those years, which I am fortunate to possess, one can see, not without admiration, the scrupulousness and rigor in the designs and selection of the equipment and materials used.

It goes without saying that even at that time, building in Spain was significantly more expensive than doing so abroad; but the altruism and patriotism of both Antonio López y López and later his son Claudio López y Brú overlooked this drawback and had no qualms about assuming the losses. As you can see, the crisis in Spanish shipbuilding is not a recent issue.

The patriotic conduct of Trasatlántica, or more accurately, of the Marquises of Comillas, is worthy of praise, as by creating and maintaining jobs, they had no qualms about assuming heavy costs and losses without assistance or help from anyone. This and other things, I believe still remain in the collective memory of Cádiz, and hence, even after the years of its disappearance, many continue to show affection and regard for the now-defunct Compañía Trasatlántica Española. The surrounding lands of the dock were occupied with numerous tools and constructions, which I will now describe:

The riverside blacksmith workshop, covered by an iron frame and sheets of the same material, corrugated and galvanized; something very novel at the time. A steam engine with an attached fan to provide air to the forge, located in its own shed. Two Senier-type furnaces built with an iron and cast-iron frame, covered with refractory bricks. Behind the riverside blacksmith workshop was the warehouse and the workshop for minor constructions. The mechanical carpentry building was magnificent, as it was divided into three sections and had a boiler and steam engine for the operation of saws, planers, drills, etc. Next to this were the tanks for collecting saw water and very close was the first aid station. Of what has been described, today, nothing remains.

Repair of lighters in the Matagorda dock[/caption>

Not far from what was the general warehouse and at the initiative of the Company staff, a series of constructions were made to perpetuate the memory of their unforgettable chief, Antonio López y López. With the main facade facing the dock, a beautiful chapel rises in the center of the group of constructions, whose floor plan represents a Greek cross, completed with three semicircular apses that constitute the rear facade. The entire construction is made of dressed stone, except for the dome, which due to being a military zone when it was built, was made of wood and bronze. Its style is Romanesque and the decoration was very beautiful, attracting the attention of its visitors for the luxury and details observed throughout.

To the right and left of the chapel extend two rectangular naves, also of dressed stone, which were joined at their front by a fence raised on a dressed stone base developed in a semicircle, in which center stands a stone pedestal, dedicated to holding the statue of the founder of the Compañía Trasatlántica Española; which among us we carried away a century and a little later. The remaining space was occupied by a beautiful garden. One of the mentioned naves was intended for the school of the children of employees living in the factory, and the other was an orphanage for children of workers who died in the line of duty or from common illnesses of the time.

Following what has been described, there were two blocks of houses intended for the Company's servants, facing the east, and in eight wooden naves were the workshops for painting, boiler-making, cooperage, pantry, sailors' dining room, cannon depots, and various others. There was also a soap factory and copper foundry and forges. The machinery workshop occupied a spacious building, and all the machines it possessed were powered by a horizontal double-acting single-cylinder steam engine of 80 HP, without condensation.

Steam was produced in two boilers that worked alternately. Next was a warehouse to preserve models, and to the south of the boiler workshop, there was a building to heat tar and pitch. Near the dock's pump shed, there was another building for pumps, fire tools, and diving equipment… The entire establishment was traversed by a Spanish gauge railway and another of Decauville gauge.

It is useless to comment on the extensive benefits that the Matagorda shipyards brought to Cádiz and Puerto Real for so many years, where more than a thousand people worked daily.

(*) Chief naval machinist. Former inspector of Compañía Trasatlántica Española

Photos: Archive Museum The Dock