Royal Navy Dockyard

Royal Navy Dockyards were harbour facilities where commissioned ships were either built or based, or where ships were overhauled and refitted. Historically, the Royal Navy maintained a string of dockyards around the world; these publicly-owned establishments were officially designated Royal Dockyards or HM Dockyards until the late 1960s (after which the term 'naval base' gained currency, reflecting a change of emphasis from ship building and maintenance to accommodation and training of personnel). Today, the few shipbuilding/maintenance yards that remain operational have been privatized (though they are still often called 'Royal' dockyards in common, if not in official, parlance).