Devonshire Dock Hall

Devonshire Dock Hall (often abbreviated to DDH) is a large indoor shipbuilding and assembly complex that forms part of the BAE Systems shipyard in the Barrow Island area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.

The purpose of the indoor shipbuilding facility was to protect vessels from external weather conditions and prevent satellites from photographing secret technologies involved.

DDH provides a controlled environment for ship and submarine assembly, and avoids the difficulties caused by building on the slope of traditional slipways.

[6] DDH is the second largest indoor shipbuilding construction complex of its kind in Europe after Dockhalle 2 of Meyer Werft in Germany.

[8] A large extension to the hall is under-construction to enable construction of the Dreadnought-class submarines, the replacement for the Vanguard-class SSBNs.

HMS Astute photographed outside DDH in 2007