In the 1840s this led to the construction of the navy base called 'Maritime Establishment' (Dutch: Maritiem Etablissement) just east of the river.

In the early nineteenth century, some developments led to an urgent need for a dry dock in the Dutch East Indies.

Steam paddle ships could only be careened after removal of the machinery and wheels, making regular inspection very costly.

Houses could be supported by driving piles till they hit solid ground, but this was no solution for the massive pressures that a graving dock faced.

When the first modern floating dry dock started to operate in New York in 1839-1840, it got the attention of Jan Daniel Diets.

[4] He bought the plans of the American floating dry dock, and soon Amsterdam Wooden Drydock I was put into use on 30 November 1842, lifting the frigate Koning Willem II of 39.6 m length, 11 m beam and 3.6 m draught and about 800 tons, belonging to J.P. Janette Walen.

They then ordered Diets to supply the wood for a floating dry dock of 212 Amsterdam feet (28.3133 cm) length (60 m).

The reason is that the announcement that parts of the drydock were to be sent from the Netherlands, forced the authorities to choose a plan for the establishment, and to implement it.

The first shipment of the dock arrived in Batavia on 3 September 1846 on board Prins Frederik der Nederlanden.

[16] The government decision to send European wood from the Netherlands to Surabaya would later attract a lot of criticism.

The main difference is that wooden drydocks were basically rafts that were lowered by pumping water in and out of the superstructure on the sides.

According to the plan it was to be made of pine planks that were 60 cm longer than the total beam of the dock, so they would not split from nails and bolts.

[6] For contemporary frigates Oordt thought that the water would stay 80–90 cm above the raft of a suitable wooden dry dock.

The doubt is in whether Olland might have photographed Onrust Wooden Dock of 1,300 tons after it arrived in Surabaya for the first time on 23 November 1869.

[27] It is possible, and if the photograph can be dated exactly to these years, it might become likely because Surabaya Wooden Dock went into repairs till 1873 (cf.

In September 1868 Olland had again opened a shop in Noordwijk, Batavia, trading in watches, clocks, microscopes, binoculars, glasses, etc.

When Onrust Wooden Dock of 1,300 tons arrived in Surabaya for the first time, the photographer had already left for Batavia.

[29] Of course Olland might have traveled from Batavia to Surabaya while Onrust Wooden Dock of 1,300 tons was there, but at the time such a trip cost a lot of money.

The first period of service of Surabaya wooden dock started on 7 October 1849 and lasted till mid-1857, seemingly without requiring special maintenance.

[32] The first ship to use Surabaya wooden dock was HNLMS Samarang, the first screw steamer of the Dutch navy.

On 1 April 1855, Surabaya wooden dock performed a special feat: it lifted the light frigate HLNMS Prins Frederik (1840) of 44 guns and 1,461 t displacement.

The official lift capacity of Surabaya wooden dock was only 1,150 tons, and the navy base was not yet completely ready.

The guns, excess anchors and chains, iron water boxes, the upper rigging and all other heavy stores were removed.

After some minor repairs to the copper, a rotten plank and the keel, the ship exited the dock on 3 April, still before spring tide.

[36] During the removal of some scots pine planks in the hold above the zetgang, these were found to be infested with shipworms (Teredo Navalis).

[36] The second service period of Surabaya wooden dock of 1,100 tons lasted from December 1858 till 1869 or early 1870.

Later Tromp and Strootman said: Surabaya Wooden Dock serviced the screw steam ships second class (Groningen, Vice Admiraal Koopman, etc.)

The second service of Surabaya Wooden Dock was interrupted by a short, but major repair to her hull and boilers in 1862.

First Cores de Vries started construction of a major iron drydock for use in Surabaya, but that sank on first use.

[47] On 16 April 1881 Surabaya Wooden Dock of 1,100 tons, which continuously made a lot of water, was sold for break up.