And you're all behind - featured on the opening spread of Dover Life Magazine in the Summer 2014 issue.
The facts: Five massive tanks were constructed in March 1939 to hold Furnace and Diesel Fuel for the Royal Navy, by the firm of Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd.
In the 1930s, shipping was converting from coal fired power to oil burning and with the clouds of war threatening Europe, the Admiralty formulated plans for secure storage of Oil, Diesel and Petrol in the Docks. Construction began with two, 800' Access Tunnels being driven in parallel, the western one being 165 steps (11 flights of 15 steps, with a 5' 2" landing between flights) and the eastern one being 180 steps (12 flights of 15 steps, with a 5' 0.5" landing between). The steps in this tunnel are 3' wide and run next to a 7' side ramp that hides the vent pipe and drain chase.
32.5 feet wide, 40 feet high and 600 feet long, these tanks each held 4,155,741 gallons of fuel (or 18,550 tons), safe from bombing or shelling and were hewn from the chalk by hand. Miners were bought in to construct them, first by digging out the access tunnels, followed by the tank caverns themselves, with the chalk spoil being extracted by conveyor belt.
No.1 Tank held Diesel, whilst Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 held Furnace Oil, the project was completed by 1944 and following WWII the tanks were leased to Esso, before finally being decommissioned in the 1960s.
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