Chatham Dockyard · 1938–43
Steam crane
register.
Six Grafton locomotive yard cranes served Chatham. Explore the works numbers, Dockyard identities and surviving records.
Browse the registerOne fleet.
Six machines.
Grafton Cranes Ltd built the Dockyard’s steam-powered locomotive yard cranes at its Vulcan Works in Bedford.
They worked both as cranes and as small railway locomotives, hauling wagons around the yard. The six-wheel machines had coal-fired boilers, a two-cylinder engine and a 30-foot worm-driven jib. The records below bring together the works numbers and Dockyard yard numbers currently identified.
Search the
crane register.
Search by works number, year, yard number or recorded status. A question mark marks an uncertain attribution; “unidentified” means that the sixth crane has not yet been matched to a builder’s number.
| Builder’s works no. | Built | Dockyard yard no. | Recorded history and present status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grafton 2528 | 1938 | 482 | Privately preserved. |
| Grafton 2547 | 1940 | 517 | Privately preserved. |
| Grafton 2580 | 1941 | 542 | Previously operated in the Dockyard. Present location is untraced. |
| Grafton 2641 | 1941* | 558 | Owned by Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Non-operational. |
| Grafton 2675 | 1943 | 582 | Survives; privately preserved and operational. Used for demonstration trains and steam crane experiences. |
| Identity not confirmed | Unknown | Unknown | A sixth five-ton Grafton crane is included in the Dockyard fleet total, but its works and yard numbers have not been identified. |
No cranes match that search.
* Works No. 2641 is dated 1941 in the Dockyard railway’s fleet notes; some published crane lists give 1942.
Crane and
locomotive.
The Graftons were locomotive yard cranes, designed to move themselves and haul railway wagons as well as lift loads around the Dockyard.
- Builder
- Grafton Cranes Ltd, Vulcan Works, Bedford
- Wheel layout
- Six wheels
- Power
- Coal-fired boiler · two-cylinder steam engine
- Working pressure
- 100 psi
- Jib
- 30 ft · worm-driven
- Rated lift
- 5 tons at 24 ft reach; 3 tons at 30 ft
Sources & further reading
This is a working register. Identifications and dates are shown as currently recorded; uncertain or conflicting details are marked in the notes.