It looks like a (modern or old) version of this print: "The Bermuda Floating Dock, In Tow of H.M.Ss Warrior and Black Prince and Terrible astern Leaving Porto Santo for their Voyage across the Atlantic, July 4th 1869"
Yes, as long as you were happy to wait 30s for an exposure (on tripod), by 1850 (most of those photos were > 15 years later than that) there were many photos of good quality.
Look at photos of Crystal Palace in 1851 for example.
I asked Claude if the designs still survived and got the following. I wondered if we can replicate the drydock.
"The National Archives (Kew)
This is the most significant holding. The National Archives holds Admiralty record ADM 195/5, which is a collection of 73 photographs of the Bermuda Dockyard dated 1868–1899, explicitly including the floating dock. (nationalarchives) The National Museum of Bermuda confirms that photographs from the National Archives UK include images of the floating dock under construction at Blackwall Yard in 1868, the dock en route to Bermuda with HMS Terrible astern, and HMS Urgent docked inside it circa 1870–1890. (Nmb) Admiralty construction contracts and engineering correspondence would sit in the ADM series as well — the National Archives holds all Admiralty records from that era."
The rigging on the surrounding ships is nonsensical. AI generated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Admiralty_floating_doc...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/HMS_Psyc...
It looks like a (modern or old) version of this print: "The Bermuda Floating Dock, In Tow of H.M.Ss Warrior and Black Prince and Terrible astern Leaving Porto Santo for their Voyage across the Atlantic, July 4th 1869"
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/library-archi...
Not to mention the presence of two small boats which are not the type you'd want to cross an ocean in.
There's a couple of great images in this article:
https://nmb.bm/history/look-down-look-down/
https://www.google.com/maps/place/32°18'22.7"N+64°48'59.9"W
It hadn't occurred to me that the wreck would still be visible. This is amazing.
This photo looks so odd: https://nmb.bm/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_011057-1536x13...
Were cameras at the time really that good already? Or was it likely restored with some creative license?
Yes, as long as you were happy to wait 30s for an exposure (on tripod), by 1850 (most of those photos were > 15 years later than that) there were many photos of good quality.
Look at photos of Crystal Palace in 1851 for example.
I asked Claude if the designs still survived and got the following. I wondered if we can replicate the drydock.
"The National Archives (Kew) This is the most significant holding. The National Archives holds Admiralty record ADM 195/5, which is a collection of 73 photographs of the Bermuda Dockyard dated 1868–1899, explicitly including the floating dock. (nationalarchives) The National Museum of Bermuda confirms that photographs from the National Archives UK include images of the floating dock under construction at Blackwall Yard in 1868, the dock en route to Bermuda with HMS Terrible astern, and HMS Urgent docked inside it circa 1870–1890. (Nmb) Admiralty construction contracts and engineering correspondence would sit in the ADM series as well — the National Archives holds all Admiralty records from that era."
Full answer here https://claude.ai/share/2702a011-49f9-4d9b-be38-c2e1afd214b5
A couple of photos (also seen in terhechte's comment) https://images.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search/?searchQuery=f...
The gallery has some images and photos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_Dockyard,_Bermuda