Dry dock, New York. 19th-century artwork of the dry dock at the Erie Basin, Brooklyn, New York, USA. This is a Simpson dry dock, a type of dry dock patented in 1854 by US engineer James E. Simpson (1813-1897). Simpson founded the Simpson Dry Dock Company to build his patented timber dry docks. He was contracted to enlarge and rebuild the Erie Basin dry docks in 1881. At the time they were the largest in the USA. A dry dock is an artificial dock that is drained to allow repair work on ships. Here, a large steam ship (also with sailing masts) is being repaired. Artwork from an edition of 'Encyclopaedia Americana' (1886).