until the late nineteenth century, sailors whose ships were being repaired or refitted, or who were awaiting allocation to a vessel, were accommodated in floating hulks. construction of an onshore barracks, just north-east of the north yard, was completed in 1889 with accommodation for 2,500; sailors and officers moved in in june of that year. in 1894 a contingent of sixty royal navy homing pigeons was accommodated on the site.