The dock was designed to provide a deep dock for ships servicing the paper mill at Sittingbourne and replace the need to use Milton Creek. Construction began in 1913 but was halted by the onset of World War I during which the dock was used during the war for loading ammunition. It was completed in 1919, Until 1922 it was operated by the Royal Navy. It was expanded after 1923 and the opening of Europe's largest paper mill at Kemsley and linked to both paper mills by the Bowaters Paper Railway. Part of this is preserved as the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway.