Busy scene in the Royal Albert Dock in the 1920sThe dock was built to relieve demand on the Royal Victoria Dock, which, by 1860,  had already outpaced the business of the other London dock, with 710,000 tons of shipping using it in the period 1874-9. by 1870 there was need for expansion. An Act of Parliament authorising the works was passed in 1875 and construction of "the Albert" began  the same year. It took five years to build and employed between two and three thousand men. The dock covers nearly 70.6, with an authorised impounded water level of 2 ft 6in above Thames High Water and a depth of 31ft 6in below T.H.W.  An entrance lock at Gallions Reach saved the four mile journey round Woolwich and Bugsby's Reaches to gain access to the old "Victoria" entrance.

Albert Dock was opened in 1880 by the Duke of Connaught, the son of Queen Victoria on her behalf and named in honour of her late husband the Prince Consort. The name Connaught for the neighbourhood, the road and the hotel derive from the royal opener.