#ship launch

The Queen received the brooch as a gift from W.B. Marr, Chairman at the time of Sunderland-based shipbuilders Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd. in 1946.

She visited the shipyard in Sunderland to launch a new oil tanker, named the ‘British Princess’.

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the new U.S. destroyer Dale slid down the ways at her launching, January 23, 1935. Mrs. Edward C. Dale christened the ship.

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In what is a milestone event, the Cunard cruise ship Queen Anne has been floated out, and in 12 months will enter service.

What is a float out?

These days, most ships are built in a dry dock. This is a watertight dock that is sealed off from the ocean by large doors, that enables water inside to be pumped out. Large controllable valves can be opened to allow water in at a steady pace, enabling ships to enter and exit the dock.

As it is a controlled process, building in a dry dock means that a ship like Queen Anne can be built in a stable, dry environment. When the time comes to float the ship, it is undertaken in a far slower, more methodical way than a traditional launch.

How does this differ from a “launch”?

In days gone by, ships were commonly built on slipways. Liners such as Titanic, Olympic, Queen Mary, Normandie and the QE2 were all built this way.

Getting these ships into the water often involved a process known as a gravitational launch.

Here, the ship would be ‘released’ down a lubricated slipway. If all went according to plan - and sometimes it didn’t - the ship would slide stern first into the water.

The immense momentum of the launch required massive drag chains to help slow the ship down on lubricated launches, while some others relied on mechanical supports under the ship to reduce the motion.

What happens next?

Regardless of whether the ship is launched gravitationally, or floated out, there is still much work to be done. Interior fitting out, internal cabling, engine and engineering works as well as sea trails, will take around another year to be completed on a ship like Queen Anne, before she is handed over to its owners.

A interesting side note is that Queen Anne had both a launch and a floating out. This isn’t usually the case. But for Queen Anne, the forward section of the ship’s hull was built and launched in 2022 down a slipway.

Because it was only the bow section that was built at this stage, the launch took place bow first into the water. It was then towed to another shipyard near Venice to be connected to the stern section.

Other types of launches:

There is another style of launch known as a side-slide-way launch. This definitely looks the most dramatic, because the ship enters the water on a sideways motion!

Image: Hull launching in Northern Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland (Brosen CC. By SA 2.0)

We’re getting our Wednesday off to a smashing start with these photographs of the launching of a Socony Mobil Oil Company tanker in New York City, taken on this date, December 30, in 1958.

The ship was built by Chester, Pennsylvania’s Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, with launching ceremonies conducted by John G. Pew, Jr. and Nancy Wilhelmina Bellman. Pew was the son of John G. Pew, the Sun Shipbuilding’s first president, who retired from the company in 1950. At the time this photograph was taken, the younger Pew was vice president in charge of public relations. Bellman was the wife of Vernon A. Bellman, then director of domestic marketing for the Socony Mobil Oil Company.

Sun Shipbuilding's incorporation was originally meant to create a subsidiary that would provide oil tankers for the Sun Oil Company.  But it also produced ships for customers other than Sun Oil, and produced ships other than tankers. The company also built car floats, ferries, and grain barges for Pennsylvania Railroad, a ferry for use in Hawaii, and tankers for other oil companies, like the one seen here. Additionally, during WWII, the company contracted with the National Defense Program, which helped to make the Sun Shipyard one of the largest in the country and the single biggest producer of oil tankers.