The Shipbuilding Industry in Belfast 17 



requires more elaborate preparation for the launch than under the 

 flat bottom. It is. of course, at the fore end of the sliding ways 

 that the greatest stresses are concentrated when a ship is being 

 launched, because when she has slid nearly off the ways, her stern 

 begins to be water-borne, and rises up, while the bow cradle is still 

 moving down the greased surface, so that a pressure of many thou- 

 sands of tons has to be carried there for a few seconds. If the cradle 

 gave way under the strain, the ship would crash down on the 

 ground, and stick fast with her bows ashore. In the case of the 

 ''Olympic" with the very fine lines of her bow, and the great 

 weight of the ship, very elaborate precautions had to be taken. 

 Steel brackets were rivetted to the ship's side to receive the heavy 

 timbering of the cradle. 



For such a heavy ship an additional ai)paratus is provided, 

 lest the mere deadweight of the hull should be insufficient to 

 start her down the ways. A set of hydraulic rams is fitted in 

 such a way as to give her a short but very powerful push off. 



Several methods are used to bring a boat up, when once she 

 gets afloat. Heavy piles of chain, usually four, two on each side, 

 lie upon the ground looped round with anchor chains attached to 

 the ship, so that, as soon as she is afloat, or just before she floats, 

 (but while she is still moving fairly fast), the chains begin to haul 

 a pair of these heavy weights along the ground. The second pair of 

 chains comes into action a moment later, and, when some of the way 

 has been taken off, the strain comes upon a length of anchor 

 chain looped and tied by lengths of heavy hemp cable. These 

 cables have to be broken (to the onlooker seeming to snap like 

 pack-thread) before the final drag comes upon two big anchors 

 buried in the ground and heavily weighted. This brings the 

 boat to a dead stop. When there happens to be plenty of room, 

 the anchors may be dropped when the boat is afloat, and loops 

 of chain tied by hemp cables are arranged on her forecastle to be 

 broken as in the previous example, so as to bring the boat 

 gradually to a stop. In the case of the ''Olympic,' whose launch is 

 shown on Fig. V., another method was used for bringing up the 



