Launch (boat)

“ At Reading lock we came up with a steam launch, belonging to some friends of mine, and they towed us up to within about a mile of Streatley. It is very delightful being towed up by a launch. I prefer it myself to rowing. The run would have been more delightful still, if it had not been for a lot of wretched small boats that were continually getting in the way of our launch, and, to avoid running down which, we had to be continually easing and stopping. It is really most annoying, the manner in which these rowing boats get in the way of one’s launch up the river ”

“ There was no pretence now of hugging the shore; they were making a bee-line for the College jetty. But they were visible to the men on board the motor-boat; and, fast though they were going, there was no question as to which craft showed the superior speed. The white speck of the power launch grew in size until it was almost distinct in the starlight. ”

“ The engine of the launch failed after we had gone a few yards, the boat was blown rapidly down the coast, and we were eventually thrown out into the surf at "The Nuggets." The Captain, who witnessed our plight, sent his launch in pursuit of us, but its engines also failed. It now became necessary for the crew of the whale-boat to go to the assistance of the launch. However, they could do nothing against the wind, and, in the end, the ship herself got up anchor, gave the two boats a line and towed them back to the former anchorage. ”

“ The 'wounded' launch is going down to the River Clyde; I've no one else to send with her; Rawlinson has gone away in a cutter and I can't trust anyone else; the steam pinnace will tow you down, and the doctors are going with you. I've sent four hands into the launch already, and she's at the starboard boom; drop her astern and alongside the port gangway. Hurry up!"
Still half asleep, the Orphan found this big pulling boat (fitted to transport wounded, she had been) , dropped into her, and five minutes later brought her alongside. ”

“ While we sat behind the blockhouse eating lunch, two or three or perhaps more persons came out of the woods and walked to this spot; they cast off the bow line, sprang aboard; one of them drew the boat out over the stern anchor and tripped it; they did not start the engine till they had drifted round the bend below; then they headed for Sheepscot Bay and are well on their way there, running at full speed as they do not need to spare the launch. ”

“ Then, detaching his tackle from the mast, he swung the boom overside with his tackle attached to its outer end. The end of the tackle was once more made fast to the slings supporting the launch and Bill attached another rope to her which was then belayed around the mast, in order to prevent the little craft swinging out to the end of the boom as soon as he raised her a few feet from the deck. This done, he hauled away on his tackle till the tiny motor-boat swung free. ”

“ I accordingly, at the moment the launch (full of people) was bearing up before the wind, leapt into the sea, and succeeded in gaining the boat, and providentially escaped the unhappy catastrophe of the remaining officers and crew, 347 in number, who, I lament to say, most probably perished that night, as the wind continued to increase after she first struck, and the next day it blew stronger. ”

“ Steve ran to assist in lowering the launch. It had to be unlashed from its rack, first of all, and the tank filled with gasoline, the engine oiled and the boat prepared for action. The men worked with a will, however, and within half an hour the launch was lowered to the rocks and slid safely into the water. The landing-steps being impracticable, a rope ladder was lowered and by this means Madeline easily descended to the launch. Mr. ”

“ Ail hands were now mustered on the sands, and the boat was launched, an operation of some delicacy, as heavy rollers were occasionally coming in. As soon as it floated, this powerful auxiliary was swept up to the rocks, and then the men began to load it with the standing rigging and sails, the latter having been unbent, as fast as each spar came down. Two kedges were found, and a hawser was bent to one, when the launch was carried outside of the bar and anchored. ”

“ O Ye, who in some pretty little boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along,
Turn back to look again upon your shores; Do not put out to sea, lest peradventure, In losing me, you might yourselves be lost.
The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears.
Ye other few who have the neck uplifted Betimes to th' bread of Angels upon which One liveth here and grows not sated by it,
Well may you launch upon the deep salt-sea Your vessel, keeping still my wake before you Upon the water that grows smooth again. ”

“ It is terrifying to hear the shells bursting all around us in the water. It sounds like a triphammer against a steel plate, and closer and closer come the metallic crashes. The rascal is getting our range.
There—the fifth shot—the entire boat trembles—then the deceitful daylight disappears from the conning tower window. The boat obeys the diving rudder and submerges into the sea.
A reddish-yellow light shines all around us; the indicator of the manometer, which measures our depth, points to eight meters, nine meters, ten meters, twelve meters. ”

“ The emergency air valves are opened, the compressed air hisses out of the tanks—the submersion valves sing in all their scales....
I stand with compressed lips, looking through the tower window over the tossing sea around me, waiting for the first sign of sinking....
But still I can see our deck, still the waves toss us up high into the air.... We have no more time to lose.
I order more play to diving rudders, and give the command, "Both engines full speed ahead!"
The whole boat trembles and sways under the increased engine power, and gives a couple of springs; she staggers and reels. ”

“ With the dropping of the gale, we sent down throat halliard tackle and with aid of sand anchors made from oars, poles, &c., &c., we hauled the launch above high water mark. Boards ripped from a deserted fisherman’s shanty made material for new bottom, and gratings, seats and driftwood, we knocked together for a work bench. It took us three days to repair the launch and when we finished, the whole stern was made up of canvas patches, putty and copper tacks. The engine was full of salt water and sand, so we had to take it all to pieces and rebuild it. ”

“ You know, of course, that the ocean greyhound of to-day is a twin-screw ship—that is, that instead of being driven through the water by one propeller, she has two—one on each side of the end of her keel. Each screw is worked by its own set of engines. These engines are entirely independent of each other. The rudder is moved to one side or the other by steam or hydraulic power. Should the rudder become useless from any cause, it is possible to steer the ship by these screws. Most of you know that you can steer a row-boat by putting more force on one oar than on the other. ”

“ The experiments have also given necessary information about this launching. They have shown that the method which succeeded perfectly on a smaller scale is insufficient on a larger one, and they have indicated that it is desirable that the launching should take place nearer the surface of the water, either from a track upon the shore or from a house boat large enough to enable the apparatus to be launched at any time with the wings extended and perhaps with wings independent of support from guys. ”

“ There is magic in salt water which transmogrifies all things it touches. The aeroplane with its cubist outline undergoes a sea change on reaching the coast and becomes a flying-boat, a thing of beauty, a Viking dragon ship, a shape born of the sea and air with pleasant and easy lines, and in the sun, the dull war-paint stripped from the natural mahogany, a flashing golden craft of enchantment. ”

“ Flying boats are at present small and lightly built, and they have difficulty in weathering rough waves when floating upon the water; but already the tendency is to make them larger, and to give them more powerful [Pg 173] motors, and such machines for naval work, as developed in the future, may be as large as a torpedo-boat-destroyer and capable of high speeds both on water and in the air. ”

“ As if the occupants of the airship had heard the words of the aged inventor, they headed their craft toward earth. The combined aeroplane and dirigible balloon, a most wonderful traveler of the air, swung around, and then, with the deflection rudders slanted downward, came on with a rush. When near the landing place, just at the side of the house, the motor was stopped, and the gas, with a hissing noise, rushed into the red aluminum container. This immediately made the ship more buoyant and it landed almost as gently as a feather. ”

“ It is not necessary to remark that the propeller’s function is, by means of its revolutions, to drive the ship ahead, and to overcome the resistance which encounters the hull. Besides the skin friction, the eddy-making, and the wave-making, there is also the resistance of the air. Now let us suppose for a moment that instead of propelling itself ahead by its own engines and screws, a liner were to be taken in tow by a powerful tug-boat. ”

“ The searchlights from the war vessels arose and wavered like huge antennæ feeling for something through the night, now and again paving a golden path from the launch to the ships. The illusion was that the vessels were moving away from the launch, not the launch from them. Out of the zone of the searchlights the water was black and lonesome. Just as soon as the ships got far enough away to appear stationary the launch seemed racing through the water at a hundred miles an hour. ”

“ Leeway and lateral resistance—Heeling—Balancing sails—Tacking—Action of rudder—Longitudinal resistance—Deep keel or centre-board.
Any object floating on the water will have a tendency to drift before the wind; but a boat, with its scientifically constructed hull, sails, and rudder, can be so guided as to sail with the wind on her quarter or abeam, or even close-hauled, as it is called, that is, with the wind meeting her at an angle of about forty-five degrees. ”

“ When close-hauled, it should be at a sufficient angle with the keel to insure the boat moving ahead through the water. When running free, the boom is swung out to a greater degree over the side, and in going before the wind, or scudding, it is more nearly at a right angle with the mast.
Tacking is the process of working a vessel to windward, or against the wind. When you are ready, put the helm down (that is, if on the port tack, the end of the tiller goes to starboard, turning the rudder to port, and the boat obeys by coming up into the wind) ”

“ You look aft, and see a dark projectile overtaking you at fantastic speed. It roars past you in a horrible crescendo of sound, seeming to miss the mainmast by inches. The sails flap in the turbulence caused by the sudden passing. The crew, startled out of their somnolence, rush on deck. Before you can explain, they see for themselves: again the plane dives at you, this time from forward. Almost touching the waves, it passes just to starboard, lower than the mast, banks sharply, and returns for a third pass, the closest of all. ”

“ Sometimes, owing to the wind not being directly ahead, we are able to remain longer on one tack than on the other. This is what is called making a long and short leg.
To properly sail a boat on the wind requires constant and minute attention to the helm and the canvas. The best way for the new hand is to sit low down in the cockpit to leeward of the tiller; this places him nearly under the boom. Let him look up and watch his sail just at the throat; here is where it will shake first. To sail the boat close he must just keep that portion of the sail shaking—or lifting as it is termed. ”

“ In their job o' work of bombing U-boats, attacking Zeppelins, fighting enemy seaplanes, and carrying out reconnaissance and convoy duties, there is as much romance as in any particular effort in the war. In the future, grown great in size, the boats will form the winged Navy, and will carry mails and passengers over the water-routes of all the world.
Boat seaplanes, or flying-boats as they are called by the men who use them, are a true type of aircraft designed for dealing with the chances and hazards of flying over the sea. ”

“ Now we are rising to the surface. By the use of the rudder the boat pushes forward faster and faster to the surface of the water. In order to accelerate the ascent compressed air is forced into one of the submersion tanks.
Now she moves very rapidly: the tower is already free. The deck rises dripping out of the water, the conning-tower hatch is opened, fresh air streams in, and I give the command:
"Blow out ballast tanks!"
A wild howling and screeching comes in reply from the control-room, while the powerful turbine engine presses the water out from the submerging tanks. ”

“ Abandon ship! The converters are backfiring, and rocket-fuel is leaking back toward the engine-rooms! An explosion is imminent! Abandon ship, all hands!"
Kalvar Dard and Seldar Glav grabbed the girls and literally threw them through the hatch, into the rocket-boat. ”