Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

IO BRITAIN AT WORK. from point to point and handling of the heavy weights which have to be moved. Electric, hydraulic, and steam cranes are ■employed largely. One of the chief features in the battleship is the armour deck, which divides the ship horizontally into two halves about the level ■of the water line. This is usually composed Photo: Gregory & Co., Strand, W.C. HOISTING BOILERS INTO A MAN-OF-WAR. ■of several layers of the finest and toughest nickel steel plate. It strengthens the whole .structure and holds it together. Before it can be laid in its entirety it is necessary to place the boilers and engines on board. This is done after the ship’s launch, when she is brought under the “ sheers,” which are huge cranes capable of handling immense weights with ■ease—in some cases as much as two hundred tons. The armour on the outside of the ship is also almost always applied after the launch. The launch of a big ship is a very serious affair. In England battleships generally have about 6,000 or 7,000 tons of material built into them before they are placed in the water. In France, however, launches take place when the hull weighs only 3,5°° tons, or even less. “ Launching ways ” of heavy timber are laid down, running parallel to the ship’s keel ; and on these, under the vessel, is built up a “ cradle,” which is so arranged as to slide on these ways. Then the bearing surfaces of the timber ways and of the cradle are greased with great quantities of tallow, much of which is recovered after the launch. The weight of the ship is gradually transferred to the cradle, but to prevent the vessel moving before all is ready a locking ar- rangement known as a “ dog-shore ” is em- ployed, which must be knocked away before the ship is free to move. The “ dog-shore ” is now generally knocked away by mechanism, operated by the touching of a button or the cutting of a string, and arrange- ments are usually made to start the ship by a push from a hydraulic ram, so as to prevent the sticking on the launching ways, which used to be common in the earlier clays. But with all care and precautions accidents occur, and sometimes very serious accidents. The most noteworthy of recent years was that attending the launch of the Albion at the Thames Ironworks in 1898, when the tremendous surge of water caused by the plunge of the ship into Bow Creek sub- merged a staging, drowning thirty spectators. In spite of all precautions a ship will