Now that's how to launch. [Archive]

McGary911

11-09-2009, 04:42 PM

a boat.....Ran across this on youtube. Pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU-HzEdikUE&feature=player_embedded

HOWARD O

11-09-2009, 05:31 PM

That's amazing, would love to witness one of those in person! :worthy:

penbroke

11-09-2009, 08:35 PM

We attended a launching of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (DDG-66) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gonzalez_(DDG-66)) at Bath Iron Works a few years back. A more traditional stern first slide down the ways. It was absolutely awesome. It felt like the ground was moving...

Frank

MOP

11-09-2009, 09:12 PM

My grand dad worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the war, he said petroleum products so rationed that they launched ships on of all things bananas! He said that the bananas actually made them slide off the skids faster then grease.

Ghost

11-09-2009, 09:45 PM

My grand dad worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the war, he said petroleum products so rationed that they launched ships on of all things bananas! He said that the bananas actually made them slide off the skids faster then grease.

SS Moe, Larry, and Curly all went in this way...

Donzi Vol

11-09-2009, 09:51 PM

That's some cool stuff! However, I don't think I'll be trying that with the Donzi. At least not on purpose.

Ghost

11-09-2009, 11:48 PM

Agreed. The footage is pretty amazing. I did some surfing and found some more stories about the banana peels being used during the war--my grandfather was an aero engineer in a weird special engineering ops group in the Navy, posted in DC. He rode his bike a long way in and out of the city throughout the war, due to the same shortages of petroleum. Amazing how far away and surreal all that seems now.

gcarter

11-10-2009, 05:51 AM

Agreed. The footage is pretty amazing. I did some surfing and found some more stories about the banana peels being used during the war--my grandfather was an aero engineer in a weird special engineering ops group in the Navy, posted in DC. He rode his bike a long way in and out of the city throughout the war, due to the same shortages of petroleum. Amazing how far away and surreal all that seems now.
The gas ration for gasoline was three gallons per week!! :(
Makes it easy to understand why there was a black market in coupons.

For five years in the '70's I worked in the design office of Shuller & Allen Naval Architects in Houston.
I was fortunate to have seen a number of launches in the Galveston/Galveston Bay/Houston Ship Channel area.
The largest was about 700' long.

onesubdrvr

11-10-2009, 05:44 PM

We attended a launching of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (DDG-66) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gonzalez_(DDG-66)) at Bath Iron Works a few years back. A more traditional stern first slide down the ways. It was absolutely awesome. It felt like the ground was moving...

Frank
I was stationed on board the USS Columbia (SSN-771) Fast Attack submarine, and we did a stern first slide on our initial launch (I was on the comminsioning crew, and spent 18 months on the Columbia while they finished the construction, then another 8 months or so during the initial sea trials / etc.) I was on the starboard side (topside) when we launched, pretty neat feeling being on top of it when it was launched :)

Wayne