Launch (boat)

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1910 Mathis launch, 15 horsepower universal engine, at Saranac Lake, New York 1910 Mathis Launch.jpg
1910 Mathis launch, 15 horsepower universal engine, at Saranac Lake, New York
A police launch operating on the Thames Police.boat.london.arp.jpg
A police launch operating on the Thames
The steam launch Branksome, at the Windermere Jetty museum Steam launch Branksome, at the Windermere Jetty museum in Windermere, Cumbria.jpg
The steam launch Branksome, at the Windermere Jetty museum

Launch is a name given to several different types of boat. The wide-range of usage of the name extends from utilitarian craft through to pleasure boats built to a very high standard.

Contents

In naval use, the launch was introduced as a ship's boat towards the end of the 17th century. On each warship, the launch was usually the largest boat out of those carried aboard. It could be propelled by oar or sail, with this type remaining in service into the 20th century. Steam launches were introduced on a trial basis in 1867, but as steam-powered ship's boats became more common, the majority were steam pinnaces.

Other military examples were the various motor launches used in the 20th century, employed for harbour defence, anti-submarine patrols, escorting coastal convoys, minesweeping and recovering aircrew from crashed aircraft. Generally these were decked boats, some of which were capable of fast speeds.

A powered boat operated by a regulatory or official organisation may be termed a launch such as the police launch or a harbour-master's launch. The size range and capabilities vary according to the precise role.

In private use, a launch is invariably a powered boat, using a steam, electric, petrol or diesel engine. Some are built to a very high standard of finish, with large amounts of varnished hardwood and polished fittings. [1] Various local historic types are kept in use by enthusiasts and museums.

A US Navy launch of the 1940s (Three sailors on motor launch in San Diego bay.) - NARA - 295580.jpg
A US Navy launch of the 1940s

Etymology

The word launch is derived from the Spanish lancha, which may be translated into English as "pinnace". It has been suggested that lancha is in turn derived from a Malay word Lancaran. The first instance of "launch" being used as a boat type in English was in 1697. [2] :168

History

The launch steadily replaced the long-boat in the Royal Navy over the latter half of the 18th century. Both were usually the biggest boat carried by a warship or a merchant vessel in the age of sail. The transition from longboat to launch was influenced by the East India Company successfully experimenting with this change. [3] :41–43

Launches were preferred as having greater carrying capacity, though they could be considered less seaworthy. One of two important roles was the carrying of drinking water. For example, a 33 ft (10 m) launch of 1804 could carry 14 large "leaguers" (barrels containing 150 imperial gallons (680 L) each), making a load of just over nine and half tonnes of water. A warship's launch would also be fitted with a windlass that allowed a ship's anchor to be carried or to be weighed (raised). This second essential role, generally for a ship's boat and specifically for the launch, was the laying out of anchors or weighing them after use. Before steam tugs were available, a ship's boat would often be used to kedge a ship out of a harbour or away from a hazard such as a lee shore, set a new anchor or inspect the cable if moored for a long time, among a range of "anchor work" tasks. [3] :41–43,44–45,70 [4] :203,254,277–278

The launches issued to naval ships varied in size depending on the size of the ship they equipped. An 1815 schedule of ship's boats showed the range of 15 different lengths for launches from 34 ft (10 m) for a ship of 100 guns down to 16 ft (4.9 m) for a 200 ton sloop. As steam power became common in the navy, the need to transport drinking water (which could be distilled in the engine room) and transport anchors and cables to move a sailing ship both disappeared. By the last quarter of the 19th century, launches were only issued in one length, 42 feet (12.8 metres). [3] :62,71

Launches had double-banked oars [lower-alpha 1] The usual sailing rig for much of the 19th century was a two-masted ketch rig. A schooner rig was in use from 1878 and the de Horsey sloop rig was adopted from 1884. [3] :91–97

During the Demak Sultanate attack on Portuguese Malacca of 1513, lancaran were used as armed troop transports for landing alongside penjajap and kelulus, as the Javanese junks were too large to approach shore. [6] [ page needed ]

In 1788 Captain William Bligh and 18 crewmen were set adrift by mutineers in HMS Bounty’s 23-foot (7 m) launch. Bligh navigated the open boat more than 4,000 miles, losing only one man  Tonga to Timor, 3,618 nmi (6,701 km; 4,164 mi). [7]

Civilian use in the UK

On the River Thames the term "launch" is used to mean any motorised pleasure boat. The usage arises from the legislation [8] governing the management of the Thames and laying down the categories of boats and the tolls for which they were liable.

Military use in the UK

Motor Launch was the designation for a type of vessel used in World War I and World War II by the Royal Navy and some other navies[ citation needed ] for inshore work defending harbours (Harbour defence motor launch) and defending the coast from submarines. The World War II boats were typically 60 to 115 feet (18 to 35 m) long and carried relatively light armament – a few depth charges, one or two small guns and a few machine guns.

The Royal Air Force used various boats to support flying boats and to rescue the crews of aircraft that had crashed at sea. The RAF High Speed Launches, such as the Type Two 63 ft HSL, of World War II were derivatives of motor torpedo boat designs.

Sports

In competitive rowing the term "launch" is used to refer to any motorized boat used by the coach to follow practicing boats during workouts. [9]

See also

Notes

  1. A double-banked boat has two oarsmen seated on each thwart, each operating their own oar on their side of the boat. This contrasts with a single-banked boat, with just one oarsman on each thwart operating a single oar, with the side on which the oars are worked alternating along the length of the boat. [5] :135

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yawl</span> Type of boat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warship</span> Ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longboat</span> Type of boat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutter (boat)</span> Type of boat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full-rigged pinnace</span> Type of ship in use in the 16th and 17th centuries

The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth century.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gig (boat)</span> Type of boat

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Motor launch (naval) Type of small Royal Navy vessel used by British Coastal Forces

A motor launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing. Similar vessels were used by the Royal Air Force for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches. Motor launches were slower than motor torpedo boats and motor gun boats

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinnace (ship's boat)</span> Watercraft

As a ship's boat, the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by oars or sails, carried aboard merchant and war vessels in the Age of Sail to serve as a tender. The pinnace was usually rowed but could be rigged with a sail for use in favorable winds. A pinnace would ferry passengers and mail, communicate between vessels, scout to sound anchorages, convey water and provisions, or carry armed sailors for boarding expeditions. The Spanish favored them as lightweight smuggling vessels while the Dutch used them as raiders. In modern parlance, "pinnace" has come to mean an auxiliary vessel that does not fit under the "launch" or "lifeboat" definitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ship's boat</span> Utility vessel

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picket boat</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montagu whaler</span>

The Montagu whaler was the standard seaboat of the Royal Navy between 1910–1970, it was a clinker built 27 by 6 feet open boat, which could be pulled by oars or powered by sail – a shorter version of 25 feet (7.6 m) was also built. It was double-ended; having a pointed stem and stern. Retired Rear Admiral The Honourable Victor Montagu proposed the design.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

This glossary defines the various types of ships and accessory watercraft that have been used in service of the United States. Such service is mainly defined as military vessels used in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, as well as the defunct, incorporated, or renamed institutions such as the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Service of the United States can also be defined in this context as special government missions in the form of expeditions, such as the Wilkes Expedition or the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition. The scope of the glossary encompasses both the "Old Navy" of the United States, from its beginnings as the "Continental Navy", through the "New Navy" and up to modern day. The watercraft included in the glossary are derived from United States ships with logbooks published by the National Archives and Records Administration.

References

  1. Owner, Practical Boat (11 November 2014). "Glossary of Nautical Terms: L". Practical Boat Owner.
  2. Mayne, Richard (2000). The language of sailing. Chicago, Ill.: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN   978-1-579-58278-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 May, W E; Stephens, Simon (1999). The Boats of Men of War (2003 publ Caxton Editions ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN   1-84067-4318.
  4. Harland, John (2015). Seamanship in the age of sail : an account of shiphandling of the sailing man-o-war, 1600-1860. London: Conway Publishing. ISBN   978-1-8448-6309-9.
  5. McKee, Eric (1983). Working Boats of Britain, Their Shape and Purpose (1997 ed.). London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-277-3.
  6. Winstedt, Sir Richard (1962). A History of Malaya. Marican.
  7. Frost, Alan (2004). "Bligh, William (1754–1817), naval officer and colonial governor" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2650. ISBN   978-0-19-861412-8.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. Thames Conservancy Act 1932
  9. "Electric coaching launches benefit athletes and air quality". www.torqeedo.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.