We have heard about Rocket Launches.. There is a count down and then boom…  I met  a cargo ship maintenance engineer from Greece in 2007 and he told me few marine’s funny things. Among that the Ship launching procedure is really a awesome procedure and over centuries nothing has been done technologically apart from few inputs. It is a visual treat . He said in ancient Greece, the launching of a ship after smashing a bottle of champagne against its bow is an iconic ritual.

How are ships launched into the sea? You push the entire ship from one of its sides and watch as the ship violently rocks back and forth waiting for buoyancy to take over. When he explained I thought it won’t be like that.. Scary… I thought you can’t push a ship sidewards. I came back and did a search and I am stunned to see. I am listing the most amazing Ship Launch videos. You will love that… There are few failed launches too in this list…

There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called “launching.” The oldest, most familiar, and most widely used is the end-on launch, in which the vessel slides, usually stern first, down an inclined slipway. The side launch, whereby the ship enters the water broadside, came into 19th-century use on inland waters, rivers, and lakes, and was more widely adopted during World War II. The third method is float-out, used for ships that are built in basins or dry docks and then floated by admitting water into the dock.

Funny to read, when I read about old Indian Ship Launches:
The ships have historically been launched with a lady breaking a Lemon with the bow of the vessel, which is followed by a small Puja.