Launch day!

Launch day! (HMZ4T)

Location: Bath, ME 04530 Sagadahoc County
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Country: United States of America
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N 43° 53.712', W 69° 48.935'

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Inscription
Launching featured tradtion, ritual, spectators, and celebration. But it also brought technical challenge and danger to workers and vessel alike.

In preparation, a launching crew built a pair of sliding (or launching) ways beneath the schooner. These were topped with a cradle, which was "wedged up" to take the vessle's weight as the blocks beneath were removed. Greasing the ways allowed vessel in its cradle to slide into the Kennebec River, always at high tide.

All could be ruined if the vessel fell off her cradle, or stuck, or overshot her launch and crashed into the opposite shore.

But when all went well, the sponsor christened the new vessel with sparkling wine or flowers. A celebration followed. Whether aboard the newly floating vessel or ashore, guests often discovered that the traditional launch-day punch had a kick, even though Maine was a "dry" state.

[Background photo captions read]
A poster advertising the launch of Wyoming pictures the Fuller Palmer, launched in 1908. Wyoming's launch was delayed a day by an intense December gale.

A crowd gathered for the launch of the 5-masted schooner Grace Martin for Percy & Small's own fleet, July 14, 1904.
Details
HM NumberHMZ4T
Tags
Placed ByMaine Maritime Museum
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, September 27th, 2014 at 5:40am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)19T E 434496 N 4860556
Decimal Degrees43.89520000, -69.81558333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 43° 53.712', W 69° 48.935'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds43° 53' 42.72" N, 69° 48' 56.10" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)207
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 259 Washington St, Bath ME 04530, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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