Launch

On 20th October 1910, amidst a blaze of publicity, Olympic, the first of the three sister ships, was launched.

This publicity was so important that even though the White Star Line had planned to paint the hull of Olympic black, she was painted light grey for the launch in order to show her off best in the photographs.

At the launching stage the liner is still a large, land bound, empty vessel. The launch is simply the process of moving the hull of the ship from the land, down the slipway and into the sea.

The launch of Olympic was a very controlled and dramatic event. Tons of tallow, oil and soft soap were used to grease the slipways. While restraining anchors, chains and cables were used to slow down and stop the thousands of tons of steel hull as it entered the water.

This marked the end of the first stage of construction, however much more work was needed to finish the ship. Next, the newly launched hull went to the fitting out wharf for completion.