Float-out
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Float-out is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the keel laying and precedes the fitting-out process. It is synonymous with the launching of a ship, a specific process that has largely been discontinued in modern shipbuilding. Like the launching of a ship, it is a major point during a ship’s construction and is usually commemorated.
[edit] Launching
Prior to the large-scale use of drydocks (building dock) for constructing ships, most vessels were constructed on a slipway- an inclined building platform. It was sloped toward a body of water in which the ship would be launched into and eventually floated for the first time.
[edit] Contemporary Shipbuilding
The launching of ships has been largely replaced by the “floating” process. After a ship is ordered for construction, its keel is laid in a drydock. Construction of the ship continues in the dock- usually in the form of prefabricated units that are assembled.
Once the hull and superstructure are substantially completed, sluice gates are opened and the drydock fills with water. The dock gates are then opened and the ship is pulled out by tugboats to a berth where the remaining construction continues. This usually includes further construction of the superstructure, attaching of masts and funnels, and the installation of equipment and furnishings.
The completed ship will usually return to drydock for installation of other equipment, propulsion parts, and the painting of its hull.
The first major passenger ship constructed in this manner was the SS United States. But the history of ‘floating” ships rather than “launching” goes back more than one-hundred years before her construction. The SS Great Britain designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel was constructed in drydock and floated on July 19, 1843. She is currently in Bristol, England, United Kingdom.
