Structural model; Slipway model

Scale: Unknown. A working model of a slipway, which may have once have had a model fitted on the keel blocks. The model is made entirely of wood and set in a fitted wooden mahogany-veneered case and varnished overall. The slipway itself comprises of a pair of planked ways mounted on chocked and wedged wooden blocks, with a spring-loaded launching mechanism. Between the ways is a moving section on which the keel blocks are mounted, which would allow a model to be launched in a realistic fashion.

The lower end of the slipway and its case, or cover, are missing; it is comparable to other slipway models that include a section of slipway stowed underneath and inside the model, and which can then be removed and connected to the main section of slipway. There are the remains of the circular shores used to prop up the ship during building and prior to launching (three). At the head of the slipway, on top the case wall, are three wooden carved stylised bollards, around which the rigging for launching the ship in a controlled way would have been made fast.

Object Details

ID: SLR2762
Collection: Ship models
Type: Structural model; Slipway model
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Unknown
Date made: Late 18th century
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 225 mm x 858 mm x 340 mm
Parts: Structural model; Slipway model