_From a Photograph. By permission of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Co._] [Illustration: THE “BERLIN” JUST BEFORE HER LAUNCH. _From a Photograph. By permission of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Co._] After the plates have been all fastened by rivets to the frames, and the outside of the ship has been given a paint of conventional salmon pink, the time approaches for her to be launched. During her building the ship has been resting on the keel blocks where her centre touches, but her bilges have been supported by blocks and shores. These latter will be seen in the illustration of the _Mauretania_ already considered. As the day for launching approaches, so also does the anxiety of the builders increase, for at no time in her career is the ship so seriously endangered. On the day of the launch the weight of the vessel is gradually transferred from the stocks on which she has been built, to the cradle, being lifted bodily from the keel-blocks by means of an army of men driving wedges underneath her bottom. This cradle is constructed on the launching ways, and the ship herself, being now “cradle-borne,” is held in place only by a number of props called “dog-shores.” At the right moment the signal is given for these to be knocked aside, and at the first symptoms of the ship in her cradle showing an inclination to glide, the bottle of wine is broken against her bows by the lady entrusted with so pleasant an honour. With a deep roar the ship goes down the ways, and as soon as the vessel becomes waterborne the cradle floats. The ship herself is taken in charge by a tug, whilst numerous small boats collect the various pieces of timber which are scattered over the surface of the water. Two or three days before the launch, the cradle which has been fitted temporarily in place, is taken away and smeared with Russian tallow and soft soap. The ways themselves are covered with this preparation after they have been well scraped clean. In case, however, the ship should fail to start at the critical moment after the dog-shores have been removed, it is usual now to have a hydraulic starting ram (worked by a hand-pump) under the forefoot of the ship. This will give a push sufficiently powerful to start the great creature down her short, perilous journey into the world of water which is to be her future abiding-place.