2-982-037 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Launch of the Inflexible at Portsmouth Dockyard: Princess Louise Starting the Ship by Electricity, 1876. 'Mr. W. B. Robinson, the chief constructor of the Inflexible...[explained the mechanism to the Princess]...[there was] a beautifully-finished brass-hinged stanchion, the head of which was made to branch out into two arms so as to support the bottle of wine used in the ceremony of christening...all that was required was to press the button into the casting, whereupon the wire holding the stanchion in its place was instantly severed through being fused by electricity. The stanchion, relieved of its support, fell bodily forward by means of its own weight and precipitated the bottle directly upon the point of the ram...the ship glided beautifully into the water amid the cheers of the assembled thousands and the strains of "Hearts of Oak" from the military bands in attendance'. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.