Shipbuilding is an assembly business. For efficiency it requires ample space, easy routes for transportation, firm ground free of the threat of subsidence and above all, it needs access to water deep enough for the initial journey to the place of outfitting. For hundreds of years, each nation and indeed, each locality had their own, and often unique methods of moving ships, based on pragmatism and past experience. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that scientific thinking was brought to bear on ship design to any marked extent, and it was well into the 19th century before launches became events with a dual input from experienced shipwrights and scientifically trained engineers.
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