| Description | Written from 18 Duke Street, Westminster, London. Brunel thanks Bull for his previous letter with information about the longitudinal launches on Lake Eve and asks for various pieces of information which can be used for making the calculations for launching the Eastern Steam Navigation Company's ship, which, being so much larger than any other ship previously launched will have commensurately greater difficulties. Brunel specifically asks about the inclination of the launching ways, the number of launching ways or sliding surfaces, any precautions used to ensure that both ends of the ship slide at the same speed, whether there have been any particular failures and what difficulties and risks are likely to arise during a sideways launch. |