The launch steadily replaced the
long-boat in the Royal Navy over the latter half of the 18th century. Both were usually the biggest
boat carried by a warship or a merchant vessel in the
age of sail. The transition from longboat to launch was influenced by the
East India Company's successful experimentation with this change. Launches were preferred as having greater carrying capacity, though they could be considered less seaworthy. One of two important roles was the carrying of drinking water. For example, a launch of 1804 could carry 14 large "leaguers" (barrels containing each), making a load of just over nine and half tonnes of water. A warship's launch would also be fitted with a windlass that allowed a ship's anchor to be carried or to be weighed (raised). This second essential role, generally for a ship's boat and specifically for the launch, was the laying out of anchors or weighing them after use. Before steam tugs were available, a ship's boat would often be used to
kedge a ship out of a harbour or away from a hazard such as a
lee shore, set a new anchor or inspect the cable if moored for a long time, among a range of "anchor work" tasks. The launches issued to naval ships varied in size depending on the size of the ship they equipped. An 1815 schedule of ship's boats showed the range of 15 different lengths for launches from for a ship of 100 guns down to for a 200 ton sloop. As steam power became common in the navy, the need to transport drinking water (which could be distilled in the engine room) and transport anchors and cables to move a sailing ship both disappeared. By the last quarter of the 19th century, launches were only issued in one length, . Launches had double-banked oars The usual sailing rig for much of the 19th century was a two-masted ketch rig. A schooner rig was in use from 1878 and the de Horsey sloop rig was adopted from 1884. During the
Demak Sultanate attack on
Portuguese Malacca of 1513, lancaran were used as armed troop transports for landing alongside
penjajap and
kelulus, as the
Javanese junks were too large to approach shore. In 1788
Captain William Bligh and 18 crewmen were set adrift by mutineers in
HMS Bounty’s 23-foot (7 m) launch. Bligh navigated the open boat more than 4,000 miles, losing only one man
Tonga to
Timor, . == Use in the United Kingdom ==