Launching Ceremony

A ship's launching and commissioning are slightly different concepts.

Launching is the stage at which a ship is first put into the water. Commissioning is when it has completed its fitting-out and entered active service.

Therefore, a newly launched ship normally does not have its guns installed.

That is, unless one is talking about the small 127mm single gun mount on a twenty-first-century destroyer; a triple 406mm turret weighs approximately 1,700 tons—a monstrous weight.

In effect, a single turret weighs as much as an entire destroyer. For that reason, this monster still needs another year or two before it can go to sea and fight.

Fitting-out work, such as installing electrical wiring, piping, internal compartments, and ammunition elevators. Installing the main and secondary guns. Installing electronic equipment such as fire-control systems. Conducting sea trials. Our new battleship still had to undergo a great deal of preparation before it could go to war.

But...

After passing through the magical barriers spread around the dry dock, as well as the physical barriers, my first impression upon seeing the new battleship was simple.

"It's truly enormous."

As the dawn mist lifted, the enormous hull slowly revealed itself...