Editing Slipway (section)

== Simple slipways == 
[[File:Slip-Världens ände-Ystad.jpg|thumb|An old and simple slipway for smaller boats, [[Ystad]], [[Sweden]]]]
In its simplest form, a slipway is a plain ramp, typically made of [[concrete]], [[steel]], [[rock (geology)|stone]] or even [[wood]]. The height of the [[tide]] can limit the usability of a slip: unless the ramp continues well below the low water level it may not be usable at low tide. Normally there is a flat paved area on the landward end.

When engaged in building or repairing boats or small ships (i.e. ships of no more than about 300 tons), slipways can use a wheeled carriage, or [[ship cradle | "cradle"]],<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Meade
 |first1               = Richard Worsam
 |author-link1         = Richard Worsam Meade III
 |date                 = 8 June 2020
 |orig-date            = 1869
 |title                = A Treatise on Naval Architecture and Ship-building
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=NcXpDwAAQBAJ
 |edition              = reprint
 |location             = Frankfurt
 |publisher            = Salzwasser Verlag
 |page                 = 420
 |isbn                 = 9783846055472
 |access-date          = 6 June 2024
 |quote                = [...] the apparatus [...] may be divided into two principal parts{{dash}}the ''sliding-ways'' or ''slip-ways'', which rest on the floor of the slip and present a smooth upper surface; and the ''cradle'' or temporary framework which rests and slides upon the slipways, and supports the ship [...].
}} 
</ref>
which is run down the ramp until the vessel can float on or off the carriage. Such slipways are used for repair as well as for putting newly built vessels in the water.

When used for launching and retrieving small boats, the trailer is placed in the water. The boat may be either floated on and off the trailer or pulled off. When recovering the boat from the water, it is [[winch]]ed back up the trailer.

From 1925 onwards, modern whaling [[factory ship]]s have usually been equipped by their designers with a slipway at the stern<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Tønnessen
 |first1               = Johan Nicolay
 |author-link1         = Johan Nicolay Tønnessen
 |last2                = Johnsen
 |first2               = Arne Odd
 |author-link2         = Arne Odd Johnsen
 |translator-last1     = Christophersen
 |translator-first1    = R. I.
 |date                 = 1 January 1982
 |orig-date            = 1959
 |title                = The History of Modern Whaling
 |location             = Berkeley
 |publisher            = University of California Press
 |pages                = 354–355
 |isbn                 = 9780520039735
 |access-date          = 12 June 2024
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=-miE3r5DgPUC
 |quote                = [...] the ''Lancing'', with the first stern slipway, left Sandefjord on 5 June 1925 [...]. [...] In order to train hands in the new form of catching, [...] whaling was carried out that summer off the Congo, and the occasion when the first humpback whale was hauled on to the deck on 14 July 1925 marked a milestone in the history of whaling. [...] the ''Lancing'''s operations in  1925–6 were to prove of decisive importance in the transition to the new epoch of whaling.
}}
</ref>
to haul harpooned whales on deck to be processed by [[flensing | flenser]]s.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Cioc
 |first1               = Mark
 |date                 = 15 November 2009
 |chapter              = The Antarctic Whale Massacre
 |title                = The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World's Migratory Animals
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=ob42uyPdnOgC
 |series               = Series in Ecology and History
 |location             = Athens, Ohio
 |publisher            = Ohio University Press
 |page                 = 122
 |isbn                 = 9780821443606
 |access-date          = 12 June 2024
 |quote                = In 1925, [Petter] Sørlle outfitted the ''Lancing'' with a stern slipway{{dash}}a large trapdoor in the back of the ship that could be opened and closed as needed [...]{{dash}}as well as a ramp, winch, and whale claw. These tools enabled the crew to grab and hoist a whale into the main deck for flensing and processing before the carcass froze.
}} 
</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = Marine Engineering and Shipping Review |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ImYfAQAAMAAJ |year=1946 | volume = 51 | publisher= Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company | page = 132 | quote = The space between the upper (or flensing) deck and the lower (or tank) deck is occupied by the factory plant and machinery. [...] The whales caught by the attendant whale catchers are hauled up a slipway, which lies aft above the two propellers, on to the flensing deck.}}
</ref><ref name="Small1971">
{{cite book|author=George L. Small|title=The Blue Whale|url=https://archive.org/details/bluewhale0000smal|url-access=registration|year=1971|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-03288-9 | quote = In 1925 [[Petter Sørlle | Captain Sørlle]] of Vestfold fitted out a large factory ship, the S.S. Lancing, with a stern slipway: a long sloping ramp that led from a large hole in the stern up to the main deck. With the stern slipway whale carcasses could be hauled up to the deck by a steam winch and flensed even while the ship was on the open sea. Flensers no longer had to work on slippery carcasses floating alongside, a dangerous practice that could plunge them into freezing water. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bluewhale0000smal/page/13 13]–}}</ref>
[[Image:Swanage lifeboat on its slipway 1.JPG|thumb|right|Lifeboat being winched back up its slipway after a launch]]
To achieve a safe launch of some types of land-based [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboat]]s in bad weather and difficult sea conditions, the lifeboat and slipway are designed so that the lifeboat slides down a relatively steep steel slip under [[gravity]].