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Launches were preferred as having greater carrying capacity, though they could be considered less seaworthy. An important role was the carrying of drinking water. For example, a 33 foot launch of 1804 could carry 14 large "leaguers" (barrels containing {{convert|150|impgal|l}} 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). 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]] before steam tugs were available to move sailing vessels.<ref name="May 1999">{{cite book |last1=May |first1=W E |last2=Stephens |first2=Simon |title=The Boats of Men of War |date=1999 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |location=London |isbn=1-84067-4318 |edition=2003 publ Caxton Editions}}</ref>{{rp|41-43}}
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 34 feet (for a ship of 100 guns) down to 16 feet 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
Launches had double-banked oars{{efn|A double-banked boat has two oarsmen seated on each thwart, each operating their own oar on their side of the boat. This contrasts with a single-banked boat, with just one oarsman on each thwart operating a single oar, with the side on which the oars are worked alternating along the length of the boat.}} 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.{{r|May 1999|pp=91-97}}
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