Launched By Invisible Royal Hands - When the new Orient liner "Orion" was launched at the Vickers-Armstrong works at Barrow-in-Durness, the customary preliminaries were performed by the Duke Of Gloucester, who pressed a switch 12,000 miles away at Brisbane, Australia. The actual ceremony was broadcasted back to Australia. by "an act of magic" as the Duke described it. The "Orion" going down the slipway after the ceremony. December 22, 1934.