Throughout the history of its existence, mankind has come up with many interesting traditions and customs. And always a deficit container with a celebratory drink was smashed on its side, it looked spectacular.
Why is champagne being beaten when launching a ship?
This procedure can be described in terms of “fun”, “spectacularly”, “symbolically”. And this is understandable: the construction of a new ship is a grandiose event! For many, this is the main accomplishment in life, great luck or the next stage of fate.
Who invented the tradition?
She was at all times, among different nations. The ancient Greeks adorned the bow of the ship with flowers and olive branches, drank a lot of wine and had fun. Apparently it was a pity to spoil the alcohol, so the dishes were washed with plain water. In Babylon, a bull was sacrificed, and the Turks pricked a lamb.
The launch of the new ship had a religious connotation: the owners wanted to receive a blessing from the highest forces. In medieval Europe they simply prayed earnestly, pouring holy water on the deck.
The greatest contribution to the popularization of this tradition was made by the British. And this is understandable - for several centuries this country was a sea mistress. But to be more precise in the description of the ceremony - the descent of the ship was a simple booze. And they drank alcohol from expensive goblets, which they then threw overboard.
The lucky ones sometimes managed to catch them, monetizing good luck. It all came to the point that the dishes simply ceased to be enough: the number of ships and those who wanted to have fun was increasing. It was decided to replace the booze with the tradition of breaking a bottle of wine on board a floating craft.
What happened before champagne?
About 150 years ago, custom took root in the United States. They beat everything - whiskey, brandy, cognac, gin. Who first broke the champagne is a historical question. There was a short break in the thirties. Prohibition in the United States forced water to be baptized. Sometimes apple cider was used - it looks a bit like a sizzling festive drink. While the production of alcohol was in the hands of the mafia, Europe actively beat real champagne.
When was the first champagne broken?
The official date of the debut broken bottle of champagne is 1890. It was the launch of the American warship Mine. In the same year there was a final abandonment of wood in favor of steel: now all ships were iron. And not every bottle is capable of breaking on a wooden board.
Fun facts about tradition
There is one small secret - it is customary to let defective bottles into business. Strong glass is used to produce this elite drink. It can remain intact in a solemn and responsible moment. But the “sweeping” sample is not a pity - it will not fail. If there is no applicant, then they just file up a normal container. A bow tied to the neck increases the chances of destruction. You can simply wrap the glass with paper, laying a stone or a glass cutter.
Some grotesque American comedies have a scene where the champagne bottle does not break, but simply pierces through the side of a brand new ship. There are enough curiosities in reality - the bottles are untied and fall into the water, do not reach the surface of the vessel, fight without effect.
There were real cases when the glass was too strong, the bottle just bounced like a soccer ball from the wall. In 1961, a similar fact was with the submarine K-19. In the first military campaign on board the submarine, a terrible fire and an accident in a nuclear reactor occurred.
There is a more recent example - in 2005 the bottle did not break when launching the Costa Concordia cruise ship. Seven years later, the handsome man ran aground on the Italian island of Giglio. He had to be taken apart.
There are many traditions in shipbuilding and maritime affairs. We can mention the ceremony of laying the first board at the beginning of the construction of a new vessel.
A broken bottle with an expensive drink is a symbol that the ship is ready for great trips. It has always been human nature to make sacrifices and perform rituals. In our case, the price of alcohol and the cost of the vessel are incommensurable. At all times and centuries, people have somehow celebrated the opportunity to go by sea, go to distant lands, carry goods. Many religions consider this event to be a baptism of watercraft.
The tradition of beating champagne is not so much launching a ship as celebrating the first voyage of a ship or submarine!
