Ship launching

In the face of vast, almost unfathomable seas, even the mightiest battleship seems small! Not without reason, the writer Joseph Conrad called ships 'living creatures', since a ship on the high seas, be it through creaking frames, groaning steel or creaking wood, fluttering sails and many other familiar sounds, in a certain way 'speaks' to the sailors.
Almost like a kind of 'umbilical cord', a line connecting the ship to the land is broken during launching in China and Japan. Ships were baptized in Mesopotamia as early as the fourth century BC. It was the same with the Greeks and Romans. In addition to the sometimes cruel rituals of the Old World, good wine was often poured over the planks of a ship to make the gods happy.

It is still primarily about goodwill and luck for the ship and its crew in the face of future unpredictable elements. Some see it as superstition and some as a beautiful tradition.
Andere Menschen wiederum verstehen die sachgerechte Taufe eines Schiffes als sehr ernste und notwendige Gegebenheit. Belege dafür, dass ein Schiff mit einer problematischen Taufe oder gar ohne Taufe ein böses Omen darstellen könnte, können diese Menschen liefern. Sie können z.B. auf die Titanic verweisen, welche nie eine Taufe erfuhr, oder auf das tragische Schicksal des nuklearen russischen U-Boots ‚K-19‘, dem Stolz der russischen Marine, bei dessen Taufe die Flasche Champagner auch nach wiederholten Versuchen nicht zerbrechen wollte.

Among seafarers, caution rather than superstition is considered a desirable companion. A proper baptism is thus simply part of general prudence.

The Klabautermann on the other hand, a friendly little ghost who moves into every new ship to play tricks on a lazy crew and help a good crew as well as the ship, is generally not taken quite as seriously.

The importance of a ship christening away from a successfully smashed bottle was demonstrated by the christening of the imperial private yacht Meteor in New York in 1902. It was intended by the emperor that a bottle of sparkling wine instead of champagne would be used for the christening by the American president's daughter Alice Roosevelt. However, the clever representative of the Moët & Chandon house in the USA, George Kessler, managed to exchange the sparkling wine for a bottle of Moët, contrary to what had been planned. At the following banquet, champagne was served instead of sparkling wine. This was considered a first-class scandal for the Kaiser, who then had his ambassador recalled and sparked off a huge political saber-rattling between Germany and France.

Postcard on the occasion of the ship christening of the imperial private yacht Meteor. Postcard can be enlarged by clicking on it.
It often happens that a champagne bottle just won't shatter. On the surface, it is then cheerfully dismissed as a silly, actually unimportant superstition. Secretly, however, many people anxiously think their part in it. It is therefore no coincidence that the thick glass of the champagne bottles is sometimes professionally (and secretly) weakened somewhat by scratching in the run-up to the christening, and that before some christenings it is first practiced 'unofficially' so that nothing goes wrong at the 'real' ship christening.

When a ship is renamed, it is also important to first say goodbye to the old name with champagne. The old name must be carefully removed everywhere and without exception (bow, stern, lifebuoys, lifeboat, etc.). This is followed by the libation, during which a bottle of the best champagne is poured from the bow over the planks of the ship - to the last drop and without even a sip for the crew! It is considered a gesture of melancholy farewell and is done with dignity. Thus, for this ceremony you need at least two bottles of champagne, because afterwards, of course, traditionally must be celebrated properly.

The christening of the ship begins with a speech that goes something like this: "I baptize you with the name ........ I wish the crew a safe journey and the ship always a hand's breadth of water under the keel!

On large ships, a lady (gentlemen were traditionally not wanted for the job of christening until the 19th century - ladies are still preferred today) chops a line with a hatchet, which releases the bottle of champagne on another line to fly against the bow. In small ships/boats, the champagne is also flung on the line directly at the bow. Some people even smash the bottle at the bow with their hand - a procedure that seems very dangerous to the author with all the shattering glass and not at all recommended.

On small yachts and other boats, it is perfectly permissible to pour a bottle of champagne over the deck after the toast, standing at the bow until the last drop (likewise without even a sip for the lady or the crew). A sensible regulation, especially since a smashing champagne bottle could damage the boat unnecessarily - a bottle the size of a Magnum, Jeroboam or even Rehoboam could possibly even sink it.

Following the ship's christening, many captains have the remains of the bottle stowed on board, where they must remain as long as the ship bears the name.

It should also be noted that, of course, aerospace ships are also christened. Even the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701B) from the famous 'Star Trek' was ceremonially christened with a futuristic 'Dom Perignon, vintage 2265'.