Ship Christening

Ever wonder why champagne is smashed on the hull of a new ship when it is launched? Religion used to play a large part in the christening of the ship. Jews and Christians customarily used wine and water as they called upon God to safeguard them at sea. Intercession of the saints and the blessing of the church were asked by Christians. Ship launchings in the Ottoman Empire were accompanied by prayers to Allah, the sacrifice of sheep, and appropriate feasting. The Vikings are said to have offered human sacrifice to appease the angry gods of the northern seas. As related in Icelandic sagas, human sacrifices were offered. Humans were tied to the ground between the launching rollers. These humans were originally virgin maidens, which were sometimes immortalized by having their carved likeness grafted onto the hull of the ship. As the ship made its way down the rollers and into the sea, the blood of the victims would be smeared on the ship's hull. Later, humans were replaced by animal sacrifices. In medieval times, animal blood came to be replaced with red wine. In the 1600s British navy ships were christened with the "standing cup", a large cup fashioned of precious metal. As the ship began to slide down toward the water, the presiding official took a ceremonial sip of wine from the cup, and poured the rest over the bow. In the late 17th century, the standing-cup was replaced by the practice of breaking a bottle across the bow. Whisky, brandy, holy water, sea water, or water collected from a symbolic lake or river was used until the end of the 19th century when, because of its elegance as the “aristocrat of wines”, champagne became the preferred liquid of choice to christen a ship.