Ceremonial ship launching
It is a nautical tradition in many cultures, dating back millennia, to accompany the physical process with ceremonies which have been observed as public celebration and a solemn blessing, usually but not always, in association with the launch itself.
The process also involves many traditions intended to invite good luck, such as christening by breaking a sacrificial bottle of champagne over the bow as the ship is named aloud and launched.
[2] If launched in a restrictive waterway, drag chains are used to slow the ship speed to prevent it striking the opposite bank.
Sometimes ships are launched using a series of inflated tubes underneath the hull, which deflate to cause a downward slope into the water.
A Babylonian narrative dating from the 3rd millennium BC describes the completion of a ship:[2] Openings to the water I stopped; I searched for cracks and the wanting parts I fixed: Three sari of bitumen I poured over the outside; To the gods I caused oxen to be sacrificed.
Ship launching participants in ancient Greece wreathed their heads with olive branches, drank wine to honor the gods, and poured water on the new vessel as a symbol of blessing.
[2] Chaplain Henry Teonge of Britain's Royal Navy left an interesting account of a warship launch, a "briganteen of 23 oars," by the Knights of Malta in 1675:[2] Two fryers and an attendant went into the vessel, and kneeling down prayed halfe an houre, and layd their hands on every mast, and other places of the vessel, and sprinkled her all over with holy water.
[2] The liturgical aspects of ship christenings, or baptisms, continued in Catholic countries, while the Reformation seems to have put a stop to them for a time in Protestant Europe.
Pett described the proceedings:[2] The noble Prince… accompanied with the Lord Admiral and the great lords, were on the poop, where the standing great gilt cup was ready filled with wine to name the ship SO soon as she had been afloat, according to ancient custom and ceremony performed at such times, and heaving the standing cup overboard.
When the ship began to slide down the ways, the presiding official took a ceremonial sip of wine from the cup, and poured the rest on the deck or over the bow.
French ship launchings and christenings in the 18th and early 19th centuries were accompanied by unique rites closely resembling marriage and baptismal ceremonies.
[9] Japanese ship launchings incorporate silver axes which are thought to bring good luck and scare away evil.
[10] Sponsors of British warships were customarily members of the royal family, senior naval officers, or Admiralty officials.
The usage continues with the singing of Psalm 107 with its special meaning to mariners:[2] They that go down to the sea in ships; That do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.
The Duchess of Rothesay similarly launched HMS Prince of Wales by pulling a lever which smashed a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky at the side of the ship.
At the 2024 launching of CalMac ferry Glen Rosa, newly-qualified welder Beth Atkinson named the ship and pulled a lever to similarly smash a bottle, of single malt from the Ardgowan distillery at nearby Inverkip.
The unwearied diligence and care of the three Master-Builders... and the good order and industry of the Carpenters, deserve particular notice; scarcely a single instance of a person's being in liquor, or any difference among the men in the yard during the time of her building, every man with pleasure exerting himself to the utmost: and altho' the greatest care was taken that only the best of timber was used, and the work perform'd in a most masterly manner, the whole time from her raising to the day she launched did not exceed sixty working days, and what afforded a most pleasing view (which was manifest in the countenances of the Spectators) this noble fabrick was completely to her anchors in the main channel, in less than six minutes from the time she run, without the least hurt; and what is truly remarkable, not a single person met with the least accident in launching, tho' near five hundred men were employed in and about her when run off.
They voted the sum of fifty dollars (equivalent to $1,300 in 2023) to the master builder of each yard "to be expended in providing an entertainment for the carpenters that worked on the ships."
"At fifteen minutes after twelve she commenced a movement into the water with such steadiness, majesty and exactness as to fill every heart with sensations of joy and delight."
Immediately on touching the water federal salutes were fired from the sloop of war Portsmouth, the revenue cutter Jay and the Aspasia, Indiaman.
As sloop-of-war Plymouth "glided along the inclined plane" in 1846, "two young sailors, one stationed at each side of her head, anointed her with bottles, and named her as she left her cradle for the deep."
The earliest First Lady of the United States to act as sponsor was Grace Coolidge who christened the airship Los Angeles.
[2] Thousands of ships of every description came off the ways during World War II, the concerted effort of a mobilized American industry.
The historic christening and launching ceremonies continued, but travel restrictions, other wartime considerations, and sheer numbers dictated that such occasions be less elaborate than those in the years before the war.
In addition to the ceremonial breaking of a champagne bottle on the bow, the sponsor remains in contact with the ship's crew and is involved in special events such as homecomings.
