Here's Why We Throw Champagne Bottles At New Ships

Champagne is a hallmark of celebrations, from engagements and weddings to a New Year's Eve toast, but why on Earth do we smash a bottle against the bow of a new ship to christen it? As far as traditions go, it's certainly not the strangest (in Spain people chuck tomatoes at each other during La Tomatina and in Denmark if you turn 25 and you're single, you can expect to be doused in cinnamon), but it is multi-national. Ships are christened with champagne in the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, and other Western countries.

Smashing a bottle of bubbly against the side of a ship is meant to bring good luck to it and its crew. If it doesn't break, it's a foreboding sign of the ship's future. You may scoff at the idea but, as per its ongoing tradition, the White Star Line elected not to christen the Titanic with champagne or any other form of spirits, and it sank on its maiden voyage.

Of course, not every unchristened ship meets such a fate, but ship building is awash in tradition and superstition, like placing a coin under or near the mast, naming a ship after a woman, or the more modern steel-cutting ceremony. But none is more well-known than the champagne christening.

The history of christening a ship with champagne is a bit fuzzy. Some sources claim that the first recorded instance happened in 1891, when Queen Victoria smashed a bottle of champagne against the HMS Royal Arthur. Other sources claim that the SS Great Britain was christened with champagne at its launch in 1843. According to history, the first attempt failed to hit the ship and Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, threw a bottle from his table that smashed and broke against the ship, showering the crowd in glass.

The very idea of a ceremony to celebrate the launching of a ship is much older than these stories. In ancient cultures, the ceremony involved the sacrifice of an animal or even a slave. There were also traditions a bit closer to our modern take that involved pouring wine on a ship or in the waters where it would sail. Eventually the tradition included a goblet that was thrown overboard, but the story goes that this was too costly and using an entire bottle became the norm. During prohibition in the U.S., ships were christened with water, grape juice, or apple cider.

Today, many modern shipbuilders and cruise lines continue the tradition of christening a new ship with champagne. Some cruise lines pick a godmother to attend the launch and naming of a ship, and they usually do the honors of cracking a bottle of champagne against the new vessel. In some countries, the godmother is often royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth II or Catherine, Princess of Wales. Sometimes it's a celebrity like Julie Andrews or Sophia Loren, and some lines have even started using godfathers.

Because modern ships are so large, most christenings today involve a mechanical device that releases a bottle of champagne. The superstition that the ship is cursed if the bottle doesn't break can be mitigated by using a bottle that will easily shatter, and it's sometimes contained in a bag to catch the broken pieces.

Ship christenings are generally by invitation only and not open to the public, but many of the larger cruise lines will live stream the event and it will be covered by the media. If you're gearing up to cruise and are worried about superstitions, fear not – your ship will be well-prepared for an emergency.