Do you know the last etiquette of launching a big ship?

The last etiquette of launching a big ship is the "bottle throwing ceremony". The "bottle throwing ceremony" is an exotic, and this exotic also originated from a sad legend. Later, especially with the wide application of high technology, maritime accidents gradually declined; People wish that the shipwreck will never happen again by breaking bottles, and pray that everyone who goes to sea can return safely.

On June 28th, 2065438+2007, at the launching ceremony of the first ship of the 0.55 million-ton destroyer of China Navy, there was a very foreign project-"bottle throwing ceremony". This is not the first time that China Navy has played with this "foreign toy". At least on April 26th, when China's first domestic aircraft carrier 00 1A was launched, there was a "bottle throwing ceremony".

The "bottle throwing ceremony" is an exotic, and this exotic also originated from a sad legend. A long time ago, sailing was a hard and risky occupation. Because the shipbuilding industry is underdeveloped and the navigation technology at sea is extremely backward, when a ship encounters a shipwreck, resignation is the only choice for sailors. In the face of the storm of nature, what helpless sailors can do is to write their last words on paper, put them in bottles, seal them and throw them into the sea ... At that time, the drifting bottles in the sea were not as romantic as people thought, just the last words of a shipwreck. Later, especially with the wide application of high technology, maritime accidents gradually declined; People wish the shipwreck will never happen again by breaking bottles, and pray that everyone who goes to sea can return safely.

Complex sea conditions are the "enemies" that all navigators have to face.

Today, although Chinese and foreign ships use champagne for bottle throwing ceremony, there are still some differences. When the "bottle throwing ceremony" first appeared, the people who threw bottles were usually respected people (royalty, nobles, officials, etc.). ), and then gradually evolved into a "bottle throwing ceremony" for women (royal family members, nobles, spouses or daughters of officials).

However, in the history of China's navigation and shipbuilding, there has never been such a way of "breaking peace". At that time, people often placed a copper coin between the keel and the main mast of a ship as a symbol of blessing to pray for the safety of navigation. In modern times, with the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between China and the West, the "bottle throwing ceremony" has also spread in China as a marine tradition. However, unlike foreign countries, domestic bottle throwing people are usually men who are directly related to this ship.

At the launching ceremony of the China ship, there was a step similar to the "bottle throwing ceremony"-cutting the cable. At first, it was represented by the shipbuilder Yingmo, who cut the main cable between the berth and the new ship with an axe. However, cutting the cable is dangerous, so it gradually evolved into symbolically cutting a rope between the berth and the new ship.

The picture shows Huang, general manager of China Merchants Steamship, raising an axe to cut the cable at the launching ceremony of the domestic 1 10000 dwt tanker "Kaida" in 2008.

However, many of the above are just legends, and the real "bottle throwing ceremony" can be traced back to Europe in the17th century. 16 10, when the world's first "Royal Prince" warship with three decks was launched, the Prince of Wales, who presided over the launching ceremony, symbolically took a sip of wine, then spilled the rest of the wine on the ship and threw it off. Whoever finds this golden cup will be lucky. In the mercantilist era, Britain, located in the British Isles, needed more ships to maintain maritime trade, so Britain built more and more ships and threw away more and more golden wine glasses. Such a huge loss, for Britain, which has already replaced Spain as the "maritime hegemon", has been unable to make ends meet. Even if it is plundered all over the world and becomes an "imperial empire", it cannot bear such an amazing "loss". So by the end of 17, this failure was stopped in Britain and replaced by the "bottle-throwing ceremony", and the wine bottle was changed from precious metal to relatively cheap glass.

But at the beginning of the "bottle throwing ceremony", not all the bottles were full of champagne. For example, when the Constitution, which served in the US Navy for more than 200 years, was launched that year, it was a bottle of white wine that hit the bow. Even in some special periods, Americans even held a "bottle throwing ceremony" for new ships with bottles filled with jam at the launching ceremony of new ships.

1797 When the Constitution was introduced, it was a bottle of Madeira white wine that hit its bow.

Someone smashed a bottle to celebrate, and naturally his head was not good. For example, during the launching ceremony of the former Soviet submarine K- 19, the wine bottle that was smashed at it was bounced back intact. After that, the service life of the submarine was bumpy (the American film "K- 19: Widow Maker" released in 200 1 was adapted from a reactor accident in K- 19) ... In addition, in February, 65438+2007, the British Cunard Shipping Company invited Prince Charles' second wife Camilla. The champagne bottle was not broken in the bottle throwing ceremony. Coincidentally, the "Queen Victoria" broke out on its maiden voyage ... However, coincidence is just a coincidence after all, and not all ships that have not broken champagne will be unlucky. For example, on March 5, 2006, the USS SSN-787 "Washington" nuclear submarine was smashed twice by the same bottle of champagne on the day of launching ceremony, completing the "bottle throwing ceremony".