gCaptain.com

BBC reports on a long standing maritime tradition:

Last year the Duchess of Cornwall failed to smash a bottle on the side of cruise liner Queen Victoria; later scores of passengers were taken ill with a contagious stomach bug.

To avoid this ill omen, the shipping industry has many tricks to ensure the bubbly breaks.

Champagne bottles are extremely tough, having been designed to withstand high pressure, but it only takes a tiny defect, such as a bubble in the glass, to compromise its strength, says Dr Mark Miodownik, a material scientist at King’s College London.

“Glass is a very hard material. If you want to make a defect in it, you’ll find it very difficult, but a diamond is stronger. My top tip would be to score the bottle with a diamond.”

Size matters

Dr Miodownik says that mathematical probability, rope type and bubble size all come into it. The bigger the bottle, the higher the mathematical probability of a natural defect, so he recommends using a jeroboam.

Forget about vintage, it’s bubble size that counts. “The bigger the bubbles, the higher the pressure inside the bottle, the more likely it is to break on impact. The best option is probably to go for a cheap bottle of cava with big bubbles.”

And increase this effect by giving the bottle a good shake.

A rope which has any elasticity in it will absorb the energy, so steer clear, says Dr Miodownik. Better than rope would be a length of wire.

While most ship bows are made of rigid steel, some parts will be even more solid than others - so x-ray the bow, locate the groins (main support structures) and take aim for these. Continue Reading…BBC website.<>p>

History

About.com give us the history:

The ceremony of christening new ships began in the distant past, and we know that Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians all held ceremonies to ask the gods to protect sailors.

By the 1800s the christenings of ships began to follow a familiar pattern. A “christening fluid” would be poured against the bow of the ship, though it was not necessarily wine or champagne. There are accounts in the US Navy records of 19th century warships being christened with water from significant American rivers.

The christening of ships became great public events, with large crowds assembled to witness the ceremony. And it became standard for champagne, as the most elite of wines, to be used for the christening. The tradition developed that a female would do the honors and be named the sponsor of the ship.

And maritime superstition held that a ship that wasn’t properly christened would be considered unlucky. Continue reading…

For a more detailed history of this tradition read: Naval Historical Center’s FAQ

Photo shows Birgit Smith, christened the US Navy’s LCS FREEDOM

Captain Paul Wright, a Cornishman, is a kind of latter day Henry VIII - a master and commander who moves from one queen to the next in quick succession.

He is the first person to command all three Queens in the Cunard fleet - Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and their “younger sister” Queen Victoria.

His first appointment with Cunard was to Cunard Countess, since when he has served on Cunard Princess, Sagafjord and Cunard Dynasty. In 1999 Captain Wright was promoted to Captain of Cunard’s flagship Queen Elizabeth 2 where he served until construction of the largest liner ever built, Queen Mary 2. He oversaw construction of the ship in St. Nazaire prior to commission, and in 2004 was appointed Master of Queen Mary 2, alternating with the recently retired Commodore Ron Warwick.

Asked what his most memorable moments at sea have been, Captain Wright cites two: when he brought QE2 into New York for the first time after the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and bringing Queen Mary 2 into Hamburg on her maiden call when half a million people turned out to greet the ship.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Photo by AurelioZen

NewYorkology tells us of the first / last ever meeting of its three grand ships;

Cunard’s one-time-only royal rendezvous of its three queens — the QE2, QM2 and recently christened Queen Victoria — will be celebrated at 7 p.m. on January 13 with a harbor fireworks show as the three grand cruise liners meet near the Statue of Liberty.

The QE2 and Queen Victoria will arrive in tandem (likely pre-sunrise) from Southampton, England. During the day, the QE2 will be docked at Manhattan’s Pier 92 and the Queen Victoria nearby at Pier 88. The Queen Mary 2 will arrive separately (also early morning,) and dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

All three have bridge cams (Queen Victoria, QM2 and QE2) and Cruise Critic Ben Lyons is blogging the voyage.

UPDATE:

Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press

The New York Times has reported on the festivities. They write:

In the annals of maritime history, the Queens’ sailing was momentous. It was the first time in the 168-year history of the Cunard Line, the owner of the liners, that it had three ships named after British queens in the same port at the same time. The company arranged the ships’ schedules so that they departed from New York City ports simultaneously.

The Queens’ meeting, witnessed by thousands on shore and on board, will also be their last, company officials said.

“They are not programmed to meet in any other port,” Cunard’s president, Carol Marlow, said during an afternoon news conference at Pier 88 in Manhattan, with the docked Queen Victoria visible in background. “This is a spine-tingling time.”

The Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard’s longest-serving ship, left Manhattan for its 26th and final around-the-world journey — a farewell tour that will usher in its retirement in November, when the liner will become a floating hotel in Dubai. The Queen Victoria, which came into service last month, embarked on its maiden world cruise. And the Queen Mary 2, the largest trans-Atlantic liner ever built, weighing about 151,400 gross tons, sailed to the Caribbean from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Click HERE to continue reading.