Tag Archives: champagne

Titanic

Friday Titanic News

Public Domain via pxhere.com

One of the oddities of studying shipwrecks is what is not damaged. Consider champagne. A alcoholic beverage often served in festive events is a highly pressurized drink. One opens it making sure you have it pointed away from anyone (or breakable objects) and doing it slowly.  Of course there is a more daring way of doing it by  sword. This technique is not for the faint of heart since if you screw it up, well,  all that wonderful champagne gets wasted.  There are some videos on YouTube , but this one is pretty good.

Regarding  the Titanic, champagne bottles found and brought up were found fully intact (there was some damage to the cork) and not imploded . This has been found true in other shipwrecks.  So how come this did not happen since Titanic is 2 miles down? Well the folks at IFL Science have an answer. And it not just sturdy glass.

 “Why Did Champagne Bottles on the Doomed Titanic Not Implode?” IFLScience, 25 Jan. 2024, www.iflscience.com/why-did-champagne-bottles-on-the-titanic-not-implode-72621.

So how did the bottle escape this fate? People have suggested that part of the answer is the increased pressure inside the champagne bottle, caused by the carbon dioxide within it. The pressure inside a champagne bottle is higher than you’d imagine, going up to around 6 bar (90 psi), with 1 bar being around atmospheric pressure at sea level. Today’s champagne is kept in bottles that can withstand up to 20 bar (290 psi), while a metal fastener is often used to keep the cork in place.

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Titanic Belfast (side view)
Image:Prioryman (Wikipedia)

Both Ireland and the UK were hit pretty hard when storm Isha blew through with high winds and lots of rain. In Belfast, the Titanic Exhibition roof was damaged so it is now closed to the end of the month.

 “Titanic Belfast Closed Until the End of the Month Following Storm Damage.” BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, 25 Jan. 2024, www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/titanic-belfast-closed-until-the-end-of-the-month-following-storm-damage/a1458788722.html.

Titanic Belfast will remain closed to the public until the end of the month due to damage due to Storm Isha. Damage was caused to the roof of the museum building on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard during the storm, which wreaked havoc across Northern Ireland earlier this week. Repairs were impeded due to further inclement weather.

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I am not sure totally what to make of this story. It is about a guy who apparently is on a nine month world cruise and it is being heavily reported on social media. I guess all the interactions and places they are visiting warrants lots of comments. From what I gather, some think it could be a reality show! At any rate one of the cruise passengers was at lunch and commented that the ship was only 100 feet longer than Titanic. Well that caused stunned silence, utensils to drop, and a waiter to gasp. And then a passenger leaned over and said that Titanic is not mentioned aboard the ship. The TikToker was quite surprised at this unwritten rule and sort of flabbergasted it would be an issue. Now he did not post the video of this actually happening, so we have to take his word for it. Then again airlines do not show disaster movies-especially ones with airplanes-on long flights. Perhaps cruise lines might prefer you don’t mention it and probably avoid stocking such films on the onboard library. In that case the old clunker Raise The Titanic movie (excellent novel by Clive Cussler but a terrible adaptation) probably would be a better alternative.

“Passenger Discovers the One Word You Shouldn’t Say on a Cruise Is ‘Titanic.’” 10play.com, 26 Jan. 2024, 10play.com.au/theproject/articles/passenger-discovers-the-one-word-you-shouldnt-say-on-a-cruise-is-titanic/tpa240126jlrqp

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And that is a wrap for this Friday. Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Tacky Titanic, Titanic

Red Bull Does Titanic–And Gets Called “Despicable”

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Red Bull advertising executives thought they had a clever idea. They created an advertising cartoon which showed a crate containing Red Bull being being loaded on a ship. The captain walks by and asks what it contains. When he learns it is an energy drink, he is insulted pointing out they only drink champagne on his ship and orders it brought down. The deckhand says the drink gives you wings (an advertising slogan of the drink). The captain responds by saying there is no need for wings on a ship, And then the crate reveals the name of the ship–Titanic–as the captain walks away.

According to The Telegraph:

The ad has also outraged some of the relatives of the 1915 disaster which saw more than 1,500 lose their lives when the ‘unsinkable’ ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Clifford Ismay, 57, a relative of Titanic owner Joseph Bruce Ismay, condemned the advert as “despicable.” He said: “I have a sense of humour but I really don’t like the idea – in fact I find it quite sickening considering so many people died on that night. “With their slogan ‘Red Bull gives you wings’ I can only assume that they are referring to the idea that if all those people had Red Bull – or wings – then they would have been ok. “It’s despicable. I think the Titanic, and the people involved, should be treated with dignity and respect.”

42 complaints have been lodged with Advertising Standards Authority over the ad. The Titanic Heritage Trust condemned the advert. Its founder, Howard Nelson, is considering filing a formal complaint.

Now I am no fan of tacky Titanic themed products, but this ad does not get me that angry. I understand why people are offended. On the scale of offensive, I put it in the mild category. When the deckhand says it is an energy drink, Captain Smith scoffs at serving anything less than champagne. If anything, it pokes fun at the aristocratic mentality that abounded at that time. Whether it ought to use Titanic is another issue. Then again, they had to know using Titanic was going to draw ire from some. And perhaps that is what they wanted.

I had not seen the ad, so I quickly tracked it down on YouTube. I actually watched both English and German versions. So they are getting eyes on the ad but whether it translates into sales, that is something they have to determine later. I actually thought the German version more funny than English. It is how it is said in German that makes it so. At any rate judge for yourself. The English version is below but if you want to see the German one, click here.

Source: Red Bull Criticised For ‘Tasteless’ Titanic Advert (13 Sep 2013, The Telegraph)

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Cold Champagne–From The Baltic Sea

A press release bouncing around the Internet announces that divers have located 20 bottles of 1780’s champagne that were destined for Russian nobility. The brought up a bottle and drank from it; no word was mentioned how it tasted. Considering that it was 200 feet down in the cold Baltic, there is a good chance the champagne might still be okay to drink (albeit a very expensive one to be sure).

Each bottle, speculates the press release, could fetch $68,000 each. Finding such relics has occurred before with mixed results. There is a Titanic angle though.

Wineflyers International, an Australian company, let it be known they had sourced and sold six bottles of wine from the Titanic to “a high profile customer in Asia”, in 2002.

It seems unlikely it came from the wreck unless it was brought up and sold before RMS Titanic filed its salvage claim. More likely it came from a stock of wine destined for Titanic but not aboard when it sank.

Either way 230 old champagne kept chilled in the Baltic Sea would make for one heck of a party for someone with money to spend. Just do not spoil it with bad caviar and lackluster toast. Get Eric Ripert to cook a good accompaniment and keep Paula Deen far away. 🙂

Source: PRLog.Org, Most Expensive Champagne From The Ocean Floor, 24 Jul 2010