Non User
Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z	Business Non User Industries Finance Tax

Home > Ship commissioning

Prior to commissioning, the new ship undergoes sea trials during which deficiencies needing correction are uncovered. The preparation and readiness time between christening-launching and commissioning may be as much as three years for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to as brief as twenty days for a World War II landing ship. The Monitor, of American Civil War fame, was commissioned less than three weeks after launch. Commissioning in the early United States Navy under sail was attended by no ceremony. An officer designated to command a new ship received orders similar to those issued to Captain Thomas Truxtun in 1798:

Sir, I have it in command from the president of the United States, to direct you to repair with all due speed on board the ship Constellation lying at Baltimore. It is required that no Time be lost in carrying the Ship into deep water, taking on board her Cannon, Ammunition, Water, Provisions & Stores of every kind -- completing what work is yet to be done shipping her Complement of Seamen and Marines, and preparing her in every respect for Sea ... It is the President's express Orders, that you employ the most vigorous Exertions, to accomplish these several Objects and to put your Ship as speedily as possible in a situation to sail at the shortest notice.

Captain Truxtun's orders reveal that a prospective commanding officer had responsibility for overseeing construction details, outfitting the ship, and recruiting his crew. When a captain of this period in our history determined that his new ship was ready to take to sea, he mustered the crew on deck, read his orders, broke the national ensign and distinctive commissioning pennant, caused the watch to be set, and the first entry to be made in the log. Thus, the ship was placed in commission.

Commissionings were not public affairs and, unlike christening-launching ceremonies, no accounts of them are to be found in contemporary newspapers. The first specific references to commissioning located in naval records is a letter of November 6, 1863, from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to all navy yards and stations. The Secretary directed: "Hereafter the commandants of navy yards and stations will inform the Department, by special report of the date when each vessel preparing for sea service at their respective commands, is placed in commission."

Subsequently, various editions of Navy Regulations mentioned the act of putting a ship in commission, but details of a commissioning ceremony were not prescribed. Through custom and usage, however, a fairly standard practice emerged, the essentials of which are outlined in current Navy Regulations.

Officers and crew members of the new ship are assembled on the quarterdeck or other suitable area. Formal transfer of the ship to the prospective commanding officer is done by the Naval District Commandant or his representative. The transferring officer reads the commissioning directive, the national anthem is played, the ensign is hoisted, and commissioning pennant broken. The prospective commanding officer reads his orders, assumes command, and the first watch is set. (Craft assigned to Naval Districts and shore bases for local use, such as harbor tugs and floating drydocks, are not usually placed "in commission" but are in an "in service" status. They do fly the national ensign, but not a commissioning pennant.)

In recent years, commissionings have come to be public occasions more than heretofore had been the practice. Guests, including the ship's sponsor, are frequently invited to attend, and a prominent individual may deliver a commissioning address. On May 3, 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i, more than twenty thousand people witnessed the commissioning of USS Nimitz (CVN 68) at Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is a city in the U. state of Virginia in the United States of America. It is an independent city, and therefore part of no county. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 234,403. Norfolk is located on the Elizabeth River, on Ham. The carrier's sponsor, daughter of the late Fleet Admiral Chester NimitzChester William Nimitz ( February 24, 1885 February 20, 1966) was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. He was the nation's leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navy Burea, was introduced, and the President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state of the United States. Under the U. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and commander in chief of the armed forces. Because of the superpower status of th was the principal speaker.

Whether for a massive nuclear aircraft carrier, destroyerThis article treats on the type of ship. For other things called destroyer , see Destroyer (disambiguation). USS Lassen (DDG-82), an Arleigh Burke class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship inte, submarine, or amphibious type, the brief but impressive commissioning ceremony completes the cycle from christening and launching to full status as a ship of the United States Navy. Now, regardless of size and mission, the vessel and her crew stand ready to take their place in America's historic heritage of the sea.

(This article was taken from "Ships of the United States Navy: Christening, Launching and Commissioning, Second Edition," which was prepared for and published by the Naval History Division of the Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, 1975, and therefore is in the public domain.)

Politics	Business	Finance

Topics: Ship Commissioning Navy Officer New Crew Naval Orders States...

---

ShipA ship like a boat, is a vehicle designed for passage or transportation by water. A ship usually has sufficient size to carry its own boats, such as lifeboats, dinghies, or runabouts. A rule of thumb saying (though it doesn't always apply) goes: "a boat c ShippingFor the use of the term in fanfiction, see shipper. Shipping is the transport of cargo between seaports by ships, typically large steel vessels powered by diesel engines or steam turbine plants. Ships are extremely expensive. Types of ships involved Conta Ship transportShip Transport is the process of moving people, goods, etc. by barge, boat, ship or sailboat over a sea, ocean, lake, canal or river. This is frequently undertaken for purposes of commerce, recreation or military objectives. A hybrid of ship transport and Ship-Submarine recycling programThe Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsew Ship commissioningThe ceremonies involved in commissioning ships into a military force are based in traditions thousands of years old. Ship naming and launching are the inseparable elements which endow a ship hull with her identity. Yet, just as many developmental mileston Ship naming and launchingThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old. A Babylonian narrative dating from the 3rd millennium BC describes the completion of a ship: :Openings to the water I stopped; :I searched for crac Ship model Ship of the line Ship of Fools Shipman, Illinois Shipshewana, Indiana Ship Bottom, New Jersey Shiprock, New Mexico Shippingport, Pennsylvania Shippen Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania