Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning
Hundreds attend the commissioning ceremony for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan, wife of the ship's namesake, gave the ship's crew its traditional first order as an active unit of the Navy: "Man the ship and bring her to life."

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military forces. The ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries old naval tradition.

Ship naming and launching endow a ship hull with her identity, but many milestones remain before she is completed and considered ready to be designated a commissioned ship. The engineering plant, weapon and electronic systems, galley, and multitudinous other equipment required to transform the new hull into an operating and habitable warship are installed and tested. The prospective commanding officer, ship's officers, the petty officers, and seamen who will form the crew report for training and intensive familiarization with their new ship.

Prior to commissioning, the new ship undergoes sea trials to identify any deficiencies needing correction. 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 USS Monitor, of American Civil War fame, was commissioned less than three weeks after launch.

United States Navy

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.

In Truxtun's time, the prospective commanding officer had responsibility for overseeing construction details, outfitting the ship, and recruiting his crew. When a captain 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, and 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-and-launching ceremonies, were not recorded by newspapers. The first specific reference 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. 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 instead given an "in service" status. They do fly the national ensign, but not a commissioning pennant.

In modern times, officers and crew members of a new warship are assembled on the quarterdeck or other suitable area. Formal transfer of the ship to the prospective commanding officer is done by the Chief of Naval Operations or his representative. The national anthem is played, the transferring officer reads the commissioning directive, the ensign is hoisted, and the commissioning pennant broken. The prospective commanding officer reads his orders, assumes command, and the first watch is set. Following, the sponsor is traditionally invited to give the first order to the ship's company: "Man our ship and bring her to life!"

In recent years, commissionings have come to be more public occasions. Most commonly assisted by a Commissioning Support Team (CST), the Prospective Commanding Officer and ship's crew, shipbuilder executives, and senior Navy representatives come together for a formal ceremony placing the ship in active service (in commission) to her country. Guests, including the ship's sponsor, are frequently invited to attend, and a prominent individual delivers a commissioning address. On May 3, 1975, more than twenty thousand people witnessed the commissioning of USS Nimitz at Norfolk, Virginia. The carrier's sponsor, daughter of the late Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, was introduced, and the President of the United States was the principal speaker.

Regardless of the type of ship, the brief but impressive commissioning ceremony completes the cycle from christening and launching to bring the ship into full status as a warship of her nation.

References

  • This article includes text from the public domain Ships of the United States Navy: Christening, Launching and Commissioning, Second Edition, prepared for and published by the Naval History Division of the Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 1975.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ship decommissioning — Crew members and guest salute as the colors are paraded at the decommissioning ceremony of the salvage and rescue ship Grasp …   Wikipedia

  • Ship naming and launching — The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.Methods of launchThere are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called… …   Wikipedia

  • Ship-Submarine Recycling Program — The 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… …   Wikipedia

  • Museum ship — The Polish destroyer ORP Błyskawica is currently preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia. For ships that are not original see Ship replica. For preserved incomplete ships see Ships preserved in museums. A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is… …   Wikipedia

  • Pennant (commissioning) — The Jeanne d Arc flying her paying off pennant while returning to harbour. The commissioning pennant (or masthead pennant) is a pennant (also spelt pendant ) flown from the masthead of a warship. The history of flying a commissioning pennant… …   Wikipedia

  • Landing Ship, Tank — A Canadian LST off loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. Landing Ship, Tank (LST) was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant… …   Wikipedia

  • Mistral class amphibious assault ship — The Mistral in Toulon harbour Class overview Name: Mistral Builders: STX Europe …   Wikipedia

  • Manych Ship Canal — The Manych Ship Canal is a projected water transport connection between the basins of the Sea of Azov/Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The most probable technical parameters of Manych Ship Canal are 6.5 m in depth, 80 m in width and more than 75… …   Wikipedia

  • Endurance class landing platform dock ship — The Endurance class landing platform dock ships are the biggest class of ships in the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). They were designed and built locally by Singapore Technologies (ST) Marine to replace the old County class tank landing ships… …   Wikipedia

  • Technical research ship — Technical research ships were used by the U.S. Navy during the 1960s to gather intelligence by monitoring the electronic communications of nations in various parts of the world. At the time these ships were active, the mission of the ships was… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”