When it is time for the ship to join the fleet it is commissioned. After the ship is finished with sea trials and all the problems are fixed a shorter period of acceptance trials will begin. Just after this the ship will be commissioned.

Commissioning is the last formal step to make the ship ready for the fleet. It will be taken to a special spot and all cleaned up for the special day. VIP’s will be invited and the crew will get their full dress uniforms all ready.

The Navy will try to get the commissioning ceremony as close to its namesakes origin as possible. Such as if the ship is named for a person from Florida the ship will be taken to a port closest to their home town. However if it is named for a person from Idaho, well Washington state is about as close as they will get.

The ship will be clean, painted, and have banners placed along its railings. The crew will be dockside in their full dress uniforms. VIP’s will give speeches and music will be played. Then the new ships captain will read his orders taking command of the ship. After he is done he will order the crew to make the ship come alive.

The crew will quickly board the ship and make it come alive. The national and naval ensigns will be hoisted. Weapon systems will begin to move, radars rotate, and the ship gets ready to leave. Commissioning day is a major deal for the ship, its crew , and the Navy.

In years past commissioning was a simple task. Once the ship was accepted by the Navy and its new commanding officer it was considered in commission. It then left on its first mission. It was not uncommon for the crew to have been on the ship getting it ready for a period of time only to have the captain to show up and they leave the same day.

Today the captain, officers, and crew will under go training for months before the ship is commissioned. There are schools to attend and a ship to get aquatinted with, Prior to commissioning the ship is called PCU, pre-commissioning Unit.

So to put things in perspective think of your house. The day you sit in a room with all those people and sign all those closing papers is the commissioning day. All those people there are the VIP’s and you are the new crew. The Closing agent hands you paper after paper to sign and you sign them. Then it is all done and you are officially the owner of the house.