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 placing a warship in active duty with its country's military forces. The ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries-old naval tradition.
In 1999 the French carrier Charles De Gaulle began her sea trial phase, which identified the need for the flight deck to be extended for the safe operation of the E2C Hawkeye.
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."
Crew members and guests salute as the colors are paraded at the decommissioning ceremony of the salvage and rescue ship Grasp
Ceremonial ship launching
Ceremonial ship launching involves the performance of ceremonies associated with the process of transferring a vessel to the water. It is a nautical tradition in many cultures, dating back millennia, to accompany the physical process with ceremonies which have been observed as public celebration and a solemn blessing, usually but not always, in association with the launch itself.
1908 launch of the Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes
Stern-first launch of the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) in 1915 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Sideways launch of littoral combat ship USS St. Louis (LCS-19) in 2018
Launch of the French ship Friedland on 2 May 1810, sliding stern first