Commissioning Ceremony

The Commissioning ceremony is one of the most important traditional ceremonial milestones in the life of the ship, for it represents the acceptance of the ship by the U.S. Navy and her entry into the active fleet. Thereafter, the ship is officially referred to as a United States Ship (USS).

The SECNAV has sole authority to approve the site and date of the commissioning of a U.S. Navy ship. The Prospective Commanding Officer (PCO) serves as the traditional host of the ceremony and is responsible for planning and day-to-day execution. “Plank owners” are members of the Crew when that ship is placed in commission. These Sailors have an immense responsibility to turn the ship from a metal vessel to a living, fighting manned warship. Leading the crew, the ship's prospective commanding officer (PCO) serves as the traditional host of the commissioning ceremony.Receptions or social events held incident to the ceremony are typically hosted by the cognizant Commissioning Committee, and are in no way the responsibility of the U.S. Navy.

The commissioning ceremony has been a tradition in the U.S. Navy since December 1775, when the Alfred, the first ship of the Continental Navy, was commissioned at Philadelphia. No written procedure for Commissioning was laid down in our Navy’s early days, but the act of Commissioning was familiar, derived from established British naval custom. Ship Commissionings were simple military ceremonies. The Prospective Commanding Officer came on board, called the Crew to quarters, and formally read the orders appointing him to command. He then ordered the ensign and the commissioning pennant hoisted; at that moment the ship went into commission and the first entry in the ship’s deck log recorded this. First logs from a sizable number of early Navy ships did not survive, and since commissionings were not surrounded by any public fanfare they were not written up in the press. The first specific references to Commissioning located in naval records is a letter dated 6 November 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."

Over the years, Commissioning ceremonies have become more formal and public occasions with unique traditions. The ceremony is usually filled with speeches from flag officers, civil leaders and other distinguished visitors. The Navy leader who delivers one of the final speeches usually places the ship into commission by announcing it to the crowd. At the completion of that speech, the Prospective Commanding Officer orders the Prospective Executive Officer to hoist the colors and the commissioning pennant.

At the moment when the commissioning pennant is broken at the masthead, a ship becomes a Navy command in her own right, and takes her place alongside the other active ships of the fleet. The American pennant is a long streamer that is blue at the hoist, bearing seven white stars; the rest of the pennant consists of single longitudinal stripes of red and white. The pennant is flown at all times as long as a ship is in commissioned status, except when a flag officer or civilian official is embarked and flies his personal flag in its place. Ships' commissioning programs often include an anecdote about the storied origin of the commissioning pennant.

After the pennant is hoisted, it is customary for the Prospective Commanding Officer to formally read the orders appointing him to command. Understanding that the ship is now a fighting member of the fleet, the now Commanding Officer orders the Executive Officer to set the watch.

The final part of the ceremony is also the most iconic. In a time-honored Navy tradition, the ship's Sponsor gives the order, "Man our ship and bring her to life!" The Crew responds by saying "Aye, aye, Ma'am" and runs toward the brow to man the submarine as "Anchors Aweigh" is played. Crew members take their places, side-by-side, as the sub's systems come online, symbolizing the boat "coming to life."