Sphinx

Posted by Cy on Tuesday 14th of July 2020 14:44

Generally being commissioned is simply the act of havinmg a captain issued a commission to caommand the ship, although they didn't always, even usually, take command from the day of the commission. There sometimes being gaps of several weeks between the date of commission and them actually taking command.
All new ships would have their captain and senior officers appointed around the date of launch, occasionally before. There was a lot to do and the captain and officers job was to oversee the adding of masts, rigging, ballast, boats, armament and other stores, recuiting a crew etc.

Posted by Cory Taylor on Tuesday 14th of July 2020 12:48

What does it mean for a ship to be commissioned? How common was it for the British sips to be commissioned before they were finished being built, around 1748? Are there many examples? What would the reasoning be for commissioning a ship before it was deemed sea worthy?