Sea Trials

Sea trials are the at-sea tests a newly built or refitted vessel undergoes before delivery to prove it meets contract and design performance. For a warship the sequence runs from builder’s trials, where the shipyard verifies machinery and systems, through acceptance trials, where the navy’s trials board (the US Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey, INSURV) certifies the ship for acceptance, before commissioning. Trials measure speed, endurance, maneuvering, vibration, weapon and sensor function, and structural response. A failed or deficient trial can delay acceptance until the builder corrects the faults.