Choosing the commissioning captain is part of proving the ship. Commodore Jerry Kyd led HMS Queen Elizabeth through commissioning while the crew reconciled manufacturer instructions with what the ship actually required at sea. They turned construction notes and trial reports into procedures for maintenance, aviation, heavy weather, and routine operation. Those records became the class baseline used when later refits or modernization changed the ship and required parts of the trial program to be repeated.
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Commissioning crews turn trial evidence into operating doctrine
HMS Queen Elizabeth's commissioning crew converted builder guidance, construction notes, and sea experience into the procedures used to operate and maintain the class.