The USS MASSACHUSETTS (SSN 798) Commissioning Committee is a non-profit public charity organized under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) and is working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Council of the Navy League and the Battleship Cove Foundation in Fall River. While the U.S. Navy funds the actual formal ceremony, planning for the other events as part of the commissioning celebration is the responsibility of the Commissioning Committee from the host community and is funded through charitable donations from corporations that contributed toward the construction of the ship as well as members of the host city.

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The commissioning ceremony is a time-honored event in the life of every U.S. Navy ship. Dignitaries, honored guests, and the general public are invited to a ceremony steeped in tradition in which the vessel becomes a United States Ship and its Commanding Officer and crew formally come aboard and bring the ship to life.