- Shakedown cruise
Shakedown cruise is a
nautical term in which the performance of aship is tested. Shakedown cruises are also used to familiarize the ship's crew with operation of the craft.In the travel industry a shakedown cruise is undertaken to test a ship's systems, both mechanical and human. These test cruises are sometimes made with passengers traveling at a discount.
The term can also refer in a generic sense to the process of testing out any new
technology or systems.Famous examples
The USS "Triton", a
nuclear-powered radar picket submarine , was the first vessel to execute a submergedcircumnavigation while on its shakedown cruise in early1960 . "Triton" is the onlyU.S. Navy ship to receive a Presidential Unit Citation for its shakedown cruise.References in popular culture
Rocker Jay Ferguson composed and released a single in 1979 entitled "Shakedown Cruise," which narrates a particularly trying series of events for a bedraggled sailor. Guitarist
Joe Walsh plays lead guitar on the track.A 2005 film entitled Apollo 7: Shakedown Cruise details the
Apollo 7 mission, which marked several firsts in the American space program. It was the first manned Apollo mission to be successfully launched and also the first three-man operation.
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