NASSCO Launch of the USNS Matthew Perry

I've shot a lot of Maritime stuff over the years, but one thing I have never experienced is the Christening and Launching of a ship. As of yesterday I can check that one off the list. NASSCO launched the USNS Matthew Perry yesterday at it's shipyard. It was a much more formal event than I expected and extremely choreographed...down to the launch time of 6PM to take advantage of the highest tide. It wasn't what I expected, but then again, it was an extremely exciting 60 seconds. Like the Video guy next to me said as the ship hit the water, "Well, that never gets old!" And I can image not...

Tear Sheets

It's always nice to see the Tear Sheets once the project is complete. My Rep, Wonderful Machine, has a section on their website dedicated to just Tear Sheets. Here's a couple of images their featuring from the 2008 Port of San Diego Annual Report: The Cover and one of the NASSCO welders.