It's more than 50 years since the Royal Navy last commissioned a ship from a foreign country, goes the argument, and the first orders will be placed - or so we're told - after the autumn 2014 vote.

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The ship, the USS Mount Whitney, is the Navy's only Joint Command Ship and is considered to be the most sophisticated ship ever commissioned in terms of communication, control, command, computers and intelligence capabilities, according to the Navy's Web site.

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In 1784, our founding father, George Washington, commissioned the Empress of China, a ship that set sail for these shores so that it could pursue trade with the Qing Dynasty.

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