The U.S. Navy traces its origins to the
Continental Navy, which was established during the
American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a major role in the
American Civil War by blockading the
Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers. It played the central role in the
World War II defeat of
Japan. The
21st century U.S. Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in such areas as
East Asia, the
Mediterranean, and the
Middle East. It is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward areas during peacetime, and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it an active player in
U.S. foreign and defense policy.
The Navy was rooted in the
American seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains and shipbuilders in the colonial era
.In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War,
Massachusetts had its own navy.
The establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the
Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, and make it easier to seek out support from foreign countries. Detractors countered that challenging the
British Royal Navy, then the world's preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking.
Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned seven ocean-going cruisers, starting with the schooner
USS Hannah, to interdict
British supply ships, and reported the captures to the
Congress.
The Continental Navy achieved mixed results; it was successful in a number of engagements and raided many British merchant vessels, but it lost twenty four of its vessels and at one
point was reduced to two in active service.The Continental Navy was disbanded at war's end.
The U.S. Navy grew into a formidable force in the years prior to World War II, with battleship production being restarted in
1937, commencing with
USS North Carolina (
BB-55). Though ultimately unsuccessful, Japan attempted to neutralize this strategic threat with the surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor on
7 December 1941.
Following American entry into the war, the U.S. Navy grew tremendously as the
United States was faced with a two-front war on the seas. It achieved notable acclaim in the
Pacific Theater, where it was instrumental to the
Allies' successful "island hopping" campaign.The U.S. Navy participated in many significant battles, including the
Battle of the Coral Sea, the
Battle of Midway, the
Solomon Islands Campaign, the
Battle of the Philippine Sea, the
Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the
Battle of Okinawa. By war's end in
1945, the
United States Navy had added hundreds of new ships, including 18 aircraft carriers and 8 battleships, and had over 70% of the world's total numbers and total tonnage of naval vessels of 1,
000 tons or greater.At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 6,768 ships on
V-J Day in
August 1945.
Doctrine had significantly shifted by the end of the war.
The United States Navy had followed in the footsteps of the navies of
Great Britain and
Germany which favored concentrated groups of battleships as their main offensive naval weapons.The development of the aircraft carrier and its devastating utilization by the
Japanese against the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, however, shifted U.S. thinking.
The Pearl Harbor attack destroyed or took out of action a significant number of U.S. Navy battleships. This placed much of the burden of retaliating against the Japanese on the small number of aircraft carriers.
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- published: 01 Jul 2016
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