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History of the Navy

The U.S. Navy was established on October 13, 1775 when the Continental Congress passed a resolution urging individual colonies to build and equip fleets of ships. On August 26, a resolution from Rhode Island followed stating that there be a single Continental fleet. During is time, George Washington had already begun to acquire ships, the first being the Schooner Hannah, which was paid for by Washington. Hannah was set to launch in September 5, 1775 from the port of Beverly Massachusetts.

On April 30, 1798, Congress stated that the Navy was to provide administrative and technical support. The history of the United Staters Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a By mid-1776, a number of ships, ranging up to and including frigates, were under construction, but their effectiveness was limited; they were completely outmatched by the mighty Royal Navy, and nearly all were captured or sunk by 1781. Privateers had some success, with 1,697 letters of marquee being issued.

At the end of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy was totally disbanded. Factors included the loose confederation of the states, lack of money, change of goals from war to peace as well as more domestic and less foreign interests. The country later realized the need for a strong defensive force to protect its merchant fleet from attacks by the Barbary pirates as well as the British.

After the war, the Navy's accomplishments paid off in the form of better funding, and it embarked on the construction of many new ships, including its first ship of the line, Independence. However, the expense of these large ships was prohibitive, and many of them stayed in shipyards half-completed, in readiness for another war, until the Age of Sail had completely passed. The main force of the Navy continued to be frigates during the three decades of peace.

After the American Civil War, the Navy went into a period of decline. The ships of the Civil War were broken up or sold, and the navy quickly shrank to a force of just 2,000 officers and 10,000 enlisted sailors.  At the beginning of the 1880s, a few naval officers were raising the alarm about the vulnerability of the nation, but were criticized or ignored. But by 1897 the Navy included half-a-dozen large modern warships, with more on the way - a transformation so sudden that it has come to be called the New Navy.

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