The History of the U.S. Navy can be divided into two time periods—the Old Navy and the New Navy. The Old Navy was first established in 1775 and led to the development of the New Navy due to increased modernization beginning in 1882. This eventually led to the New Navy being recognized as the world’s most powerful navy. A number of events led up to the New Navy and events happened afterwards that improved the U.S. Navy’s ranking.
The Old Navy
The Old Navy was notable for the small and respected number of sailing ships, as well as the American Civil War’s use of ironclads. The Navy was officially established on October 13, 1775 when a resolution was passed by the Continental Congress, which then created the Continental Army. The Alfred was the first ship that was commissioned on October 13 out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The regulations that were governing the navy was adopted by Congress from John Adams on November 28, 1775 and remained in effect throughout the entire Revolution. On December 13, 1775, the Rhode Island resolution was passed which led to the production of a total of 13 frigates over the course of the next three months. Five of the ships had 32 guns, three ships had 24 guns and the remaining five ships had 28 guns.
The remaining ships were sold as the Continental Navy was disbanded after the Revolutionary War in 1785. The last ship that was sold was the Alliance; this ship was also the one that fired the last shots of the Revolutionary War. The Revenue-Marine was the only United States armed maritime service when the Navy Department was created between 1790 and 1798.
Six frigates were formed after the Naval Act of 1794 was passed. These frigates consisted of the USS United States, USS Chesapeake, USS President, USS Congress, USS Constellation and USS Constitution. During this time, France and the United States developed into a war at sea – the Quasi-War. Another war was the American Civil War which resulted in 373 warrant officers, commissioned officers and midshipmen being dismissed or resigning from the Navy to go to the Confederacy. After the war, the Navy went into a decline and ended up only having 48 ships in commission by 1880 and only 6,000 men by 1878.
The New Navy
Between 1882 and 1898, the U.S. navy was rebuilt. In 1882, the advisory panel recommended William H. Hunt, Navy Secretary, request funds to build modern ships; he received these funds from Congress in 1883 as it was initially rejected. Three of the protected cruiser were constructed including the USS Boston, the USS Atlanta and the USS Chicago. Along with the USS Dolphin—the dispatch vessel—these were collectively called the ABCD ships, which were later called the Squadron of Evolution because of their success.
The USS Newark and the USS Charleston were constructed in 1885. The first battleships were also authorized for construction; these were the USS Maine and the USS Texas. The United States Navy was brought to fifth place at the turn of the century from 12th place in 1870 among the navies throughout the world. This is due to the construction of the new battleships, because of the authorization of the Navy Act of 1890. These battleships included the USS Massachusetts, the USS Iowa, the USS Indiana and the USS Oregon. Three Illinois-class and two Kearsarge class ships were also constructed.
The New Navy was a part of the Spanish-American War in 1898; afterwards, more surface ships were added while under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. By 1907’s end the Great White Fleet consisted of 16 battleships. The New Navy also fought in the World War I between 1914 and 1918, World War II between 1941 and 1945 and the Cold War between 1945 and 1991.