Product Description
The U.S. Navy is the largest and most capable navy in the world! In terms of tonnage of just our active fleet, it is larger than the next navies combined, this includes U.S. allies or partner nations. We have the world’s largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service and 2 new ones being currently constructed. There are around 370,000 active duty personnel and around 102,000 in the Ready Reserve making the Navy the 3rd largest branch of the military. The U.S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was disbanded shortly after the American Revolutionary War. The U.S. Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794, which called for the construction of six heavy frigates in retaliation to the Barbary pirates from Algiers.
The Navy went through a modernization program during the 1880’s when the first steel hulled warship stimulated the American steel industry. The rapid construction of pre-dreadnoughts, the dreadnoughts brought the U.S. in line with naval powers such as Britain and Germany. During World War I, the Navy spent most of its resources shipping Soldiers and Marines of the American Expeditionary Force and war supplies across the Atlantic through U-boat infested waters. Battleship Division 9 was dispatched to Britain and served in place of the Sixth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. This gave the British the opportunity to decommission some of the older ships and reuse the crews on smaller vessels. The strength of the United States Navy grew under an ambitious ship building program associated with the Naval Act of 1916.
By the end of World War II, the Navy had grown into a formidable force, adding hundreds of ships to their fleet, including 18 aircraft carriers and 8 battleships. The United States Navy bolstered 70% of the world’s total number and world’s tonnage of naval vessels of 1,000 tons of greater; at the peak the Navy was operating close to 6,800 ships on V-J Day. During World War II, the Navy saw around 4,000,000 Americans enlist.
