On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia authorized the fitting out of two armed vessels to intercept British supply ships. That vote created the Continental Navy and is the official founding date of the United States Navy. Two hundred and fifty-one years later, the service that began with two ships has become the world’s foremost maritime force, present on every ocean and under the sea.
Two ships in 1775. Every ocean now.
At Veteran Valor Coffee we mark the Navy’s birthday by looking at a few of the chapters and people that shaped it.
The Beginning
The Continental Navy was never large—roughly fifty ships over the course of the Revolutionary War—but it gave the new nation a presence at sea. After the war the surviving ships were sold and the service was largely disbanded. The Constitution of 1789 gave Congress the power “to provide and maintain a Navy,” and in 1794 Congress ordered the construction of six heavy frigates. The Department of the Navy itself was established in 1798. From that point forward the Navy has been a continuous institution.
USS Constitution – “Old Ironsides”
Oldest commissioned warship still afloat.
One of those original six frigates was USS Constitution, launched in Boston in 1797. Built of dense live oak and coppered by Paul Revere, she was larger and more heavily built than typical frigates of the era. On August 19, 1812, under Captain Isaac Hull, she fought and defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia. British shot bounced off her thick sides; one sailor reportedly shouted that her sides were made of iron. The nickname “Old Ironsides” stuck. Constitution went on to defeat or capture several more British warships in the War of 1812 and has never been defeated in battle. She remains the oldest commissioned warship still afloat, a living link to the Navy’s earliest days.
Battlefields
Pearl Harbor, World War II, and the Decades After
December 7, 1941, remains one of the defining days in American naval history. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sank or damaged much of the Pacific Fleet’s battleship force and killed more than two thousand Americans. Fifteen Navy personnel received the Medal of Honor for actions that morning. Among them were Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, who continued to command USS West Virginia after being mortally wounded; Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, killed on the bridge of USS Arizona; and Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn, who manned a .50-caliber machine gun in the open at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay under heavy attack and kept firing despite wounds. Their citations speak of staying at their posts, directing firefighting and rescue, and holding lights so shipmates could escape capsized ships.
From that low point the Navy rebuilt and then dominated the Pacific. Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz directed the island-hopping campaign that carried American forces to the Japanese home islands. Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey led aggressive carrier task forces. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance commanded at Midway and later in the Marianas. Submarine commanders such as Commander Roy M. Davenport earned five Navy Crosses for successful war patrols. Surface gunners, aviation crews, and damage-control parties fought in every major engagement from Coral Sea and Midway through Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. By the end of the war the U.S. Navy was the most powerful naval force the world had ever seen.
In the decades since, the Navy has adapted to nuclear propulsion, ballistic-missile submarines, carrier aviation, and continuous forward presence. The same institutional habits of damage control, readiness, and individual initiative that appeared on the Constitution, at Pearl Harbor, and across the Pacific remain central to the service.
Notable Figures Across the Ranks
John Paul Jones, often called the father of the American Navy, is remembered for the fight between Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis in 1779 and the words “I have not yet begun to fight.”
Commodore Isaac Hull commanded Constitution in her victory over Guerriere.
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the Navy’s first admiral, is famous for the order “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” at Mobile Bay in 1864.
Admiral George Dewey destroyed the Spanish squadron at Manila Bay in 1898 and remains the only officer to hold the rank of Admiral of the Navy.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey shaped the Pacific campaign in World War II.
Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn (Medal of Honor) exemplified the gunner’s and aviation crewman’s tradition of staying in the fight under fire.
Commander Roy M. Davenport (five Navy Crosses) showed what sustained submarine combat leadership looked like in the Pacific.
Hundreds of other officers and enlisted Sailors—captains of destroyers, pilots of torpedo and dive bombers, gun crews, hospital corpsmen, and damage-control teams—have received the Medal of Honor or Navy Cross for actions that kept ships afloat or turned the tide of battles. Their citations repeatedly describe remaining at stations under fire, improvising when equipment failed, and looking after shipmates.
The through-line is the people who have stood the watch.
From Our Team
Two hundred and fifty-one years is a long time for any institution. The Navy has grown from two armed vessels authorized by a revolutionary congress to a force that keeps the sea lanes open and projects American power worldwide. The through-line is the people who have served on those decks, in those cockpits, and at those guns.
On the Navy’s birthday we thank every Sailor who has stood the watch—past and present. Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your time
Kevin Laughrin
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