The History of the United States Navy - Essay Example

Anchors Aweigh In the present time, almost 500,000 men and women are serving in the U.S. navy. They have been working since 13th October, 1775 when Continental Navy was established by the Congress. 13th October, 1775 is considered as the birthday of U.S. Navy. It is said that the origin of U.S. navy is difficult to find out as US. navy came in to being during the Second World War. No single man could be given the title of the founder of the US Navy because its basic foundation was the outcome of the military requirements of World War II. The birth date of US navy is associated with the formation of Continental Navy whose foundation was laid by the Congress in 1775 (Howarth 12). Thus, it can be said that the US navy does not have any specific origin, but it rather came in to being because of the requirements and political progressions of that time. In the eighteenth century, US navy used the fleet of the ship-of-line in their wars. These ships were beautifully designed keeping in mind all the important aspects of the needs and requirements of the war time. Three vast masts were incorporated in these ships, which towered 200 feet above the surface level of the sea. These ships basically worked on the propulsion of the winds, and they therefore were totally not dependent upon the energy. The ships were easy and comfortable enough to be lived in as long as possible. In the 19th century, when Japan started creating its own ships and battle cruises, the US naval forces started working on the building of new fleet of ships. Every war made the US navy stronger comparatively. Exercise and hardships made the US stand against all the naval forces of the world. In the present time, the US navy is considered to be the best among all the naval forces of the world (Howarth 229). The history of the US navy basically started from 1775 when the war between Lexington and Concord took place. A fleet under the leadership of Captain Abraham Whipple overtook and captured the British tender located in Narragansett Bay. Meanwhile, Congress was recommended to build a Continental Navy to fight against these actions. Washington’s navy, was asked by George Washington to attack the British ships by using Hannah in the action. In response to this action, Continental navy came into existence in the same year. Silas Deane, Christopher Gadsden and John Langdon were the supervisors of this work (Howarth 57). The first action of the Continental navy took place in 1776. The Continental Navy could not survive because its discovery was considered as the worst idea of the world by oppositions. The problem was that the fleet was always short of the workers and required materials. General Morris, the head of the Marine Committee at that time faced many problems in regulating the Continental Navy of US. The navy was getting short of the funds; therefore, it submerged (Symonds and Clipson 8). Alliance was the last ship of the Continental Navy which was placed into auction by the Congress by the end of 1784. In 1794, George Washington asked for three frigates from the Congress as it was speculated that by 1815 US will get indulged in war with Britain and France. Congress ordered for the construction of the frigates, but the matter with Algiers was solved by the payment of the ransom of $525,000. At that period of time, the construction of the frigates got ceased by the congress (Howarth 51). Washington forced the construction of the frigates, and by the end of 1799; the frigates were used in the war with France (the quasi war with France). The names of these three frigates were Constitution, United States and Constellation. These frigates emerged as the stronger forces of the navy at that period of time. At the end of the quasi war in 1801, France lost the war by losing a lot of ships and frigates; whereas the loss of US was only one warship. Barbary War began in 1801 between US and Tripolitania. It lasted till 1805. At that period of time, Jefferson was the president of the United States. Captain William Bainbridge started running the Philadelphia against Tripolitania navy. The war ended when US paid the ransom of $60,000 and Barron freed Bainbridge from the vault (Howarth 58). After the end of this war, America started thinking of giving a friendship hand to British, but Britain deceived and attacked the US navy by using Leopard and killed a lot of men working at Chesapeake in Virginia. Outrageous response was shown by the Congress, and they gave orders for the construction of more warships and gunboats for their defense. War of Hawks was declared on England by James Madison who was the President of US at that time in 1811. The American frigates got ahead with the gun boats of Britain and had a lot of victories in the War of Hawks in the August of 1812. The war ended with the victory of America and America’s navy was considered as the strongest navy of the globe at that time. At that time, the British Lords decided not to get involved in any kind of attacks, either military or naval against the US (Howarth 104). More warships and frigates were ordered to be constructed by the Congress in 1813. Many frigates of British were captured in this year, and the US navy started flourishing. In the 19th century, the U.S. started to build the largest navy of the world by ordering the construction of more frigates and cruise ships. After winning a lot of wars with Britain and other nations of the world, the naval force of US became much stronger as was expected by the world. More men and women started serving in the navy of US (Symonds and Clipson 48). Josephus Daniel was the secretary of navy in the 19th century. He strengthened the naval force of US in the period between 1913 and 1917 to a great extent. He was totally against war, yet he did every possible effort to make navy the strongest military force of US. Many men stood against Daniel and argued that he was making the entire naval force incapable of fighting in the wars. Daniel claimed about the shortage of men in the naval force of US. More men were employed in the army, and the force was enlarged to a great extent (Howarth 122). The naval act of 1916 was passed by the congress on 29th August, 1916. It was a strong act and was strictly ordered to be implemented on the US navy. It basically comprised the rules and regulations, the new policies of the US navy, the recommendations for the entrance of new men in the force and many other important issues. In 1917, Daniel was replaced by Wilson, and he started preparing the force for war. He strengthened the Naval Militia and established a Naval Reserve force. Large ship building programs were introduced and the navy was made stronger. Different bureaus were established in the period of 1914 to 1918 including the bureau of navigation, construction and repair, steam engineering, yards and docks and ordinance as well (Howarth 325). The war started in 1917, and different districts were established by Wilson. Each district managed a specific area of England. This made the work relatively very easy for the US navy. The total number of districts was 13 and each managed its own territory. Schools were organized to train the reserve army of Navy as well. In 1920, there were 28,000 regular men and 23,000 reserve men in the US navy because of the efficient working of the training camps started by Wilson (Howarth 326). In 1970s, the US navy took over the British naval base at Juffair in Arabian Gulf after the friendship of Arabian Gulf with England. In 1970s, war with Iran on the issue of oil prices was about to begin. At that time, the U.S. was also engaged in the war in Vietnam. Two pillar policies were signed between America and the Shah of Iran. Because of Shah’s support with U.S., the people of Iran went against him. He went to exile and died in 1980. Meanwhile other extremists took over Iran and started creating hatred between Iranians and America (Burgess and Rausa 78). In 1980, the war with Afghanistan started, and the situation worsened to a great extent. After the incident of World Trade center, the war against Afghanistan grew worse. American army took over the entire Afghanistan, and a concept of terrorism initiated. The Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman came under the command of US navy (Sweetman 245). In 2003, the U.S. sent 35 Marines in Liberia in the second Liberian Civil War. From 2004 onwards, several drone attacks in Pakistan are also being done by the naval force of the U.S. In 2006, U.S. Marine Detachment took place, and the U.S. citizens were allowed to leave the country (Sweetman 304). These days, U.S. naval and military forces are engaged in sending their troops to work on the war of terrorism. U.S. has been sending its troops to get indulged in different wars that have been carried out in most parts of the globe. All in all, U.S. naval force and other military forces are now regarded to be the strongest forces among all the other forces of the world. The naval forces of the U.S. have thus progressed greatly over time. Works Cited Burgess, Richard R, and Rosario Rausa. Us Navy A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War. Oxford: New York, NY, 2005. Print. Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy, 1775-1998. Norman, Okla: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. Print. Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.s. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2002. Print. Symonds, Craig L, and William J. Clipson. The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.s. Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1995. Print. Read More