- Wars, Conflicts, and Operations
- Commemoration Toolkits
- Heritage
- Uniforms
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1776-1783
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1797
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1802
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1812-1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1830-1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852-1855
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1862-1863
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1864
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1898
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1900
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1905-1913
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1917-1918
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1918-1919
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1922-1931
- Uniforms of the U.S Navy 1941
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1942-1943
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1943-1944
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1951-1952
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1961
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1967
- Customs and Traditions
- Sailors' Tattoos
- Goats and the U.S. Navy
- Navy Athletics
- The Sailor’s Creed
- The Ship’s Bell
- Striking the Flag
- Unofficial Navy Certificates
- Precedence of Forces in Parades
- Passing Honors, National Anniversaries, and Solemnities
- Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
- Plank Owners
- Ship Naming
- Twenty-One Gun Salute
- Change of Command
- Navy Music
- Commissioning Pennant
- Ship Launching and Commissioning
- Burial at Sea
- Crossing the Line
- Banners
- Life Aboard
- Decorations and Awards
- Speak Like a Sailor
- Famous Navy Quotations
- Origins of the Navy
- U.S. Navy History Lessons Learned
- The Navy and Marine Corps Team
- "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. Naval Academy
- Uniforms
- Communities
- Disasters and Phenomena
- Tragedy of USS Memphis
- The Navy’s Humanitarian Mission
- The Catastrophic Fire On Board USS Forrestal
- U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book
- The Sinking of Maine
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine Explosion
- The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members
- Weather Related Incidents
- The Loss of Flight 19
- Organization and Administration
- Leadership
- Ranks
- Regulations and Policy
- Personnel
- Service and Medical Records
- U.S. Navy Installations
- Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia
- Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia
- Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
- Naval Station Mayport, Florida
- Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
- Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
- Naval Base San Diego, California
- Naval Base Kitsap, Washington
- Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan
- Naval Support Activity Bahrain
- Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy
- Diversity
- Exploration and Innovation
- Electricity and USS Trenton
- The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
- The Voyage of a Lifetime
- The Ships of the Great White Fleet
- Great White Fleet Gallery
- Beginning of the Cruise
- Fleet Leadership
- Crossing the Equator
- World Cruise Experience
- At Sea
- Puerto Rico-South America-Mexico
- U.S. West Coast
- Hawaii-Australia-New Zealand
- Japan and China
- Philippines and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
- Suez Canal-Egypt-Turkey
- Mediterranean
- End of the Cruise
- Memorabilia
- Navy Role in Space Exploration
- Polar Exploration
- The First U.S. Naval Observatory
- Bathyscaphe Trieste
- Airships & Dirigibles
- Higgins Boats
- Navy’s Use of Torpedoes
- The Nuclear Navy
- Radar and Sonar
- Navy’s Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Naval Mine Warfare
- Notable People
- Presidents
- Chiefs of Naval Operations
- The Office
- Admiral William S. Benson
- Admiral Robert E. Coontz
- Admiral Edward W. Eberle
- Admiral Charles F. Hughes
- Admiral William V. Pratt
- Admiral William H. Standley
- Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy
- Admiral Harold R. Stark
- Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
- Admiral Louis E. Denfeld
- Admiral Forrest P. Sherman
- Admiral William M. Fechteler
- Admiral Robert B. Carney
- Admiral Arleigh A. Burke
- Admiral George W. Anderson Jr.
- Admiral David L. McDonald
- Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
- Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
- Admiral James L. Holloway III
- Admiral Thomas B. Hayward
- Admiral James D. Watkins
- Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost
- Admiral Frank B. Kelso II
- Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda
- Admiral Jay L. Johnson
- Admiral Vernon E. Clark
- Admiral Michael G. Mullen
- Admiral Gary Roughead
- Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert
- Admiral John M. Richardson
- Admiral Michael Gilday
- Master Chief Petty Officers of the Navy
- MCPON Delbert D. Black
- MCPON John D. Whittet
- MCPON Robert J. Walker
- MCPON Thomas S. Crow
- MCPON Billy C. Sanders
- MCPON William H. Plackett
- MCPON Duane R. Bushey
- MCPON John Hagan
- MCPON James L. Herdt
- MCPON Terry D. Scott
- MCPON Joe R. Campa Jr.
- MCPON Rick D. West
- MCPON Michael D. Stevens
- MCPON Steven S. Giordano
- MCPON Official Photographs
- Trailblazers
- Historical Figures
- Secretaries of the Navy
- Benjamin Stoddert (1798 - 1801)
- Robert Smith (1801 - 1809)
- Paul Hamilton (1809 - 1812)
- William Jones (1813 - 1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815 - 1818)
- Smith Thompson (1819 - 1823)
- Samuel Southard (1823 - 1829)
- John Branch, Jr. (1829 - 1831)
- Levi Woodbury (1831 - 1834)
- Mahlon Dickerson (1834 - 1838)
- James K. Paulding (1838 - 1841)
- George Edmund Badger (1841)
- Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843)
- David Henshaw (1843 - 1844)
- Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-1845) (1846-1849)
- George Bancroft (1845 - 1846)
- William B. Preston (1849 - 1850)
- William A. Graham (1850 - 1852)
- John P. Kennedy (1852 - 1853)
- James C. Dobbin (1853 - 1857)
- Isaac Toucey (1857 - 1861)
- Gideon Welles (1861 - 1869)
- Adolph Edward Borie (1869)
- George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877)
- Richard W. Thompson (1877 - 1880)
- Nathan Goff, Jr. (1881)
- William Henry Hunt (1881 - 1882)
- William Eaton Chandler (1882 - 1885)
- William C. Whitney (1885 - 1889)
- Benjamin F. Tracy (1889 - 1893)
- Hilary A. Herbert (1893 - 1897)
- John D. Long (1897 - 1902)
- William H. Moody (1902 - 1904)
- Paul Morton (1904 - 1905)
- Charles J. Bonaparte (1905 - 1906)
- Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908)
- Truman H. Newberry (1908 - 1909)
- George von L. Meyer (1909 - 1913)
- Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921)
- Edwin Denby (1921 - 1924)
- Charles F. Adams, III (1929 - 1933)
- Claude A. Swanson (1933 - 1939)
- Charles Edison (1940)
- William Franklin Knox (1940 - 1944)
- James Forrestal (1944 - 1947)
- John Lawrence Sullivan (1947 - 1949)
- Francis P. Matthews (1949 - 1951)
- Dan A. Kimball (1951 - 1953)
- Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954)
- Charles S. Thomas (1954 - 1957)
- Thomas S. Gates (1957 - 1959)
- William Birrell Franke (1959 - 1961)
- John Bowden Connally, Jr. (1961)
- Fred Korth (1962 - 1963)
- Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963)
- Paul Henry Nitze (1963 - 1967)
- Charles Fitz Baird (acting) (1967)
- Paul R. Ignatius (1967 - 1969)
- John Hubbard Chafee (1969 - 1972)
- John William Warner (1972 - 1974)
- J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977)
- William Graham Claytor, Jr. (1977 - 1979)
- Edward Hidalgo (1979 - 1981)
- John Lehman (1981 - 1987)
- James H. Webb (1987 - 1988)
- William L. Ball (1988 - 1989)
- Henry L. Garrett III (1989 - 1992)
- Daniel Howard (acting) (1992)
- Sean Charles O'Keefe (1992 - 1993)
- ADM Frank B. Kelso, II (acting) (1993)
- John Howard Dalton (1993 - 1998)
- Richard Jeffrey Danzig (1998 - 2001)
- Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting) (2001)
- Gordon R. England (2001-2003) (2003-2005)
- Susan M. Livingstone (acting) (2003)
- Hansford T. Johnson (acting) (2003)
- Donald Charles Winter (2006 - 2009)
- Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. (2009 - 2017)
- Sean G. J. Stackley (acting) (2017)
- Richard V. Spencer (2017 - 2019)
- Thomas B. Modly (acting) (2019-2020)
- James E. McPherson (acting) (2020)
- Kenneth J. Braithwaite (2020-present)
- Profiles in Duty
- Medal of Honor Recipients
- Modern Navy Veterans
- Namesakes
- Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton
- Private First Class Oscar P. Austin
- Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers
- Private George Watson
- Cook First Class William Pinckney
- Commander Mary Sears
- Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
- Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
- Senator Daniel K. Inouye
- Private First Class Herbert K. Pililaau
- Sergeant First Class Rodney J.T. Yano
- First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez
- Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez
- Civil Rights Activist Cesar Chavez
- Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
- Private First Class Fernando Garcia
- Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez
- Sergeant Rafael Peralta
- Chief Petty Officer James E. Williams
- Guide and Interpreter Sacagawea
- Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole
- Notable Ships
- Boats-Ships--Amphibious Warfare Ships
- Boats-Ships--Littoral Combat
- Boats-Ships--U-Boat
- Great White Fleet
- Boats-Ships--Steamship
- Boats-Ships--Nuclear Powered
- Boats-Ships--Cruisers
- Global War on Terror
- Boats-Ships--Frigate
- Cruises, Deployments, and Exercises
- Boats-Ships--Aircraft Carriers
- Boats-Ships--Battleship
- Boats-Ships--Destroyer
- Historical Summary
- Civil War 1861-1865
- Operation Enduring Freedom
- Cold War
- War of 1812 1812-1815
- Korean Conflict 1950-1954
- World War I 1917-1918
- Operation Desert Storm
- Global War on Terror
- World War II 1939-1945
- Revolutionary War 1775-1783
- Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Special Operations-Warfare
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
- NHHC
Surface Navy
The Surface Navy is the backbone of America’s Navy and the most capable surface force in the world. Since 13 October 1775, the men, and then later women, of the Surface Navy have deployed around the globe.
Beginning with the six original wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigates, of which USS Constitution remains, the surface Navy has utilized a myriad of platforms with propulsion from sails to nuclear power. During the War of 1812, ships of sail, such as frigates, brigs, sloops, and schooners, comprised the U.S. Navy’s first fleet. During the Civil War, the U.S. used primarily sail, but began to experiment with ironclads that were steam propelled. In the 1890s, the “New Navy” transitioned to the building of America’s first cruisers and battleships that used steam as the main source of power. Aircraft carriers took the lead during World War II with battleships used primarily in the bombardment of islands scheduled for amphibious landings. During the 1950s, the development of nuclear-powered ships took prominence. The Vietnam War saw the emergence of the “brown-water navy” that consisted of small gunboats to patrol rivers and waterways. The modern fleet of today consists of nuclear-powered ships and the first electric warships.
*****
Eras of the Surface Navy
Seamanship
- Navigation, Seamanship, and Signals
- Asa Curtis Personal Rules Log
- “Training Ships”
- History of Ship Bells infographic
- Return to Homeport infographic
- Nautical Terms Part 1 infographic
- Nautical Terms Part 2 infographic
- Tending the Side infographic
Anti-Aircraft Warfare
- Joseph Thomas Yavorsky
- Oral History: Sonarman 1st Class Jack Gebhardt
- Antiaircraft Action Summary: World War II
Ballistic-Missile Defense
- Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program
- Sea-based X-Band Radar (T-SBX-1)
- Missile Defense: The Current Debate
- North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
- “More Bang for the Buck:” U.S. Nuclear Strategy and Missile Development 1945–1965
Combat
- H-005-5 100th Anniversary of WWI: Initial U.S. Navy Combat Operations
- Mine Warfare
- Gleaves’ Convoy Formation
- Surface Lessons of Guadalcanal
- “The Landings in the Solomons”
- War Damage Reports
- Action Reports
- United States Atlantic Fleet Organization—1942
- United States Pacific Fleet Organization: 1 May 1945
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- “By Sea, Air and Land”—Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965–1968
- Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury
- H-020-1: The Fog of War: USS Vincennes Tragedy—3 July 1988
- Desert Storm U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Operations
- Desert Shield/Desert Storm: Lessons Learned and Summary
- Desert Shield/Desert Storm: Beans, Bandages, Bullets—Logistics Operations
- Desert Shield/Desert Storm: The Role of the Navy
- Desert Shield/Desert Storm: “Thunder and Lightning”—The War with Iraq
Art Exhibits
- World War I
- The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842
- America’s Naval Heritage: A Catalog of Early Imprints
- Amphibious Operations
- The Invasion of Normandy
- Alaska During the Pacific War
- The Vietnam Experience
- The Gulf War 1990–1991
Blogs/Articles
- “Act to Provide a naval armament”—225th Anniversary of the Creation of the United States Navy
- The Fates of the Six Frigates Created by the Naval Act of 1794
- America’s First Black Sailors
- Stalemate: Treaty of Ghent Ends War of 1812 in a Draw
- The Story Continues: Capt. David Porter, USS Essex and the War of 1812 in the Pacific
- In Harm’s Way: Lt. Decatur Avenges Capture of The Frigate Philadelphia
- Commanding the Waves: The Legacy of Surface Warfare Officers
- Surface Warrior—Remembering Ernest Evans
- World War II Surface Warrior Dies at 95
- Surface Force in Desert Storm: USS Nicholas Leads a Distributed, Lethal Attack on Enemy Troops
- On the Surface, Conspicuous Gallantry and Intrepidity Were Hallmarks of a WWII Submariner
- Strong Crew, and Rescue, Set Sailor Standards for Initiative and Toughness
Additional Resources
- Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division
- Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare
- Evolution of Power infographic
- The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
- U.S. Ship Force Levels: 1886–present
- Christening, Launching and Commissioning of U.S. Navy Ships
- A Century of Replenishment at Sea
- Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense
- Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile
- A Sampling of U.S. Naval Humanitarian Operations
- Ship Abbreviations and Symbols
- Ship Command Operations Reports
- “Forward… From the Start” The Navy & Homeland Defense: 1775–2003
- Navy Lasers, Railgun and Hypervelocity Projectile
- Record of the Chief of Naval Operation Fleet Operations Division 1940–1972
Footnotes
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