ADJUTANT GENERAL OFFERS SOME HISTORY

Hey Sailors:

We all know that the United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work. All together, the Continental Navy numbered some fifty ships over the course of the war, with approximately twenty warships active at its maximum strength.

Your rich history shows that after the American War for Independence, Congress sold the surviving ships of the Continental Navy and released the sailors and officers. The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1789, empowered Congress “to provide and maintain a navy.” Acting on this authority, Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates in 1794, and the War Department administered naval affairs from that year until Congress established the Department of the Navy on 30 April 1798. In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt authorized recognition of 13 October as the Navy’s birthday.

With the last two hundred and thirty-three years of naval history behind us, we can only wonder what the next century will bring. As the United States Navy continues to transform itself in the face of changing conflicts and enemies, it is simultaneously expanding its size and quality with new advancements in technology. Yet even with the present changes looming
large, it is important every once in awhile to look back and remember the beginning. It has been a long road from the first man-of-war to nuclear submarines providing accurate firepower from the sea, but today’s Navy has adapted into the most potent “nautical division” in the world.

Happy birthday and congratulations on maintaining your world-class navy.

“Non sibi sed patriae”

William H. Wade II
Major General
The Adjutant General

Submitted By: Phelps Hobart

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