Katana VentraIP

United States Navy

The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the world's most powerful navy and the largest by tonnage, at 4.5 million tons in 2021[9] and in 2009 an estimated battle fleet tonnage that exceeded the next 13 navies combined.[10] It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service, 1 undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of July 18, 2023.[11][12]

"USN" redirects here. For other uses, see USN (disambiguation).

United States Navy

27 March 1794
(230 years)
(in current form)

13 October 1775
(248 years, 6 months)
(as the Continental Navy)[1][2]

 United States

Navy

334,896 active duty personnel [3]
54,741 Navy Reserve personnel [4]
387,637 total uniformed personnel (official data as of July 31, 2023)
279,471 civilian employees (As of 2018)[5]
480 ships total, of which 300 are deployable (As of 2019)[5]
2,623 aircraft (As of 2018)[6]

United States Armed Forces
Department of the Navy

The Pentagon
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

Semper Fortis ('Always Courageous'), (unofficial).
Non sibi sed patriae ('Not for self but for country') (unofficial)

Blue and gold[7][8]
   

"Anchors Aweigh" Playⓘ

13 October

List of equipment of the United States Navy

See list

President Joe Biden

Lloyd Austin

Carlos Del Toro

ADM Lisa Franchetti

ADM James W. Kilby

MCPON James Honea

The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. After suffering significant loss of goods and personnel at the hands of the Barbary pirates from Algiers, the United States Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 for the construction of six heavy frigates, the first ships of the Navy. The United States Navy played a major role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers. It played the central role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The United States Navy emerged from World War II as the most powerful navy in the world. The modern United States Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. It is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward deployments during peacetime and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it a frequent actor in American foreign and military policy.


The United States Navy is part of the Department of the Navy, alongside the United States Marine Corps, which is its coequal sister service. The Department of the Navy is headed by the civilian secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Navy is itself a military department of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the secretary of defense. The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the most senior Navy officer serving in the Department of the Navy.[13]

The preparation of naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war.

The maintenance of naval aviation, including land-based naval aviation, air transport essential for naval operations, and all air weapons and air techniques involved in the operations and activities of the Navy.

The development of aircraft, weapons, , technique, organization, and equipment of naval combat and service elements.

military tactics

The U.S. Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navy's three primary areas of responsibility:[15]


U.S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces is "to be prepared to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest." The Navy's five enduring functions are: sea control, power projection, deterrence, maritime security, and sealift.[16]

Naval Aviator Badge

Naval Aviator Badge

Submarine Officer badge

Submarine Officer badge

Surface Warfare Officer Insignia

Surface Warfare Officer Insignia

John P. Jones

(Continental Navy officer and first flag officer of the United States Navy),[106]

John Barry

Edward Preble

(whose last words "don't give up the ship" are memorialized in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy)[107]

James Lawrence

David Farragut, David D. Porter, Oliver H. Perry,

Stephen Decatur Jr.

Commodore (who, under the direction of President Millard Fillmore, forced the opening of Japan[108]

Matthew C. Perry

(the only person in U.S. history to have attained the rank of Admiral of the Navy[109]

George Dewey

[110]

William D. Leahy

[110]

Ernest J. King

[110]

Chester W. Nimitz

[110]

William F. Halsey Jr.

Official website

. Naval History. NavSource.

"Photographic History of The U.S. Navy"

. Haze Gray & Underway – HazeGray.org.

"Naval History and Photography"

from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

U.S. Navy during the Cold War

. World War I at Sea.net. Retrieved 3 February 2007. (includes warship losses)

"United States Navy in World War I"

. World War II on the World Wide Web. Hyper War. (includes The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II)

"U.S. Navy in World War II"

. U.S. WW II Newsmap. 1 (10). Army Orientation Course. 29 June 1942.

"Our Fighting Ships"

. United States Navy and World War II. Naval-History.net. Archived from the original on 18 November 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2007. (chronology of the lead up of U.S. entry into World War II)

"Strict Neutrality – Britain & France at War with Germany, September 1939 – May 1940"

. whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010 – via National Archives.

"The National Security Strategy of the United States of America"

. Federation of American Scientists. Military Analysis Network.

"U.S. Navy Ships"

. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2013.

"Naval recognition-Grand Valley State University Archives and Special Collections"