On this day in 1794 the U.S. Navy was established with authorization to build six frigates. The US Navy currently has nearly 500,000 personnel on active duty or in the Navy Reserve and operates 279 ships in active service and more than 4,000 aircraft.
To all Sailors past and present MANY THANKS!
And one of the early frigates is still a commissioned warship.
The USS Constitution is the longest, continuously commisioned warship in the world.
The US Navy very nearly lost her to a Confederate ironclad during “the recent unpleasantness”.
Prior to that, the Navy nearly lost her to a squadron of British ships near our coast. Becalmed, she escaped only by kedging, having men in a rowboat carry a small anchor out and dropping it in front of the ship. Other men strained at the capstan to pull the ship forward, to the anchor. The performance was repeated until she escaped. Later on, she caught a lone frigate that had been a part of the British squadron. Her fight with the HMS Guerriere became a legend.
Another result was the creation of National Forests to assure a steady supply of strategic material of Navy ships. The first National Forest was about 200 acres of Live Oak on a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. Live oak was one of the things that helped to make the US frigates so outstanding. It was available in very large sizes, it is hard, strong, and very heavy. The natural curve of the wood grain where the buttress roots flare off the trunk provided a peerless piece of wood to curve up the keels of wooden ships. Air-dried live oak is nearly as heavy as water and is thus at about neutral bouyancy.
Happy Birthday, US Navy.
respectfully,
Ed
“We have met the enemy and they are ours-- two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.”. Dispatch sent by U. S. Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry after his victory over the British in the battle for Lake Erie during the War Of 1812.
Happy Birthday United States Navy!