Navy Celebrates 250th Birthday

View Online Navy Celebrates 250th Birthday Oct. 13, 2025 |  By David Vergun The U.S. Navy celebrates 250 years of service today; it was founded on Oct. 13, 1775, as the Continental Navy. In 1783, at the end of the Revolutionary War, the service was disbanded. In 1794, Congress passed the Naval Act, creating the Navy and funding six heavy frigates.  The Navy and Navy Reserve, along with the Marine Corps, fall under the Department of the Navy. Today, the Navy maintains security and deterrence through sustained forward presence and owns the most survivable arm of the nuclear triad, with its fleet of nuclear-armed submarines. The Navy also provides sealift for the other services.  Interesting Facts About the Navy President John F. Kennedy, a former Navy patrol torpedo officer, is the only president to have been awarded the Purple Heart. He sustained injuries in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush also served in the Navy before becoming president.  Launched in 1797, the heavy frigate USS Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides," is the world's oldest commissioned naval warship still sailing. The three-masted sailing ship, crewed by 75 active-duty sailors, participates in special events year-round. The vessel participated in the War of 1812, capturing numerous British merchantmen and warships.  During the Civil War, the U.S. Navy fought the smaller Confederate States Navy. The U.S. Navy's role in the war was to blockade the southern coast and support the U.S. Army with gunboats on the Mississippi River and rivers in northern Virginia.  In the early 1880s, the Navy began replacing sailing ships with steel-hulled, steam-powered warships that ran on coal. The first four, known as the "ABCD" ships, are the USS Atlanta, USS Boston, USS Chicago and USS Dolphin. The ABCD cruisers retained their masts and could thus also operate under sail.  The battleship USS Maine, commissioned in 1895, exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, Feb. 15, 1898. The sinking, thought to be the work of the Spanish, was a contributing factor in the outbreak of the Spanish-American War that year. The USS Maine Mast Memorial, located in Arlington National Cemetery, features the main mast of the USS Maine, honoring the 261 sailors and Marines killed in the explosion or shortly thereafter.  The Navy's first modern submarine was the USS Holland, commissioned in 1900 and used as a training vessel for future submariners. It had a crew of six and could dive to 75 feet. The Holland never saw combat and was scrapped in 1932.  For the first time in history, at the June 1942 Battle of Midway, a naval battle was fought by aircraft from carriers and not cruisers or battleships. All four Japanese carriers were sunk by planes from three American carriers, one of which was lost. The battle is considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific, with the U.S. and its Allies clawing back islands and land that Japan had seized.  Navy Adm. Hyman Rickover is known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy" because he directed the development of naval nuclear propulsion for ships and submarines. In 1952, Jimmy Carter was interviewed for two hours by Rickover before being accepted into the new nuclear submarine program as an officer. Carter later became president.  The caramel-coated popcorn and peanut snack, Cracker Jack, has featured mascots Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo on its packaging since around World War I.  Yeomen in the Navy perform administrative work. Historically, they managed storerooms for the ship's gunners, carpenters and boatswains. With the transition from sail to steam, yeomen were assigned as engineers. The term "yeoman's work" is sometimes used by both military personnel and civilians to refer to someone who works hard, efficiently and is productive.  Popeye the Sailor Man, a fictional character from comics, TV and film that debuted in 1929, was inspired by a sailor and became a pop culture icon.

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