who started the united states navy?
The United States Navy can trace its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established during the American Revolutionary War. The United States Constitution, ratified in 1789, empowered Congress “to provide and maintain a navy.” Acting on this authority, Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates; one of the original six, USS Constitution, familiarly known as “Old Ironsides,” survives to this day. The War Department administered naval affairs from that year until Congress established the Department of the Navy on April 30, 1798. The Navy became part of the Department of Defense upon its establishment in 1947. The United States Navy has about 375,500 men and women.
