What You Need to Know About...
...The United States Navy
(Note: This is NOT an official United States Government website)
1. General
2. People
3. Ships
9. Books
10. Useful Links
News
USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) has decommissioned and joined the "mothball fleet" at Pearl Harbor, HI.
General
1.01 How old is the U.S. Navy?
The Continental Congress established the Continental Navy on October 13th, 1775. That is recognized as the official birthday of the United States Navy.
1.1 What is an "ensign" (the flag)
The ensign is the term used to describe the national flag flying at the fantail of a U.S. Navy ship. Navy protocol requires sailors to salute the ensign when they board or disembark from a Navy ship while they are in uniform. Sailors not in uniform, including retired sailors, will typically at least turn towards the ensign and stand momentarily at attention when they board or disembark.
1.2 Boot Camp?
All Navy recruits go thru "Boot Camp" at the Recruit Training Command (RTC) in Great Lakes, Illinois. Some sailors wryly refer to it as "Great Mistakes."
1.3 What's the difference between a boat and a ship?
I'm not sure there is a really good answer to this question -- one of the better ones I've heard is that a ship is a vessel that travels on the open ocean autonomously whereas a boat is generally carried on another (larger) vessel for long trips. If you put it on another vessel it's a boat, in other words. (the USS Cole being a notable exception)
1.5 What can you tell me about saluting?
A salute is a gesture, and in this context we mean a hand gesture, generally given by a subordinate to a superior upon first encountering that superior. In the United States military the salute is generally given by standing at attention, feet together, standing straight, shoulders back, and raising the right hand, fingers and thumb straight and together, so that the tip of the index finger touches the bill of the hat (if wearing one) or the temple just above the right eye. The upper arm should extend out to the side, parallel to the ground.
Different branches have different rules about saluting and the circumstances of the encounter must also be taken into consideration. The salute is almost always initiated by the subordinate; the rare exception includes when that subordinate is a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. While the superior is not technically required to salute the Congressional Medal of Honor winner it is customary that they do.
1.5.1 Does the Navy have any special rules regarding saluting?
Yes. For one in the Navy one only salutes while covered (which means wearing a hat). Also the Navy is the only branch of the service where you are, under certain unusual circumstances, allowed to salute with the left hand. If your right arm is injured or disabled such that you cannot salute with it, or if you are doing something military with your right hand (such as piping a whistle) then it is appropriate to salute with your left.
1.99 How do I join the Navy?
Start here: http://www.navy.com/ or visit your local Navy recruitment office.
People
2.01 What are the enlisted ranks?
E1 - Seaman Recruit
When you first report to RTC ("Boot camp") this is your rank. There is no insignia for it.
E2 - Seaman Apprentice
E3 - Seaman
E4 - Petty Officer, 3rd Class
E5 - Petty Officer, 2nd Class
E6 - Petty Officer, 1st Class
E7 - Chief Petty Officer
Being a Chief is a big accomplishment for Navy enlisted. It has its privileges and responsibilities. Chiefs generally have their own mess and galley on ship as well as their own bunk rooms separate from the other enlisted. Its generally accepted that in the Navy, Chiefs are the ones who really run the ship.
E8 - Senior Chief Petty Officer
E9 - Master Chief Petty Officer (note that there are a few variations on this rank - not all Master Chiefs are equal)
2.1 What are the officer ranks?
O1 - Ensign
O2 - Lieutenant Junior Grade
O3 - Lieutenant
O4 - Lieutenant Commander
O5 - Commander
O6 - Captain
O7 - Rear Admiral, Lower Half
O8 - Rear Admiral, Upper Half
O9 - Vice Admiral
O10 - Admiral
Fleet Admiral (doesn't have an "O" designation)
2.2 Five People You Should Know
2.2.1 John Paul Jones
2.2.2 Admiral Chester Nimitz
Fleet admiral during WWII. He signed the Japanese surrender treaty on behalf of the United States of America.
2.2.3 Admiral William "Bull" Halsey
Fighting admiral of WWII - led the push across the Pacific.
2.2.4 Admiral Hyman G. Rickover
2.2.5 Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
2.3 Is a captain a rank or the person who runs the ship? Do you have to be a captain to command a ship?
Both, actually. In the Navy "Captain" is both a rank (O6) and a title. You can be a Captain (O6) without commanding a ship and you can gain the title of Captain without attaining the rank of Captain. A ship's commanding officer is always referred to as the "Captain" of the ship but not all of them hold the rank of Captain. In fact, many ship's commanding officers in the U.S. Navy only hold the rank of Commander (O5)or even below. Generally speaking the bigger and more important your ship is the higher the rank you have to attain if you want to command it.
The USS Missouri was commanded by 20 different men during her career and only two of them did not hold the rank of Captain -- they were both Commanders who were serving as the Executive Officer ("XO") and took over command of the ship due to extraordinary circumstances that rendered the Captain unable to serve. In the first case Captain Brown was relieved of command after running the ship aground and Commander Peckham took command for four days until Captain Smith arrived to take command. In the second case Captain Edsall suffered a heart attack and passed away on the bridge of the ship and Commander North took command for about 8 days until Captain Brodie came aboard.
The captain of a ship is often referred to as "The Old Man" by the crew, regardless of his (or her!) actual age or rank.
Ships
3.01 Are there any battleships still in service?
No, the last one was USS Missouri.
3.02 Why not?
Too expensive to run them, mostly. The modern navy is mostly about missiles and aircraft -- a battleship is primarily a gunnery platform. While the Iowa-class battleships were modernized to carry missiles the modern cruisers, destroyers and even submarines will bring at least as many missiles to the battle with quite a lot fewer crewmembers.
3.03 What are the biggest ships we have now?
Aircraft carriers. Approximately 1100 feet long, more than 90,000 tons in displacement.
3.1 Six Ships You Should Know
3.1.1 USS Constitution
Old Ironsides. One of the six original frigates built for the United States Navy in 1796.
Official Website: http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/
3.1.2 USS Arizona (BB 39)
A WWI vintage Pennsylvania-class battleship, USS Arizona was sunk during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941 going down with more than 1177 of her crew lost.
3.1.3 USS Missouri (BB 63)
One of the world's most famous battleships USS Missouri was the site where the Japanese signed the formal surrender that ended World War 2. Large, fast and powerful she served in three wars before finally being retired for good (we hope) in 1992.
3.1.4 USS Enterprise
"The Big E" there have been several ships named "Enterprise" in the history of the Navy. All of the recent ones have been aircraft carriers. The current ship is the CVN-65 a nuclear aircraft carrier currently homeported at Norfolk, Virginia.
USS Enterprise - Official Website
3.1.5 USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
The first nuclear submarine in the U.S. fleet.
3.1.6 USS Monitor
The famed ironclad of the mid-19th century.
3.2 What is an Aircraft Carrier?
An aircraft carrier is more or less what the name implies -- a huge floating airport.
3.22 How many planes do they carry?
Varies a bit depending upon the carrier and the type of aircraft but the Nimitz-class of aircraft carrier (the main carrier of the U.S. Navy today) carries 80+ aircraft.
3.3 What is a Battleship?
Traditionally the heaviest and most heavily armored ships are designated "battleships" -- they are the ships that would lead a line of battle during the 19th century.
3.31 What does the BB stand for?
BB is the United States Navy's designation for "Battleship." The navy always uses at least two letters in their designations; hence DD for destroyer, SS for submarine, etc. Today there are more designations and they are often more than two letters; such as SSBN for ballistic missile nuclear submarines.
3.4 What is a Cruiser?
3.5 What is a Submarine?
A submarine (typically either an SSN or an SSBN these days) is a ship which can travel under the surface of the water.
3.5.1 What does SSN mean?
SSN is a nuclear submarine; more specifically a "fast-attack" submarine whose primary role is anti-submarine and anti-surface vessel operations. Modern SSNs typically do carry Tomahawk missiles capable of attacking land targets as well, however.
3.5.2 What is a SSBN?
Called a "Boomer" an SSBN is a ballistic missile submarine. It's a nuclear submarine whose primary role is as a launching platform for ballistic (typically nuclear) missiles. SSBNs are enormous vessels, much larger than SSNs.
3.6 What is a Destroyer?
A destroyer is a surface vessel whose primary role is in escort and anti-submarine operations. Modern destroyers, such as the Arleigh Burke class, also carry a healthy complement of Tomahawk cruise missiles however which only illustrates the breadth of their capability.
3.7 What is a Frigate?
Frigates evolved from what used to be called "Destroyer Escorts." The fill primarily an escort role in the navy, conducting anti-submarine warfare and some limited missile operations. They are very cost effective and tough ships but there aren't very many of them still in service today -- in many cases the faster and more capable (though more expensive) destroyers have taken over their role.
3.7.1 Does FF stand for "Fast Frigate?"
Only as a joke. Modern frigates only make 29 knots or so, making them among the slowest of the combat ships. Even USS Missouri, the WWII era battleship, is faster. The navy doesn't use single-letter designations (see 3.31) so FF stands simply for "Frigate."
Books
9.1 U.S. Navy - A Complete History - Beautiful 750 page hardcover, coffee table book of the United States Navy.
Useful Links
10.1 The United States Navy
- Official Website
10.2 Navy Historical Society
10.3 Wikipedia -
United States Navy
10.4 Hazegray and Underway - One of the
more popular navy fact sites for enthusiasts.