240 Years of Navy Celebrated in Images

On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress approved legislation for two vessels to be equipped and armed with 10 carriage guns as well as crews of 80 sailors charged with intercepting transport ships carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America.

That marked the birth of the U.S. Navy, 240 years ago.

September 23, 2014

RED SEA (September 23, 2014) The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) launches Tomahawk cruise missiles to conduct strikes against ISIL targets. Arleigh Burke is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carlos M. Vazquez II/Released)

May 1, 2011

Osama bin Laden, Most Wanted Terrorists (www.fbi.gov/Released)

January 12, 2010

BONEL, Haiti (January 19, 2010) A Haitian boy watches as rigid-hull inflatable boats from the amphibious dock landing ships USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) and USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) arrive ashore at the New Hope Mission at Bonel, Haiti. The multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) is on station in Haiti with the amphibious dock landing ships USS Fort McHenry, USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44), and USS Carter Hall supporting Operation Unified Response, a joint humanitarian assistance mission to Haiti following a 7.0 magnitude on January 12. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson/Released)

February 20, 2008

PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb 20, 2008) A modified tactical Standard Missile-3 launches from the U.S. Navy AEGIS cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70), successfully impacting a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite approximately 247 kilometers (133 nautical miles) over the Pacific Ocean, as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph. President George W. Bush decided to bring down the satellite because of the likelihood that the satellite could release hydrazine fuel upon impact, possibly in populated areas. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

October 7, 2001

At sea aboard USS Enterprise (October 18, 2001)—U.S. Navy sailors inspect AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface tactical missiles on the flight deck of USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Apprentice Lance H. Mayhew Jr./Released)

January 16, 1991

Two F/A-18C Hornet aircraft of Strike Fighter Squadron 74 fly above the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) making a hard turn to starboard during Desert Shield. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

April 18, 1988

The Iranian frigate IS Sahand (F 74) burns after being attacked by the Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) and A-6s. Sahand was hit by three Harpoon missiles, Skipper rocket-propelled bombs, a Walleye laser-guided bomb, and several 1,000-pound bombs. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

December 17, 1970

Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., Chief of Naval Operations (seated, third from left), speaks with the Human Relations Council at Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, Japan, July 2, 1971. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Second Class Edward C. Mucma/Released)

July 29, 1967

Crewmen aboard USS Forrestal (CVA-59) battle flames amid smoke and charred debris on the after flight deck where a violent chain reaction of fires and explosions were set off by an initial blast as attack aircraft were being prepared for launch on combat missions over North Vietnam while the ship was deployed in the Gulf of Tonkin, July 29, 1967 (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

March 11, 1965

River Boat 117 under Attack at Night. Acrylic by John Steel. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

October 22, 1962

A U.S. Navy P-3A Orion of Patrol Squadron VP-44 flies over the Soviet ship Metallurg Anosov and destroyer USS Barry (DD-933) during the Cuban Missile Crisis, November 10, 1962. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

December 30, 1959

Rear Adm. William F. Rayborn (left) and Adm. Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, examine a cutaway model of the ballistic missile submarine USS George Washington (SSBN-598), in July 1959. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

September 30, 1954

USS Nautilus. Watercolor painting on paper by Albert K. Murray. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

September 15, 1950

Inchon Landing. Colored pencil on paper by Herbert C. Hahn, 1951. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

October 23–26, 1944

Leyte Gulf IJN Yamashira in Surigao Strait. Oil on wood by John Hamilton. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

June 6, 1944

The Battle for Fox Green Beach. Oil painting by Dwight C. Shepler. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

June 4–7, 1942

The Battle of Midway. Oil painting by Robert Benney, 1943. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

April 18, 1942

The Tokyo Raid by U.S. Army B-25 Bombers. Oil painting by John Charles Roach. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

December 7, 1941

USS California (BB-44) slowly sinking alongside Ford Island as a result of bomb and torpedo damage, December 7, 1941. USS Shaw (DD-373) is burning in the floating dry dock YFD-2 in the left distance. USS Nevada (BB-36) is beached in the left-center distance. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

March 20, 1922

USS Langley (CV-1) at anchor off Christobal, Panama Canal Zone, March 1, 1930. She has 24 aircraft on her flight deck. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

March 1917

Chief Yeoman (F), USNRF during World War I. Painting by Anne Fuller Abbott, 1925. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

December 16, 1907

Great White Fleet in Magellan Strait. Painting by Orlando S. Lagman. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

May 1, 1898

Battle of Manila Bay. Painting by Frederick Bauer, 1910. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

March 8, 1862

The Ironclads. Painting by Raymond Bayless. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

October 29, 1814

USS Fulton (1837–1861). Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1955. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

September 11, 1814

Macdonough’s Victory on Lake Champlain. Watercolor by Edward Tufnell. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

February 16, 1804

Burning of the Philadelphia. Watercolor by Cdr. Eric C. C. Tufnell. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

October 21, 1797

USS Constitution. Watercolor and gouache painting by Michele Felice Corne, 1803. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

September 7, 1776

David Bushnell’s Turtle, First American Submarine. Drawing by Lt. Francis Barber, 1875. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

October 13, 1775

CNS Mosquito and CNS Fly. Oil on canvas by William Nowland Van Powell, 1974. (U.S. Navy Art Collection/Released)

In honor of the Navy’s 240th birthday on October 13, President Barack Obama released the following message.