Colonial period

1607-1776

England practiced what in the colonies

mercantilism

Colonists provided what for the mother country

raw materials

What were the colonists not allowed to build

war ships

what were the colonists allowed to build

merchant ships

What was the type of merchant ship the colonists would build

Brigantines

AKA Virginia Built ships

Schooners

Where was the ideal place for shipbuilding during the colonial time period

New England

Why was New England the primary place for shipbuilding during the colonial time period

they had lots of resources, land gently sloped down to the water, supported fishing fleets and commerce

Where was the big commercial center for trade during the colonial time period

Boston

How successful was the colonist's navy during the revolution

They were not successful except from the assistance of the French fleet

What were the exceptions for the colonist's navy not being successful during the revolution

John Paul Jones led hit and run operations against the British merchants (not as successful against the British navy), and Benedict Arnold had shipwrights build three small galleys and eight flat bottomed gunboats and fought in the battle of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain where they technically lost to the British but delayed the British until the following spring

What happened to the colonists navy after the revolution

it was disbanded because they didn't want it because it was very expensive and they believed someone would try to take over the government and try to make the navy oppress the colonists

How many frigates did congress authorize the construction of

six

why did congress authorize the construction of these six frigates

to protect their trading routes and their ships that were trading

what were the names of the first six frigates of the US navy

USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Congress, USS Chesapeake, USS United States, and USS President

What were these frigates like compared to other frigates

They were bigger with more guns while still being able to maintain speed

What did the colonists find made repairing ships easier

graving docks

Robert Fulton

built first successful steamboat named the North River Steamboat AKA Clermont. USS Fulton named after Robert Fulton was finished after the war of 1812

SS Savannah

sailing ship fitted with steam engine and side paddle wheels made it to England in 26 days

Great Western

Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel,72 meters long, steam powered with sails, wooden hull with some iron framework, traveled from England to New York in 15 days.

USS Princeton

US navy's first screw prop ship designed by John Ericsson

John Elder

developed high pressure marine compound marine engine in 1850, it was more efficient, and used less fuel

Charles A. Parsons

invented the steam turbine in 1884, was the first marine application in the experimental ship Turbinia in 1894

Stephen Mallory

Confederacy secretary of the navy

Transition from wood to ironclad

Ironclads had been around for a while. Battle at Hampton Roads basically made every wooden warship obsolete.

Ironclads in the civil war

Stephen Mallory believed that they could break the Union blockade by building ironclads, so they built the CSS Virginia. Took a long time to build and gave the Union time to build their own ironclad, the Monitor which was designed by John Ericsson.

CSS Virginia was built from the remains of what ship

USS Merrimack

Battle of Hampton Roads

Virginia and Monitor battle. Said to be a tie but the Union blockade held. Demonstration that ironclads were far superior than wooden warships. considered the end of the wooden warship era.

Post civil war shipbuilding

Deemphasis on naval shipbuilding until 1880's when the US starts developing a modern fleet.

USS Maine

armored cruiser that exploded at Havana harbor and caused the Spanish American war

Battle of Santiago

Americans annihilated the Spanish fleet. Cemented as the premier naval power in the western hemisphere. Led to explosion in battleship building and later on the great white fleet.

Great White Fleet

16 battleships that went around the world.

Coal to Oil

Oil is just much cleaner, easier to store, more stable, eliminated the job of stoker,

Effects of WWI

Not much going on from a US naval perspective other than escorting troop convoys and merchant convoys.

Washington Naval Conference

After the war. Results in deescalation in naval shipbuilding. Limits the size and numbers of warships that each country could possess which results in a naval shipbuilding depression that preceded the great depression.

Two Ocean Navy Act

cosponsored by Carl Vincent. He was a congressman who believed that we needed to have a fleet to fight in the Atlantic and a fleet to fight in the pacific at the same time. This act called for a 70% increase in the size of the navy.

Liberty Ships

Big during WWII. Able to build one in just a little more than 40 days. Carried materials and people to the battle zones and provided logistic support.

Henry Keizer

The man behind the liberty ships

Higgins boats

designed by Andrew Higgins in New Orleans. Took troops from ships and landed them on the beach. Also big in WWII, and was involved in lots of amphibious warfare. 23,000 made during the war. Eisenhower said they were key to the allied victory.

concrete ships

Only built 24. Used as shops, not used as front line ships. Also used in WWII.

Eugene Ely

Demonstrated that it was possible to take off from and land on a ship. Showed that aircraft can have relevance to the navy.

Billy Mitchell

After WWI he demonstrated that an aircraft could sink a ship.

USS Langley

First United States aircraft carrier was converted from a coal ship.

USS Ranger

Fourth United States aircraft carrier. Named after John Paul Jones ship. Built in 1930 in Newport News.

USS Holland

First modern submarine that the navy bought

submarines

Germans developed submarines and America used submarines to great effect in WWII in the pacific.

Battles of Coral Sea and Midway

validated that naval airpower was now the predominant naval weapon. In both battles, ships never came within visual sight of each other and fought using all aircraft.

Admiral Hyman Rickover

led the way in nuclear power research

USS Nautilus

first nuclear-powered submarine/ship in the US navy. Didn't require any input of air and didn't exhaust any toxic fumes allowing it to stay submerged for lengthy periods of time. Led to nuclear powered escorts being built.

USS Enterprise

Built at NNS. First nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Combined with nuclear-powered escorts to go around the world as Task Force 1 in operation Sea Orbit. Showed the flexibility of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Didn't have to refuel.

President Eisenhower's Adams for Peace Program

Tried to take some of the fear out of nuclear power. 1953.

Malcom Mclean

Trucker who came up with the idea using container ships to cut down on the time that cargo ships had to stay in port. Revolutionized how cargo is carried by ships today.

NS Savannah

First nuclear-powered merchant ship in the US navy or merchant marine.

David Taylor

Naval architect that came up with the idea of the bulbus bow.

Stephen Decatur

Destroyed the USS Philadelphia after it had been captured by pirates.

USS Nemitz

First of the big class of carriers. Built 10 of them and were all built at NNS.