US Navy Birthday

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The US Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775, by authorizing procurement, fitting out, manning and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America.  The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work.  All together, the Continental Navy numbered some 50 ships over the course of the war, with approximately 20 warships active at its maximum strength.

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In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwait, authorized recognition of 13 October as the Navy’s birthday.  Not to be confused with Navy Day (the founding of the Navy Department), the Navy Birthday is intended as an internal activity for members of the active forces and reserves, as well as retirees and dependents.  Since 1972, each CNO has encouraged a Navy-wide celebration of this occasion “to enhance a greater appreciation of our Navy heritage and to provide a positive influence toward pride and professionalism in the naval service.”

Although written by a Royal Navy Admiral in 1896, “The Laws of the Navy” began to appear in the US Naval Academy’s “Reef Points” Plebe Handbook and is still there today.  The sketches were added by Lt. Rowland Langmaid R.N. during WWI.

Beginning of "The Laws of the Navy"

Beginning of “The Laws of the Navy”

Part 2

Part 2

Part 3

Part 3

End of "The Laws of the Navy"

End of “The Laws of the Navy

Click on images to enlarge!

 

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HUMOR – 

FC

HAVE A BALL - BUT DON'T ROCK THE BOAT!!

HAVE A BALL – BUT DON’T ROCK THE BOAT!!

Lady Popeye

Lady Popeye

for you submariners

for you submariners

for you surface-vessel types...

for you surface-vessel types.

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FAREWELL SALUTES – 

Gene Acton = Wichita, KS; US Navy & civilian service w/ Boeing Aircraft

Wade “Buddy” Fitzek – Dunns Corners, RI; US Navy, WWII, USS Idaho

John Kohler – Hot Springs, AK; US Navy (Ret.), pilot systems, Vietnam, USS Kitty Hawk120507-M-0000C-005

Louis Marks – Arnaudville, LA; US Navy, Korea

Frank O’Malley – Ipswich, MA & Sarasota, FL; US Navy, WWII, Korea, pilot, USS Wasp & Midway

Edward Ouellet – Wellesley, MA; US Nay, WWII, PTO

John Overlease – Loveland, CO; US Navy, WWII, PTO

Marvin Sorensen – Race, WI; US Navy, Korea, USS Hawkins & Markab

Leo Speirs – Glines, UT; US Navy, WWII

Willis Wolfe – Oxnard, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Waldron, recalled for Korea

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About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on October 13, 2014, in Korean War, Vietnam, WWII and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 76 Comments.

  1. My beloved Daddy was a Navy man.

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  2. Great sketches and the Laws. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Showed this post to my boy who’s been knee-deep in the America Revolution. =) He played a minuteman recently, as I shared in the post Revolutionist. Informative post.

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    • I’m thrilled it could be of some help to your son!! I’m so glad to hear of a child that is interested in history; knowing the past does so much to increase their intelligence for the future. Give him my best!

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      • He is off to a solid start in his education, notably for the strength of the history in his curriculum. He’s been zonkers over all the battles in the American Rev – a wonderful thing that the man who moderated the recent interactive play for our homeschool group reminded the kids to act it out respectfully in honor of those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy.

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  4. Very good and healthy advice in the Laws of the Navy (thank you Kipling – as these are a skit on the Laws of the Jungle). Great cartoons.

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  5. Thank you for writing this post. My grandfather and father were Navy men and my son-in-law is an active Navy Chief. Thank you all for serving.

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  6. Love those cartoons! And the Laws of the Navy ring true, too.

    “I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Argus” … all good clean fun and no-one gets hurt.

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  7. Your post notes “All together, the Continental Navy numbered some 50 ships over the course of the war, with approximately 20 warships active at its maximum strength.” During the Revolutionary war, some of the individual states had navies. I wonder how their numbers are factored into that of the Continental Navy. I also wonder what the US Navy considers to be its first engagement with the British. Did it occur before or after the establishment of the Continental Navy?

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  8. Happy Birthday US Navy.

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  9. I had several ancestors fighting with the Pennsylvania Navy during the Revolutionary War, including helping hold the British off at Fort Mifflin. Also, our son, Tony, graduated from Annapolis. –Curt

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  10. The “Laws of the Navy” might well be read daily by all.

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    • I had a feeling you would like them! No one seems quite as observant as you lately or they’re just not telling me how they feel.
      What do you think – are the posts becoming drawn out? too long? boring? Any suggestions?

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  11. sheafferhistorian

    Reblogged this on Practically Historical.

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  12. A lovely post, a nice mix of humour and serious reflection. Happy birthday to the Navy.

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  13. Thanks for posting. I didn’t know that today was US Navy birthday. I will have to call my cousin who is the Navy to congratulate him…

    I was wondering if you can clarify something about Congress authorization for the creation of the Navy. I think I read a while ago that one of the main reason why Congress commision the creation of the Navy was to protect trade routes in the Mediterrannea due to attack by muslim pirates in the region. Is this true?

    Once again thank you for keeping up such an Awesome blog! God bles!

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  14. My family includes its share of sailors. Happy Birthday to the US Fleet!

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  15. Happy Birthday Navy! Great article and especially the humor section 🙂

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  16. You do a wonderful job with these commemorative posts, GP. I might have to simply RP yours in the future.

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  17. Super post…and by coincidence I’m just reading a biography of John Paul Jones.

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  18. Silly question, perhaps, but do the ordinary sailors celebrate this birthday? Does every ship do something special?

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  19. Hi, dear GP Cox,

    thank you so much for this awesome blog full of information – especially all these pictures. We are impressed all the time visiting your blog how much picture you have in store. You continue our history lessons where they ended during our time at school.

    Thank you very much!
    The Fab Four of Cley

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    • Thank you so much for that overwhelming compliment. After reading the posts of the Fab Four of Cley, it is hard to even come close to your expertise. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
      GP Cox

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  20. Another great post! Love that “Rules of the Army” poem! 🙂

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  21. Nicely done (as usual). Off-topic, I have a friend who is researching (3) CT servicemen for a history class at Central CT University. These guys were young and all three died at Iwo Jima. The class project is to find out something about the 100 CT servicemen who died in that battle. The reports they prepare are to be used in a ceremony at the CT Iwo Jima Memorial. He has exhausted the obvious sources, and has found some stuff, but not much. I told him I’d ask if you could point him in any particular direction for information on that battle. It’s not a huge deal, but I thought I’d ask. Thanks.

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    • I’ll do what i can to look into it and get back to you, Dan. A very worthy project.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thanks! My friend is retired. He’s gone back to school in his mid-60s for a degree in history and he takes these things very seriously. I love talking to him about this class, which covers WWII.

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        • I take these things seriously too, so we have a lot in common – tell him I’ll definitely try. In the meantime – I wish him the best in his research and studies.

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    • I’m running into some brick walls, Dan. I suppose that has been your friend’s problem too. If he can find a list of men who were deployed to the Pacific, the following list of Iwo Jima casualties might come in handy, but boy is long. I’ll keep trying, I have some emails out – didn’t want you to think I forgot.

      http://www.recordsofwar.com/iwo/dead/dead.htm

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thanks. He has the names (and they are on this list) but he’s supposed to find awards, citations, unit, assignments, and (if possible) a picture. He’s checked the local town libraries, but these guys were born during the depression and graduated at the tail end of it. He found a bunch of info on one of them, actually the only guy at Iwo from CT that got a Silver Star. but he’s running into dead ends on the other two. Don’t feel bad, I told him I’d ask you and an online friend who is writing a book tracing his grandfather’s journey through the pacific for pointers.

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  22. Incidentally I’ve just made a photowalk around the American Cemetery here in Manila this weekend. Many of them gave their lives here. Consider this shot a tribute https://malate.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/img_8117.jpg

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you very much for giving us this tribute to share. My father luckily came back from New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao and Japan – but so many more did not.

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  23. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    Wonderful post ….. Happy birthday Navy!!

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  24. award free…

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