13 OCTOBER 1775
The United States Navy traces its origins
to the Continental Navy, which the
Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the
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 fifty ships over the course of the war, with
approximately twenty warships active at its maximum strength.
