Full Description
The Navy is a colorful guide to an elite maritime force with a glorious history that plays a key role in US overseas operations and US foreign policy today.
The US Navy is the largest in the world today. Deployed in every theatre, it has operational capabilities that are greater than the next 13 navies combined. The core of the Navy deployment, the carrier strike group, can bring to bear a force of more than 100 modern aircraft and 7000 Marines, which many other countries' armed forces struggle to match.
Numbering almost 350,000 active duty personnel today, the Navy emerged during the early 19th century as a guarantor of American independence in the face of British incursions in 1812 and Barbary pirate raids on American shipping in the Atlantic. The Federal navy blockaded Confederate ports during the Civil War, and helped expand US influence across the Pacific and into the Caribbean in the early 20th century. During World War II, in combination with the Marines, the Navy formed the main thrust of the fight against Japan in the Pacific and East Asia. By 1945, it was the world's most powerful navy, and has remained so ever since.
The book includes photographs from the Civil War up to the present, with a particular focus on recruitment, weaponry and modern training methods, as well as naval personnel on deployment in the Indian Ocean, Pacific and East Asia today. Highly illustrated with more than 200 photographs, The Navy is a colorful celebration of the world's most powerful navy.
Contents
Contents
1. The Modern Navy
The Navy has a presence in every part of the globe, offering the United States a strike force that can attack enemies and support allies where needed. The Navy is also heavily involved in delivering humanitarian aid to the world's poor and troubled places.
2. Origins to World War I
Beginning as a tiny force during the War of Independence, the Navy established itself as a professional force with actions against North African Barbary pirates and the War of 1812, where the infant navy drove British forces from Lake Erie. The Navy played a significant role in the Civil War, where Federal forces blockaded southern ports.
3. World War II
In the 1930s, the Navy grew to a size that matched any in the world. Despite losses at Pearl Harbor, by the end of the war the US Navy had 18 aircraft carriers and eight battleships, as well as over 70 per cent of the world's total numbers and total tonnage of vessels of 1,000 tons or greater.
4. From Korea to the Balkans
During the Cold War the Navy consolidated its position as the world's largest and most powerful navy, and supported American deployments in Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and much later the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). The Navy's fleet of nuclear submarines became key in guaranteeing the peace and facing down the Communist threat from the Soviet Union.
5. Navy Training
Navy Boot Camp is held at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes (RTC Great Lakes), north of Chicago, Illinois. It is the only enlisted basic training location for the Navy since 1999. Later, recruits specialize, depending on the wide range of roles open to Navy personnel, which can be anything from Navy pilot to gunner to nuclear technician.
6. Navy Weapons
Today, the Navy deploys military hardware of a quality and quantity unmatched by other navies. This includes the USS Nimitz-class and USS Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers capable of deploying 120 state-of-the-art aircraft, such as the F-35 Lightning II, and F/A-18E Super Hornets; America-class amphibious assault ships; Los Angeles-class attack submarines and Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines; plus numerous destroyers, frigates and coastal ships.
7. Operations in the 21st Century
In the 21st century, the Navy was involved in deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and the war on terror, and remains the principle means by which the United States supports and maintains the international global order. In recent years the US Navy has relied more heavily on international partnerships in order to promote American interests in the world.
