The Naval Act of 1938, known as the Second Vinson Act, was United States legislation enacted on May 17, 1938, that "mandated a 20% increase in strength of the United States Navy",
[J. David Rogers, "Development of the World's Fastest Battleships", The Second Vinson Act (1938)]
accessed August 8, 2012 allocating $1.09 billion (equivalent to $ in relative to GDP inflation) for it. It represented the United States' response to the Japanese invasion of China, the German annexation of Austria and the disintegration of the
naval treaty system established in 1922 when both Japan and Italy refused to sign the
Second London Naval Treaty
The Second London Naval Treaty was an international treaty signed as a result of the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference held in London. The conference started on 9 December 1935 and the treaty was signed by the participating nations on ...
of 1936.
The act was sponsored by
Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson (November 18, 1883 – June 1, 1981) was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 50 years and was influential in the 20th century expansion of the U.S. Navy. He was a member of the Democrati ...
, a
Democratic Congressman from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
who was Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. It updated the provisions of the
Vinson-Trammell Act ("First Vinson Act") of 1934 and the
Naval Act of 1936
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operat ...
, which had "authorized the construction of the first American battleships in 17 years" (six battleships were authorised under the 1934 Act – BB-55 to BB-60), based on the provisions of the
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...
of 1930.
The 1938 Act specifically authorised the construction of 105,000 tons of battleships (the first three ships were built under this authorisation), 40,000 tons of aircraft carriers (expended on ), 68,754 tons of cruisers (expended on 4 and 4 light cruisers), 38,000 tons of destroyers and 13,658 tons of submarines (eight vessels were built under this authorisation – SS-204 to SS-211), together with various smaller vessels. It was followed by the
Two-Ocean Navy Act
The Two-Ocean Navy Act, also known as the Vinson–Walsh Act, was a United States law enacted on July 19, 1940, and named for Carl Vinson and David I. Walsh, who chaired the Naval Affairs Committee in the House and Senate respectively. In what ...
of 1940.
Extract of 17 May 1938 Act
"...In addition to the tonnages of the United States Navy as agreed upon and established by the treaties signed at Washington,… and at London,… the authorized composition of the United States Navy in under-age vessels is hereby increased by the following tonnages;
* (a) Capital ships, one hundred and five thousand tons…. ''Provided'', that vessels of tonnages in excess of thirty-five thousand tons each may be laid down if the President determines … that the interests of national defense so require, in which event the authorized composition of the United States Navy of capital ships is hereby increased … making a total authorized underage tonnage of six hundred and sixty thousand tons;
* (b) Aircraft carriers, forty thousand tons, making a total authorized underage tonnage of one hundred and seventy-five thousand tons;
* (c) Cruisers, sixty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-four tons, making a total authorized underage tonnage of four hundred and twelve thousand five hundred and twenty-four tons;
* (d) Destroyers, thirty-eight thousand tons, making a total authorized underage tonnage of two hundred and twenty-eight thousand tons;
* (e) Submarines, thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-eight tons, making a total authorized underage tonnage of eighty-one thousand nine hundred and fifty-six tons."
The United States Navy fleet in 1938
* 2 (70,000t)
* (15,000t)
* 2 (40,000t)
* (15,000t)
total aircraft carrier tonnage: 140,000t
* 2 , 6 , 2 , 7 ,
total heavy cruiser tonnage: roughly 180,000t
* 9 (some under construction)
* 10
** and were over-age at this point as per the provisions of the
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...
** , and would become over-age in 1941 and replacement keels could be laid down 3 years prior to that
total light cruiser tonnage: roughly 160,000t
* 48 1500-ton destroyers built to the limit (72,000t)
** 8 , 18 , 4 , 8 , 10
* 13 1850-ton destroyers built to the limit (24,050t)
** 8 , 5
* 20 sub 3000-ton destroyers (32,040t) (category result of the Second London Treaty)
** 12 (1570t)
** 8 / (1650t, under construction in FY38)
total modern destroyer tons: 128,090t
88 of 156 s (exclusive of hull numbers 191, 192, 212, 238, 261, 262, 271, 272, 275 - 304, 306 - 335): 106,920t
Thus the only actual construction made possible by the act was the construction of . Every other category of ships was already mandated to be built up over time to the maximum allowed under-age tonnage by the first Vinson Act of 1934. Older vessels could be retained in active service longer (a vessel that was over-age and allowed to be replaced had to be scrapped if it was in fact replaced) and the size to which to build up to eventually was now increased for destroyers, submarines and cruisers (cruisers could not have been commissioned before 1941 though without the 1938 act beyond the point of what tonnage would have been gained from legally scrapping CL-4 and CL-5).
Implementation
Contracts suggest that and the first 4 light cruisers were ordered immediately by the White House, with the remaining cruiser tonnage expended on 2 light cruisers in both FY40 and FY41 ordered by congress as part of the regular schedule. Destroyer and Submarine procurement also appears to have progressed at regular levels with vessels continuing to be ordered by annual Defense Authorization Acts (under the category "Replacement of Naval Vessels", and not the category "Increase of the Navy").
Only 2 of the 3 authorized battleships and only 8 destroyers were ordered in fiscal year 40.
[Budget of the United States government for FY40, p. 592] The increase in fleet strength was thus in part actual and short-term and in part nominal and medium-term.
See also
*
Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference (or the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament) was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, D.C., from November 12, 1921, to February 6, 1922.
It was conducted out ...
*
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting Navy, naval construction. It was negotiated at ...
References
Sources
{{CongBio, V000105, Carl Vinson
1938 in American law
United States Navy in the 20th century
United States federal defense and national security legislation
75th United States Congress
1938 in military history
Carl Vinson