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 was then the largest naval procurement bill to date in U.S. history, it increased the size of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

by 70%.

History

Modest naval expansion programs had been implemented by the Vinson–Trammell Act of 1934 and the Naval Act of 1938. In early June 1940, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that provided an 11% increase in naval tonnage as well as an expansion of naval air capacity. On June 17, a few days after German troops conquered France,

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

Harold Stark requested four billion dollars from

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

to increase the size of the American combat fleet by 70%, adding 257 ships amounting to 1,325,000 tons.The Decline and Renaissance of the Navy, 1922–1944, Senator David I. Walsh, 78th Congress, Session 2, Document No. 2, http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/USN/77-2s202.html On June 18, after less than an hour of debate, the House of Representatives by a 316–0 vote authorized $8.55 billion (equivalent to $ billion today) for a naval expansion program, that put emphasis on aircraft. Rep. Vinson, who headed the House Naval Affairs Committee, said its emphasis on carriers did not represent any less commitment to battleships, but "The modern development of aircraft has demonstrated conclusively that the backbone of the Navy today is the aircraft carrier. The carrier, with destroyers, cruisers and submarines grouped around it is the spearhead of all modern naval task forces." The Two-Ocean Navy Act was enacted on July 19, 1940. The Act authorized the procurement of: * 8 s * 2 s * 5 battleships * 6 large cruisers * 4 s * 13 s * 4 anti-aircraft cruisers * 115

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s including 100 , 13 , and 2 destroyers * 43 s * 15,000

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

* The conversion of 100,000 tons of auxiliary ships * $50 million for patrol, escort and other vessels * $150 million for essential equipment and facilities * $65 million for the manufacture of ordnance material or munitions * $35 million for the expansion of facilities The expansion program was scheduled to take five to six years, but a ''New York Times'' study of shipbuilding capabilities called it, "problematical" unless proposed "radical changes in design" were dropped.

References

{{reflist 1940 in American law United States Navy in the 20th century United States federal defense and national security legislation 76th United States Congress 1940 in military history Carl Vinson

History

See also

References