Overviews of Naval History

Dates in American Naval History

A list of notable dates in naval history, arranged by month and day.

History of the United States Navy by Michael A. Palmer.

Used by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Macmillan from Encyclopedia of the American Military, John E. Jessup, Editor in Chief. Vol. I, pp. 365-380. Copyright c 1994, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel killed and wounded in wars, conflicts and incidents with hostile forces, 1775-present.

Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2004

This Library of Congress report lists instances in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It replaces the 1993 list previously published on this website and is intended primarily to provide a rough sketch survey of past U.S. military ventures abroad.

Naval History By Period

Documents on this home page are arranged chronologically for ease of access. The Battle Streamers contain a brief history of the Navy's role in the war, conflict or operation.

• Revolutionary War 1775-1783
  1. Battle Streamer: Revolutionary War 1775-1783
  2. "Birthday" of the U.S. Navy
  3. Bibliography: American Revolution, 1775-1783
  4. Bibliography: American Revolution-Biography
  5. Congress and the Continental Navy, 1775-1783: Chronology and Documents
  6. The Continental Navy: "I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight"
  7. Jones, John Paul
  8. Officers of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps
  9. The Pivot Upon Which Everything Turned: French Naval Superiority That Ensured Victory At Yorktown
  10. Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies of North America, 1775
  11. The Submarine Turtle: Naval Documents of the Revolutionary War
  12. Vessels of the Continental Navy
  
  
• Quasi-War with France 1798-1801
  1. Battle Streamer: Quasi-War with France 1798-1801
  2. Bibliography: Quasi-War With France and Barbary Wars
  3. Old Ironsides's Battle Record: Documents of USS Constitution's Illustrious Deeds
  4. Officers, Famous in the U.S. Navy, 1794-1815: Select Reading List
  5. Shipboard Life in the 19th Century
  6. Uniform Regulations, 1797
  
  
• Barbary Wars 1801-1805, 1815
  1. Battle Streamer: Barbary Wars 1801-1805, 1815
  2. Documents, Official and Unofficial, Relating to the Case of the Capture and Destruction of the Frigate Philadelphia, at Tripoli on the 16th February 1804
  3. Officers, Famous in the U.S. Navy, 1794-1815: Select Reading List
  4. Old Ironsides's Battle Record: Documents of USS Constitution's Illustrious Deeds
  5. The United States' War with Tripoli (1801-05) and the War on Terrorism (2001-)
  
  
• War of 1812
  1. Battle Streamer: War of 1812
  2. Bibliography: War of 1812
  3. Bibliography: War of 1812-Biography
  4. The Defense and Burning of Washington in 1814: Naval Documents of the War of 1812
  5. Navy Regulations, 1814
  6. Officers, Famous in the U.S. Navy, 1794-1815: Select Reading List
  7. Officers of American Naval Victories in the War of 1812
  8. Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the War of 1812
  9. Old Ironsides's Battle Record: Documents of USS Constitution's Illustrious Deeds
  10. Uniform Regulations, 1814
  
  
• African Slave Trade Patrol 1820-1861
  1. The African Squadron: Ashburton Treaty: Consular Sea Letters Reviewed in an Address by Commander A. H. Foote
  2. Battle Streamer: African Slave Trade Patrol 1820-1861
  3. USS Alligator, submerged wreck of
  4. Amistad and the U.S. Navy
  5. Anti-slavery Operations of the U.S. Navy, an illustrated exhibit
  6. Seizing a Slaver: Old Ironsides's Battle Record: Documents of USS Constitution's Illustrious Deeds
  
  
• Operations Against West Indian Pirates 1822-1830s
  1. Battle Streamer: Operations Against West Indian Pirates 1822-1830s
  
  
• The Indian Wars 1835-1842
  1. Battle Streamer: The Indian Wars 1835-1842
  
  
• Mexican War 1846-1848
  1. Battle Streamer: Mexican War 1846-1848
  2. Bibliography: Mexican War
  
  
• Civil War 1861-1865
  1. CSS Alabama, submerged wreck of
  2. Are the Southern Privateersmen Pirates?
  3. Battle Streamer: Civil War 1861-1865
  4. Bibliography: Civil War, 1861-1865
  5. Bibliography: Civil War-Biography
  6. Captain Raphael Semmes and the C.S.S. Alabama
  7. Chronology of Events: Civil War
  8. Documents of the Civil War, Selected
  9. Emancipation Proclamation, General Order No. 4, 14 Jan. 1863
  10. An Eye-Witness Account of the Battle Between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (formerly U.S.S. Merrimack) on March 9th, 1862
  11. Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals On the Eve of the Civil War
  12. H.L. Hunley, submerged wreck of
  13. Medal: Civil War
  14. 1865 Register of Officers on Navy Yards, Shore Stations and Vessels
  15. Signals For the Use of the Navy of the Confederate States
  16. The Story of the Confederate States' Ship Virginia (Once Merrimac) Her Victory Over the Monitor
  17. USS Tecumseh, submerged wreck of
  18. Uniform Regulations, 1864
  
  
• Spanish-American War 1898
  1. Battle of Manila Bay
  2. Battle of Santiago, eyewitness account by W. J. Murphy on USS Iowa
  3. Battle Streamer: Spanish-American War 1898
  4. Bibliography: Spanish-American War; Historical Overview and Select Bibliography
  5. USS Maine, destruction of
  6. Medal: Battle of Manila Bay (Dewey Medal)
  7. Medal: Spanish Campaign
  8. Medal: West Indies Naval Campaign (Sampson Medal)
  9. Medal: West Indies Campaign
  10. Photographs: Spanish American War
  11. Selected Naval Documents of the Spanish American War
  12. "War Plans and Preparation and Their Impact on the U.S. Naval Operation in Spanish American War"
  
  
• Philippine Insurrection Campaign 1899-1902
  1. Battle Streamer: Philippine Insurrection Campaign 1899-1902
  2. Medal: Philippine Campaign
  
  
• China Relief Expedition 1900-1901 (Boxer Rebellion)
  1. Battle Streamer: China Relief Expedition 1900-1901
  2. Bibliography on the Boxer Rebellion
  3. The Boxer Rebellion and the U.S. Navy (Frequently Asked Questions)
  4. Documents of the Boxer Rebellion
  5. Medal: China Relief Expedition
  
  
• Latin American Campaigns 1906-1933
  1. Battle Streamer: Latin American Campaigns 1906-1920
  2. Battle Streamer: Second Nicaraguan Campaign 1926-1933
  3. Bibliography: Between World Wars, 1919-1941
  4. List of Expeditions Formed and Landings Effected by the U.S. Naval Force in Central America, Mexico and the West Indies, From 1901 to May 1, 1929
  5. Medal: Cuban Pacification
  6. Medal: Nicaraguan Campaign
  7. Medal: Mexican Service
  8. Medal: Haitian Campaign (1915)
  9. Medal: Haitian Campaign (1919-1920)
  10. Medal: Dominican Campaign
  11. Medal: Second Nicaraguan Campaign
  12. Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934
  
  
• World War I 1917-1918
  1. Analysis of the Advantage of Speed and Changes of Course in Avoiding Attack by Submarine (1918)
  2. Antisubmarine Information (1918)
  3. Antisubmarine Tactis (1918)
  4. Antisubmarine Warfare: Notes for the Use of Naval Armed Guard (1917)
  5. Bayly's Navy, a World War I memoir by Vice Admiral Walter S. Delany
  6. British and German naval messages concerning the 1918 Armistice
  7. General Instructions for Sloops and Torpedo Craft Employed on Antisubmarine Duties (1918)
  8. German Submarine Attacks (1918)
  9. German Submarines in Question and Answer (1918)
  10. I was a Yeoman (F) by Mrs. Henry F. Butler [Estelle Kemper]
  11. Kite Balloons in Escort (1918)
  12. Naval Aviation in World War I (download as a .pdf file)
  13. Battle Streamer: World War I 1917-1918
  14. Bibliography: World War I, 1917-1918
  15. American Naval Participation in the Great War (with special reference to the European Theater of Operations) by CAPT Dudley Knox
  16. Homing Pigeons, Instruction on Reception, Care, and Training at U.S. Navy Air Bases
  17. Infuenza of 1918 (Spanish Flu) and its Effect on the U.S. Navy
  18. Medal: (World War I) Victory
  19. Notes on Anti-Submarine Defenses (1917)
  20. Regulations for the Information of Officers On Neutrality Duty in Connection With the Visits of Belligerent Vessels of War
  21. Remarks on Protection of a Convoy by Extended Patrols (1918)
  22. Remarks on Submarine Tactics Again Convoys (1917)
  23. Uniform Regulation: Navy Nurse Corps, 1917
  24. Uniform Regulation: Women Reservist, Yeoman (F), 1918
  
  
• Yangtze Service 1926-1927, 1930-1932
  1. Battle Streamer: Yangtze Service 1926-1927, 1930-1932
  2. Medal: Yangtze Service
  
  
• China Service 1937-1939, 1945-1957
  1. Battle Streamer: China Service 1937-1939, 1945-1957
  2. Medal: China Service
  3. Medal: Navy Expeditionary
  
  
• World War II
  1. Abbreviations: Glossary of U.S. Naval Abbreviations, 1949
  2. Aces, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps
  3. "Advanced Intelligence Centers in the U.S. Navy" (SRH-268)
  4. Appendectomy on board a Submarine: Oral History
  5. Armed Guard, Naval
  6. Aviation Personnel Fatalities in World War II
  7. Battle Streamer: American Theater 1941-1946
  8. Battle Streamer: Asiatic-Pacific Theater 1941-1946
  9. Battle Streamer: European-African-Middle Eastern Theater 1941-1946
  10. Bibliography: World War II General Works
  11. Bibliography: World War II-Atlantic Theater
  12. Bibliography: World War II-Pacific Theater
  13. Bibliography: World War II-Biography
  14. Bismarck, German Battleship, sinking of
  15. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery chronology from Navy Medicine
  16. Casualties, World War II
  17. CIC Operation in an AGC
  18. CIC Operations on a Night Carrier
  19. CIC Yesterday and Today
  20. Code Talkers, World War II
  21. Code Words, Glossary of Naval (NAVEXOS P-474)
  22. Combat Demolition Units, Naval
  23. Combat Information Center (CIC) Manual
  24. Communicaton Intelligence Contributions to World War II Submarine Warfare
  25. Cruise Books of the United States Navy in World War II
  26. Current Doctrine Submarines (1944)
  27. Cursor Scales for the VG
  28. Destroyers for Bases Agreement, 1940
  29. E Award, Army-Navy
  30. Exercise Tiger, Training Exercise for Normandy
  31. First Aid Treatment for Survivors of Disasters at Sea (1943)
  32. Fleet Admirals
  33. The German Defense of Berlin
  34. German Espionage and Sabotage Against the U.S. during World War II
  35. Indianapolis, USS, Loss of
  36. Indians in the War
  37. Iwo Jima , Battle of
  38. Japanese Internment in U.S, Ringle Report on
  39. Japanese Interrogation Of Prisoners Of War (Aviation Personnel)
  40. Juneau, USS, Loss of
  41. Lagarto, USS, Loss of
  42. Lend Lease Act, 1941
  43. Manual of Commands and Orders, 1945
  44. Medal: American Campaign
  45. Medal: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
  46. Medal: European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
  47. Medal: Navy Expeditionary for Wake
  48. Medal: American Defense Service
  49. Medal: World War II Victory
  50. Medal: Navy Occupation
  51. Midway, Battle of, 4-7 June 1942
  52. Naval Aviation Combat Statistics, World War II (download as .pdf file)
  53. Naval Aviation in the Pacific (download as .pdf file)
  54. Naval Expansion Act, 14 June 1940
  55. Naval Expansion Act, 19 July 1940
  56. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory: Fulfilling the Roosevelts' Vision for American Naval Power (1923-2005) (.pdf version)
  57. Naval Technical Mission to Japan, 1945-1946
  58. Normandy Invasion, 6-25 June 1944
  59. Operation Tiger
  60. Oral Histories: Recollections of World War II Experiences
  61. Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941
  62. Port Chicago Naval Magazine Explosion, 17 July 1944
  63. Post Mortem CIC Notes
  64. Presidents who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II
  65. Prisoners of War, World War II
  66. PT-109: Information on the vessel and Patrol Torpedo Boats
  67. "Radio Intelligence Appreciations Concerning German U-Boat Activity in the Far East, January-April 1945" (SRH-232)
  68. "Ringle Report on Japanese Internment" (1941)
  69. Q-Ships (anti-submarine vessels disguised as merchant ships)
  70. Quonset and Nissen Huts
  71. S-33, USS, submarine
  72. Ships, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, Sunk and Damaged in Action
  73. Ship to Shore Movement (1943)
  74. A Short Guide to Iraq (1943)
  75. Skill in the Surf: A Landing Boat Manual (1945)
  76. Submarines: Current Doctrine
  77. Sullivan Brothers and Policy Towards Family Members Serving Together
  78. Target Information from CIC
  79. Tokyo - a Study in Jap Flak Defense
  80. Tokyo Bay: Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945
  81. Typhoon, 18 December 1944
  82. Typhoon, June 1945
  83. Typhoon, October 1945
  84. U-505, Capture of, 4 June 1944
  85. U-571, a brief history
  86. U-1105, The submerged wreckage of
  87. "U.S. Navy Personnel in World War II: Service and Casualty Statistics"
  88. United States Navy Fleet Post Office New York, N.Y.
  89. United States Fleet Post Office San Francisco, California
  90. US Navy Libraries, World War II
  91. U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II: The Issue of Compensation by Japan
  92. United States Submarine Losses World War II
  93. VT Fuze or Radio Proximity Fuze
  94. "War Instructions: United States, 1944"
  
  
• Cold War
  1. Battle Streamer: Armed Forces Expeditionary Service, 1958-
  2. Berlin Airlift: Naval Aviation's Involvement in
  3. Bibliography: Postwar Years, 1946-1991
  4. Cordon of Steel: The U.S. Navy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
  5. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
  6. Dominican Republic Intervention, 1965
  7. Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury, 1983
  8. Medal for Humane Action-Berlin Airlift
  9. Medal: Armed Forces Expeditionary
  10. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory: Fulfilling the Roosevelts' Vision for American Naval Power (1923-2005) (.pdf version)
  11. Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
  12. Operation Crossroads: Bikini Atoll
  13. Pueblo, USS- Some Experiences Reported by Crew
  14. "The Role of the United States Navy in the Formation and Development of the Federal German Navy, 1945"
  15. U-2 and Aircraft Carrier Deployment
  16. U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991
  
  
• Korean Conflict 1950-1954
  1. Assault from the Sea: The Amphibious Landing at Inchon (.pdf version)
  2. Battle Streamer: Korean Service 1950-1954
  3. Bibliography: Korean Conflict
  4. Carrier- Korean Combat Action Reports
  5. Carrier Air Groups- Korean Combat Action Reports
  6. Chronology of U.S. Pacific Fleet Operations, 1950-1953
  7. History of United Naval Operations: Korea by James A. Field, Jr.
  8. Medal: National Defense Service
  9. Medal: Korean Service
  10. Naval Aviation's Involvement in the Korean War
  11. Order of Battle for Carriers and Carrier-based Squadrons
  12. Photographs: Korean War
  13. Pirate, USS; Loss of 12 October 1950
  14. "Remembering the Forgotten War: Korea, 1950-1953"
  15. Ships, U.S. Navy, Sunk and Damages in Action During the Korean Conflict
  16. Ships, Other Navy Commands and USMC Commands Eligible for Korean Service Medal
  17. Special Operations in the Korean War, Navy
  18. USN and USMC Tactical Aircraft operating in the Korean Theater
  
  
• Vietnam Service 1962-1975
  1. Battle Streamer: Vietnam Service, 1962-1973
  2. Bibliography: Conflict in Southeast Asia
  3. Bibliography: Conflict in Southeast Asia- Biography
  4. Bombing As a Policy Tool in Vietnam: Effectiveness
  5. By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia
  6. CINCPAC Glossary of Commonly Used Abbreviations and Short Titles, 1968
  7. Commander Naval Forces Vietnam Monthly Historical Summaries, 1966-1979
  8. Enemy Aircraft shot down by Naval Aviators in Southeast Asia
  9. Medal: Vietnam Service
  10. Medal: Armed Forces Expeditionary
  11. U.S. Medal of Honor Recipients with citations
  12. Oral History: Vietnam Conflict, Post 1946
  13. Order of Battle for Carriers and Carrier Based Squadrons in the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) and Vietnam (1964-1975) (also available as a .pdf file)
  14. Presidential Unit Citations - signed by President Nizon
  15. Prisoners of War - Some Experiences Report by
  16. Religions of Vietnam
  17. Riverine Warfare: The U.S. Navy's Operations on Inland Waters
  18. "Surprised at Tet: U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam, 1968"
  19. Tonkin Gulf Crisis, August 1964
  20. United States Naval Operations (Monthly), Highlights
  21. Vietnam: The Struggle for Freedom
  22. "The Vietnam Experience": an Online Art Exhibit
  
  
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm 1991-1992
  1. Battle Streamer: Southwest Asia Service, 1991-1995
  2. Bibliography: "United States Naval Forces in Desert Shield and Desert Storm: A Select Bibliography;" (also available as .pdf file)
  3. History: "The United States Navy and The Persian Gulf"
  4. History: "The U.S. Navy in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm"
  5. Medal: Southwest Asia Service
  6. Naval Units participating in Desert Shield and Desert Storm
  7. Role of Women in U.S. Military during Desert Shield/Desert Storm
  
  
• Kosovo Conflict, 1999
  1. Cruise Missile Inventories and NATO Attacks on Yugoslavia
  2. A Soldier's Guide Bosnia-Herzegovina
  3. U.S. Naval Lessons Learned During Operation Allied Force, March-June 1999
  
  
• Global War On Terrorism 2001-
  1. Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology
  2. Homeland Security: Navy Operations -- Background and Issues for Congress
  3. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq: Effects and Countermeasures
  4. Islamic Terrorism and the Balkans
  5. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory: Fulfilling the Roosevelts' Vision for American Naval Power (1923-2005) (.pdf version)
  6. Oral Histories from September 11, 2001 Attack, Operations Nobel Eagle and Enduring Freedom
  7. Terrorism: A Navy Department Library Research Guide
  8. Terrorism in Southeast Asia
  9. The United States' War with Tripoli (1801-05) and the War on Terrorism (2001-)