Admiral Standley and his staff helped draft what became the Vinson-Trammell Act of 1934, which authorized, but did not fund, the Navy to build to the full extent allowed by the Washington and London Naval Treaties.  This bill authorized the first new battleships built in 17 years.  Funding came in the following years, and the first of these, USS North Carolina (BB-55), was commissioned in April 9, 1941, eight months before the United States entered World War II.