Continental Navy

• The United States founded a Navy nine months before it declared independence from Great Britain. It established the Continental Navy on Oct. 13, 1775, to find and attack British ships.
  
  

Government

• In 1789, the U.S. Constitution was ratified to give Congress the power "to provide and maintain a navy." The government created the Department of the Navy in 1798.
  
  

Continental Period

• According to the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Samuel P. Huntington defined three periods in U.S. naval history. During the Continental Period, 1775 to the 1890s, the Navy played an important role in opening trading routes and protecting oceanic borders.
  
  

Oceanic Period

• During the Oceanic Period, the 1890s to 1945, steam power increased the number of European ships traveling around the Americas. The Navy worked to prevent enemies from getting close enough to attack the United States. During this period, Pearl Harbor was a reminder that such an attack could happen.
  
  

Transoceanic Period

• During the Transoceanic Period, 1945 to 1992, the Navy continued to protect the United States from attack and maintained military pressure near enemy countries.