Growth of the Navy
This article contains a July 24, 1944 official Navy Department statement on the the growth of the U. S. Navy from July 1, 1940 to August 18, 1944.
The United States Navy on August 18, 1944, will triple the number of combatant ships it had in the fleet on July 1, 1940, with the completion of the destroyer escort USS Grady.
When the Navy began its intensive building program in July, 1940, it had in the fleet 383 combatant ships. Completion of the Grady, barring any additional combat losses and failure to complete any of the ships listed for completion before August 18, will triple this total.
Total vessels of all types in the Navy have increased much more rapidly due principally to the addition of numerous amphibious vessels. On June 30, 1944, the Navy had more than ten times the number of craft of all classes, exclusive of small landing craft and small yard and district craft, than it had in commission on July 1, 1940. During the fiscal year which closed June 30, 1944, the number of Naval craft of all types approximately doubled.
The number of Navy planes on hand at the close of the last fiscal year was almost 20 times the number on hand on July 1, 1940. The number of planes on hand more than doubled during the 1943-44 fiscal year.
The Navy had no advance base program actively under way on July 1, 1940. From a modest beginning late in 1940, the advance base program has now grown to one of the Navy’s major activities. The value of work in place at Navy advance bases more than doubled during the fiscal year just closed.
While the ship, plane and advance base programs doubled during the 1943-44 fiscal year, the enlisted personnel of the Navy increased by only 73 per cent. Allowing for the increase in personnel which the President has authorized and which was announced July 23, the enlisted strength of the Navy as of June 30, 1943, will not double until June 30, 1945 - almost a year hence.
Posted: January 15th, 2007 under World War II.