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. The largest naval procurement bill in U.S. history, it increased the size of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

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 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: * 18

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

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cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...

s * 115

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s * 43

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s * 15,000

aircraft An 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 by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

* 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.{{cite news, title=New Navy Building Proceeds Swiftly, url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/07/21/132778582.pdf, accessdate=9 August 2012, newspaper=The New York Times, date=21 July 1940

References

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 the United States 1940 in military history

History

See also

References