nPostednon October 13, 2015
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nIt’sna bit tough to say when some beginnings are…
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nFornexample, can you have a United States Navy before you have a UnitednStates?
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nApparently,nyou can! The official birthday of the U.S. Navy is October 13, 1775 –neven though the Declaration of Independence wasn’t until July, 1776,nand the nation didn’t win its Revolutionary War against Britain untilnits victory in Yorktown in October, 1781. Even then, the war didn’tnofficially end – and the United States become recognized as ansovereign nation – until September, 1783.
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nItnwas the Continental Congress of the 13 colonies that firstnestablished a small navy on this date in 1775. This Continental navynwasn’t created to fight the British navy for control of the AtlanticnOcean! After all, the Royal Navy was the most powerful navy in thenworld.
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nHowever,nthe Continental navy was designed to work with “privateers” –nwhich are armed ships owned by individual people, not by thengovernment, that are authorized for use in war – to attack and raidnBritish supply ships. It was a smart tactic – the Continental navynand privateers would wait and watch for a transport on its way tonresupply British forces, and then they would dart in and attack.nWhenever they saw Royal Navy men-of-war – the battle ships – theynwould wriggle away and avoid fights if possible.
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nThenstart-up Continental navy was made up of rather small ships that theynhad purchased, converted, or built. Here are the major types of shipsnused by that first navy:
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nfrigates:
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nbrigs:
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nsloops:
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nschooners:
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nHonestly,nI’m not sure of the difference between the various ships – numbernof masts, number of sails, speed and agility all probably factor in,nsomehow – but if you’re interested, you could look up thendefinition of each of the ships.
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nNowadays,nof course, the U.S. Navy has a lot of much larger, more powerfulnships. Some of the ships are more like small cities than like, say, ansloop or a frigate! Again, I’m not positive of the exact difference between, say, cruisers and destroyers, but you could find out what defines each of these kinds of ships.
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nHerenare some of the most important types of modern naval ships:
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naircraftncarriers:
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n submarines:
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namphibiousnassault ships:
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namphibiousntransport docks:
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ndocknlanding ships:
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ncruisers:
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ndestroyers:
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nfrigates:
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nlittoralncombat ships:
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npatrolnships:
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nminencountermeasures ships:
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nP.S.nGuess who has the world’s most powerful navy now?
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nIfnyou answered “the U.S. of A.,” you’re right!
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nAlsonon this date:
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X-Files Dayn
X-Files Daynn
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nMusiciannPaul Simon’s birthday
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nAstronomynDay
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nNationalnChess Day
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nAnniversarynof the discovery of Whirlpool Galaxy
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nEnglishnLanguage Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nNovembern holidays
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nNovembern birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in November
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