United States Department of the Navy

Founded on April 30, 1798, it encompasses two distinct service branches under a single civilian secretary: the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Its primary mission is to protect the United States through the effective prosecution of war at sea, including the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases. The Department of the Navy released its Fiscal Year 2027 President’s Budget request on April 21, 2026, with a total topline of $377.5 billion.

Key facts

Country: United States
Founded: 30 April 1798
Headquarters: The Pentagon
Type: navy ministry; United States federal agency
Parent organisation: United States Department of Defense
Website: http://www.hq.navy.mil

Structure and Mission

The Department of the Navy comprises two military service branches under one civilian Secretary. The United States Navy is led by the Chief of Naval Operations, while the United States Marine Corps is led by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Each branch maintains an independent chain of command, its own training pipeline, and a distinct institutional culture, yet both answer to the same civilian authority.

The department’s primary mission, as defined in federal regulation, is to protect the United States as directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense through the effective prosecution of war at sea. That mandate explicitly includes, through the Marine Corps component, the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases.

Origins and Early History

Congress established the Department of the Navy on April 30, 1798, in direct response to a maritime crisis with France. By mid-1798, French attacks had seized more than 300 American merchant vessels, and the scale of those losses made clear that the existing War Department could not manage a dedicated naval campaign. The new department was given authority to coordinate an offensive response at sea.

The first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, took charge of an institution that had to be built largely from scratch, procuring ships and organizing a command structure while the undeclared conflict with France, known as the Quasi-War, was already underway.

Reorganisation Under the National Security Acts

The modern legal position of the Department of the Navy was set by two successive pieces of legislation. The National Security Act of 1947, signed by President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, placed the department as a military department within the newly created National Military Establishment and subordinated it to the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of the Navy at that point retained cabinet-level status.

An amendment enacted on August 10, 1949 renamed the National Military Establishment to the Department of Defense and removed the cabinet-level status of the Secretary of the Navy, making that position formally subordinate to the Secretary of Defense. The Department of the Navy has operated within that framework ever since.

Naval Research Laboratory

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), founded on July 2, 1923, serves as the Department of the Navy’s corporate scientific research command. Its establishment was instigated by inventor Thomas Edison, who had argued for a dedicated facility to apply scientific expertise to naval problems. Research areas include plasma physics, space physics, materials science, and electronic warfare.

Before and during World War II, the NRL developed the first operational American radar system, an early sonar system designated the QA system, and the fathometer. When NASA was formed in 1958, NRL researchers contributed significantly to its early staffing. The laboratory also managed Project Vanguard; its Vanguard I satellite, launched in 1958, remains in orbit as of 2024.

Force Expansion Plans

On April 21, 2026, the Department of the Navy released its Fiscal Year 2027 President’s Budget request, setting a total topline of $377.5 billion. That figure represents an increase of more than $70 billion compared to the prior year, amounting to approximately 23 percent growth year-over-year.

A shipbuilding plan released in May 2026 outlined an expansion toward a force of more than 450 crewed and autonomous vessels.

Fat Leonard Scandal

The “Fat Leonard” scandal is described as the largest bribery and corruption case in U.S. Navy history. It centred on Leonard Glenn Francis, the head of defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to pocketing at least $35 million in fraudulent billings. Francis bribed Navy officers with cash, prostitutes, and lavish gifts in exchange for classified information and for having ships directed to his ports across Asia.

The legal proceedings ran into serious difficulty in September 2023, when the felony convictions of four former Navy officers were vacated after courts found prosecutorial misconduct. That ruling represented a significant setback in the government’s extended efforts to hold officials accountable for their roles in the scandal.

Leadership and Civilian Oversight

The department is headed by a civilian Secretary of the Navy, a position that, since the 1949 amendment, sits below the Secretary of Defense in the chain of authority. Confirmation of the Secretary requires a Senate vote. John Phelan was confirmed to the role by a 62-30 Senate vote in March 2025, but was removed from the position on April 22, 2026.

Did you know

The Department of the Navy was established in 1798 partly because French maritime attacks had seized more than 300 American merchant vessels by mid-1798, prompting Congress to create a dedicated naval department to organise an offensive response. (grokipedia.com)
The NRL’s Vanguard I satellite, launched in 1958 as part of the Department of the Navy’s Project Vanguard, remains in orbit as of 2024, making it the longest-lasting human-made satellite ever launched. (kids.kiddle.co)
The NRL’s GRAB I satellite, launched in 1960, was the first U.S. spy satellite. It secretly mapped Soviet radar networks from space while its public cover story described it as a solar radiation research mission. (kids.kiddle.co)
John Phelan, removed as Secretary of the Navy on April 22, 2026, was just the seventh non-veteran to serve in the role in the past 70 years. He had been confirmed by a 62-30 Senate vote in March 2025. (militarytimes.com)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-28