Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer 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. The CNO is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in this capacity, a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president.
Chief of Naval Operations
Michael Mullen, CNO in December 2006, with some of his predecessors: Vern Clark, James D. Watkins, Thomas B. Hayward, and Jay L. Johnson
William Sims
Rear Admiral Charles Johnston Badger with Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, c. 1914
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 world's most powerful navy and the largest by tonnage, at 4.5 million tons in 2021 and in 2009 an estimated battle fleet tonnage that exceeded the next 13 navies combined. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service, 1 undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of July 18, 2023.
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812
The Great White Fleet demonstrating U.S. naval power in 1907; it was proof that the U.S. Navy had blue-water capability.
Battleship USS Idaho shelling Okinawa on 1 April 1945
On Navy Day, October 27, 1945, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the Navy and the end of WW2.