The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships that completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909, by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various small escorts, and earned its moniker for the stark white paint on its hulls.
Flagship Connecticut: one of a set of commemorative postcards of the ships of the Great White Fleet
Kansas sails ahead of Vermont as the fleet leaves Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 16 December 1907.
A 1908 postcard welcomes the fleet to Australia.
The Fleet Passing Through the Magellan Straits by naval artist Henry Reuterdahl, who traveled with the fleet on USS Culgoa
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.
