Caps tossed for the U.S. Navy
As the aircraft carrier CVN 72 (Carrier Vessel Nuclear) USS (United States Ship) Abraham Lincoln steamed through the Strait of Hormuz last Jan. 22 escorted by the guided missile cruiser USS Cape St. George and two destroyers, it was joined by the British Royal Navy's frigate HMS Argyll, and a French vessel to augment the carrier group's "regular and routine transit mission." According to Fox News, "this was being seen as a show of strength directed at Tehran about the West's resolve to keep open the route into the Persian Gulf..."
What is so unusual about these three navies in a carrier group, you ask? To start with, the French Navy, officially the Marine Nationale ("National Navy"), the British Royal Navy and our U.S. Navy are the only three blue-water navies worldwide. And if you were awake during U.S. History class you will recall that France helped defeat the British in America's Revolutionary War. Yep, it all started with the Stamp Act of 1765... taxation without representation, the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and finally Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Talk about occupy Wall Street. The French naval victory in the Chesapeake Bay in September 1781 led to a siege by French and Continental armies that forced the surrender of Britain's Lord Charles Cornwallis's forces at Yorktown, Va., in October that year. Spain's expulsion of British armies from West Florida secured America's southern flank. The sovereignty of the United States was recognized at the "Treaty of Paris" in 1783 that ended the war.
Today, the U.S. Navy is the largest in the world, tracing its origins to the Revolutionary War. While an issue of debate in the Continental Congress, Commander in Chief George Washington commissioned seven ships to interdict British supply lines. (You should have stayed awake during class.) The debate in Congress ended when Washington reported that British ships had been captured, whereas the debate centered around whether or not to provoke British ships by establishing a Navy having a very limited role. It was not expected to contest British control of the seas, but rather to raid commerce and attack the transports that supplied British forces in North America.
An additional plan to equip two ships that would operate under the authority of Congress was carried out on Oct. 13, 1775, which later would become the Navy's official birthday. (There's going to be a test later.) The Naval Act of 1794 ordered the construction and manning of six frigates and were used to end most of the pirate activity in the Barbary Coast (Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco and Algiers) area in the Mediterranean Sea.
Our Navy is diverse in its nature, having surface ships, submarines, aircraft, SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) teams and the Seabees (CB... Construction Battalion), the construction arm of the Navy. Also of note is that the Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy. The leadership, however, is a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces.
For the thousands currently serving, and sailors who served before, the tradition is deep. Captain John Paul "I have not yet begun to fight" Jones (1747-1792), Captain James "don't give up the ship" Lawrence (1781-1813), Admiral David "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" Farragut (1801-1870) and Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966), who signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, on Sept. 2, 1945, are among the legends that make our Navy great.
Local Navy veterans include recently departed John Dunlap, Commander of American Legion Post 143, Commander Earl Crain and Chaplain Richard Baker of Post 14, Dr. Jack Dawson, Vietnam river boat skipper and retired Director of University of Idaho's Coeur d'Alene campus, Korea and Vietnam vet and former State Senator Clyde Boatright, and of course the list is not complete without mentioning the salty sailor Jim Shepard who saw action in beach landings during World War II. The list is endless.
To all who served, we owe you a debt of gratitude too large to pay. We can humbly say thank you for serving and protecting us, and for the security that you and our Navy has provided for the United States of America.
Anchors Aweigh!
Jack Evensizer is a resident of Dalton Gardens.