U.S. Navy Ship Force Levels, 1886-1889
1886-1889 | 1890-1899 | 1900-1909 | 1910-1916 | 1910-1919 |
1920-1929 | 1930-1939 | 1940-1949 | 1950-1959 | 1960-1969 |
1970-1979 | 1980-1989 | 1990-1999 | 2000-2009 | 2010-2019 |
As of December each year
| DATE | 1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BATTLESHIP | ||||
| CRUISER* | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| MONITOR | ||||
| TORPEDO BOATS | ||||
| STEEL GUNBOATS** | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| AUXILIARIES | ||||
| SCREW STEAMER*** | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| SCREW SLOOPS^ | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| GUNBOATS~ | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| SAILING VESSELS@ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| STEEL NAVY | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| OLD NAVY $ | 36 | 36 | 36 | 35 |
| TOTAL ACTIVE | 38 | 39 | 39 | 43 |
| NOTES |
|---|
* Mostly protected cruisers plus two armored cruisers and three unprotected cruisers. ** Although not a gunboat, the steel-hulled despatch boatDolphinwas part of the "New Navy". The great increase in numbers after 1897 includes new building, conversions, and war prizes. *** All wooden or iron ships until 1898 when the wartime expansion included eleven merchant ships temporarily converted to auxiliary cruisers. ^ Includes one steam sloop and one steam sloop-of-war. ~ Includes wooden, composite, and iron gunboats. @ Includes one sloop-of-war and three training ships. $ The distinction between "Old" Navy and "Steel" Navy is somewhat artificial, the former being the old iron-hulled vessels with early steam engines, while the latter term covers (with a few exceptions) the new steel-hulled triple-expansion steam engine warships that become the standard ships of 20th-century navies. |
| EVENTS |
• U.S. authorized first vessels of the "steel navy" in 1883 and 1885. • First battleship (pre-dreadnought) authorized in 1886. • Publication of Alfred Thayer Mahan's widely read but often misunderstoodThe Influence of Sea Power Upon Historyin 1890. |
