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USS Terry

USS Terry

Two ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Terry for Edward Terry.
- The first USS Terry (DD-25) was a modified Paulding-class destroyer launched in 1909 and served in World War I. She served in the United States Coast Guard from 1924 to 1930. She was sold in 1934.
- The second USS Terry (DD-513) was a Fletcher-class destroyer launched in 1942 and decommissioned by 1947 after serving with World War II.

United States Navy

The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. The U.S. Navy consists of 281 ships and over 4,000 aircraft. It has over half a million men and women on active or ready reserve duty. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established during the American Revolutionary War. The United States Constitution, ratified in 1789, empowered Congress "to provide and maintain a navy." Acting on this authority, Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates; one of the original six, USS Constitution, familiarly known as "Old Ironsides," survives to this day. The War Department administered naval affairs from that year until Congress established the Department of the Navy on April 30, 1798. The Navy became part of the Department of Defense upon its establishment in 1947.

History of the Navy

Main article: History of the United States Navy History of the United States Navy The Continental Navy was established in Philadelphia by the Continental Congress on October 13, 1775, which authorized the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to search for munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work. The Continental Navy operated some 50 ships over the course of the American Revolutionary War, but no more than about 20 at one time. After the war, Congress sold the surviving ships and released the seamen and officers. Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates on March 27, 1794, and three years later welcomed into service the first three: USS United States, Constellation and Constitution. The frigates became famous in the War of 1812, where they unexpectedly defeated British Royal Navy forces several times. During the American Civil War, the Navy was an innovator in the use of ironclad warships, but after the war slipped into obsolescence. A modernization program beginning in the 1880s brought the U.S. into the first rank of the world's navies by the beginning of the 20th century. 20th century (middle) and USS Annapolis (SSN 760) (front)]] The Navy saw little action during World War I, but grew into a formidable force in the years before World War II. Japan unsuccessfully attempted to allay this strategic threat with a late-1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. During the next three years, the U.S. Navy grew into the most powerful in the world. It is widely accepted that currently the United States Navy remains the most powerful in the world.

Organization

The Navy is administered by the Department of the Navy, led by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The senior naval officer, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), is the four-star admiral immediately under the Secretary of the Navy. The Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations are responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Navy so the Navy is ready for operation under the command of the Unified Combatant Commanders. (Also see United States Armed Forces Organization.) President | SECDEF | ------------------- | | SECNAV | | | CNO Unified Combatant Commanders | | -------------------- | | | | Shore establishment Operating Forces (including fleets)

Fleets

The two main fleets are the Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet. Under these two organizations fall the numbered fleets.
- 1st Fleet - no longer active
- 2nd Fleet – Atlantic Ocean — Flagship Iwo Jima, Norfolk, Virginia
- 3rd Fleet – Eastern and Northern Pacific Ocean — Flagship Coronado, San Diego, California (In peacetime the Third Fleet has no ARG and the carriers in the area are either on their way to the Seventh Fleet or conducting training cruises, after an overhaul for example.)
- 4th Fleet – Disbanded.
- 5th Fleet – Middle East — Headquartered at Manama, Bahrain
- 6th Fleet – Mediterranean Sea — Flagship Mount Whitney, Gaeta, Italy
- 7th Fleet – Western Pacific and Indian Ocean — Flagship Blue Ridge, Yokosuka, Japan

Shore commands

In addition to afloat fleets, the Navy maintains several "Naval Forces Commands" which operate naval shore facilities and serve as liaison units to local ground forces of the Air Force and Army. Such commands are answerable to a Fleet Commander as the shore component of the afloat command. During times of war, all Naval Forces Commands augment to become task forces of a primary fleet. Some of the larger Naval Forces Commands include:
- Commander Naval Forces Korea (CNFK)
- Commander Naval Forces Marianas (CNFM)
- Command Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ)

Staff corps

In addition to the regular line commands of the navy, several staff corps are also maintained which augment the line community and whose personnel are assigned to both line and staff commands. The current staff corps of the United States Navy are as follows:
- Navy Supply Corps
- Navy Medical Corps
- Navy Medical Service Corps
- Navy Nurse Corps
- Navy Chaplains Corps
- Navy Civil Engineer Corps (Seabees)
- Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG)

Weapons

Ships

Main article: U.S. Navy ships See also List of ships of the United States Navy for a more complete listing of ships past and present. The names of commissioned ships of the U.S. Navy start with USS, meaning 'United States Ship'. Non-commissioned, civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy have names that begin with USNS, standing for 'United States Naval Ship'. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are usually those of U.S. states, cities, towns, important people, famous battles, fish, and ideals. The U.S. Navy pioneered the use of nuclear reactors aboard naval vessels; today, they power most U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines. See United States Naval reactor. As of January 2004, a relatively small number of ship classes accounted for the bulk of the U.S. naval fleet. These include:

Aircraft carriers

United States Naval reactor on November 3, 2003. Approximately fifty aircraft can be counted on deck.]] Aircraft carriers are the major strategic arm of the Navy. They put U.S. air power within reach of most land-based military power. The US Navy's carriers are much larger and more powerful than those of the rest of the world. See also: List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy and List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Modern aircraft carriers since CV-67 are typically named for living or dead politicians; previous aircraft carriers were named for battles and famous fighting ships of the Navy.
- Kitty Hawk class (1 ship)
- Enterprise — Norfolk, Virginia
- John F. Kennedy — Mayport Naval Station, Florida
- Nimitz class (9 ships, 1 under construction)
- USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
- USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
- USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
- USS George Washington (CVN-73)
- USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
- USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)

Amphibious assault ships

The largest of all amphibious warfare ships amphibious assault ships resemble small aircraft carriers; capable of V/STOL, STOVL, VTOL tiltrotor and rotary wing aircraft operations; contains a welldeck to support use of Landing Craft Air Cushion and other watercraft. Amphibious assault ships are typically named after World War II aircraft carriers, a name source kept over from the earliest ones, which were converted WWII carriers.
- Wasp class (7 ships)
- Tarawa class (4 ships active, 1 decommissioned)

Amphibious transport docks

Amphibious transports are warships that embark, transport, and land elements of a landing force for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions. Amphibious transport docks are named for cities, except for USS New York (LPD-21), which is named for the state of New York and USS Somerset (LPD-25), which is named for Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
- San Antonio class (3 launched, 2 under construction, 3 planned, 2 projected)
- Austin class (10 ships active, 1 Decommissioned, 1 converted to AGF)

Submarines

:Main article: Submarines in the United States Navy There are two major types of submarines, ballistic and attack. Ballistic subs have a single, strategic mission: carrying nuclear SLBMs. Attack submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and subs, launching cruise missiles, and gathering intelligence. Sea attack submarines are typically named for cities; land attack submarines (Virginia and Ohio-class boats) are typically named for states. Earlier attack submarines were named for fish, while earlier ballistic missile submarines were named for "famous Americans" (although many of these were actually foreigners).
- Ohio class (18 in commission) — ballistic missile submarines, 4 to be converted into guided missile submarines
- Virginia class (1 in commission, 3 under construction, 2 on order) — attack submarines
- Seawolf class (3 in commission) — attack submarines
- Los Angeles Class (51 in commission) — attack submarines

Cruisers

Guided missile cruisers can conduct air warfare, surface warfare and undersea warfare. All modern cruisers are named for battles. Previous cruisers were either named for cities (until CG-12), the redesignated frigates were named for naval heroes (CG-15 to CG-35) or states (CG-36 to CG-42).
- Ticonderoga class (23 in commission) — first ships to carry the Aegis combat system

Destroyers

See also the List of destroyers of the United States Navy. All destroyers have been named for naval heroes since USS Bainbridge (DD-1).
- Arleigh Burke class (44 in commission as of June 2005) — first ship class with comprehensive design for stealth technology.

Frigates

Modern frigates mainly perform anti-submarine warfare and escort other ships. The U.S. Navy is gradually retiring its frigates; some of their jobs will be performed by the nascent littoral combat ship. [http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/lcs/] Named, like the destroyers, for naval heroes.
- Oliver Hazard Perry class (30 ships in commission)

Battleships

All U.S. battleships have been retired, although two Tomahawk-capable ships remain in "Inactive" Reserve. They are maintained in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996. Current plans in the United States Navy call for keeping the battleships on the NVR until the naval surface fire support gun and missile development programs achieve operational capability, which is expected to occur sometime between 2003 and 2008. All battleships except USS Kearsarge (BB-5) were named for states.
- Iowa class

Early vessels

- USS Constitution — "Old Ironsides," oldest commissioned warship afloat
- USS Monitor — first US ironclad warship, also first rotating turret
- USS Merrimack — a wooden warship rebuilt by the Confederates as the ironclad CSS Virginia
- USS Alligator — the first submarine of the Civil War, but sunk while being towed during a storm.
- CSS Hunley — First submarine to sink a ship in a combat engagement, though it sunk in the aftermath as well. Built by the Confederates near the end of the Civil War. Sank USS Housatonic with a spar-mounted torpedo.

Naval aircraft

torpedo, 2003]]
- A-4 Skyhawk
- AV-8B Harrier II
- C-2 Greyhound
- E-2C Hawkeye
- E-6B Mercury
- EA-6B Prowler
- ES-3 Shadow
- FH-1 Phantom
- F-14 Tomcat
- F-15 Eagle
- F-16 Fighting Falcon
- F/A-18 Hornet
- F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
- EA-18G Growler
- F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
- H-3 Sea King
- CH-46 Sea Knight
- CH-53 Sea Stallion
- SH-2 Seasprite
- SH-60 Sea Hawk
- P-3C Orion see also Multimission Maritime Aircraft
- S-3B Viking
- V-22 Osprey
- T-6A Texan II
- T-45 Goshawk
- Aerial Common Sensor (no designation yet)

Harbor defense

The United States Navy has, in the last few years, greatly expanded its harbor defense forces in response to the War on Terrorism. The main components of Naval Harbor Defense include:
- Inshore Boat Units (IBUs)
- Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Units (MIUWUs)
- Special Boat Units (SBUs)

Special warfare

The Navy Seals are the U.S. Navy's primary special warfare units whose purpose is to engage in "special activities other than war". The Navy also maintains an EOD Corps (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) as well as a small corps of Surface Warfare personel known by the designator "Special Operations Underway".

Missiles, guns, equipment

- Trident missile
- Poseidon missile
- Tomahawk missile
- Polaris missile
- Naval Space Surveillance System
- CIWS

Submarine warfare and nuclear deterrence

The submarine has a long history in the USN. It began in the late 19th century, with the building of the SS-1, USS Holland. The boat was in service for 10 years and was a developmental and trials vessel for many systems on other early submarines. The submarine really came of age in World War I. The USN did not have a large part in this war, with its action mainly being confined to escorting convoys later in the war and sending a division of battleships to reinforce the British Grand Fleet. However, there were those in the USN submarine service who saw what the Germans had done with their U-boats and took careful note. Doctrine in the inter-war years emphasised the submarine as a scout for the battle fleet, and also extreme caution in command. Both these axioms were proven wrong after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The submarine skippers of the fleet boats of World War II waged a very effective campaign against Japanese merchant vessels, doing to Japan what Germany failed to do to the United Kingdom. They were aggressive and effective, and operated far from the fleet. In addition to their commerce raiding role, submarines also proved valuable in air-sea rescue. There was many an American aircraft carrier pilot who owed his life to the valour of USN submarine crews, including future U.S. President George H. W. Bush.

Navy revolutions

After WWII, things continued along much the same path until the early 1950s. Then a revolution, that was to forever change the nature of the submarine arm occurred. That revolution was USS Nautilus. The Nautilus was the first nuclear-powered submarine. Up until that point, submarines had really been, at their most basic level, torpedo boats that happened to be able to go underwater. They had been tied to the surface by the need to charge their batteries using diesel engines relatively often. The nuclear power plant of the Nautilus meant that the boat could stay underwater for literally months at a time, the only limit in the end being the amount of food that the boat could carry. Another revolution in submarine warfare came with USS George Washington. Nuclear powered, like Nautilus, George Washington added strategic ballistic missiles to the mix. Earlier submarines had carried strategic missiles, but the boats had been diesel powered, and the missiles required the boat to surface in order to fire. The missiles were also cruise missiles, which were vulnerable to the defences of the day in a way that ballistic missiles were not. George Washington's missiles could be fired whilst the boat was submerged, meaning that it was far less likely to be detected before firing. The nuclear power of the boat also meant that, like Nautilus, George Washington's patrol length was only limited by the amount of food the boat could carry. Ballistic missile submarines, carrying Polaris missiles, eventually superseded all other strategic nuclear systems in the USN. Deterrent patrols continue to this day, although now with the Ohio class boats and Trident missiles. Trident missile]] Given the lack of large scale conventional naval warfare since 1945, with the USN's role being primarily that of power projection, the submarine service did not fire weapons in anger for very many years. The development of a new generation of cruise missiles changed that. The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile was developed to give naval vessels a long range land attack capability. Other than direct shore bombardment, and strikes by aircraft flying off carriers, the ability of naval vessels to influence warfare on land was limited. Now, instead of being limited to firing shells less than 20 miles inland from guns, any naval vessel fitted with the Tomahawk could hit targets up to 1,000 miles inland. The mainstay of the Tomahawk equipped vessels in the early days of the missile's deployment were the Iowa class battleships, and the submarine fleet. The Tomahawk was first used in combat on 17 January 1991, on the opening night of Operation Desert Storm. On that day, for the first time since the surrender of Japan in 1945, an American submarine fired in combat, when Tomahawks were launched by US boats in the eastern Mediterranean. Since then, the Tomahawk has become a staple of American campaigns. It has seen use in no less than three separate wars. It has also been exported to the United Kingdom, which has also fitted it to submarines. The Tomahawk has seen a change in the design of attack submarines. At first it was fired through torpedo tubes, but more recent US boats have been fitted with vertical launch systems to enable them to carry more of the weapons. In the early 21st century, the USN submarine fleet is made up entirely of nuclear powered vessels. It is the most powerful of its type in the world. However, there are those who worry that there are not enough boats in the fleet. As with other branches of the US military the budget cuts of the late 1980s and the early 1990s, as the Cold War ended, followed up by the War on Terrorism, have left little or no slack in the system. This point is illustrated by the fact that in 2003, for the first time since 1945, a US submarine made two back-to-back war patrols.

Major naval bases

- Complete list of US Naval facilities
- Norfolk, Virginia — The largest Naval base in the world, situated in southeastern Virginia. This is the main port on the Eastern Seaboard.
- Pearl Harbor, Hawaii — A deep water naval base and headquarters of the Pacific Fleet
- San Diego, California — A large complex of Navy bases, and the primary port for ships on the West Coast of the United States
- Naval Base Kitsap, Washington — Home base for Ohio Class nuclear missile submarines in the Pacific Ocean
- Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia — Home base for Ohio Class nuclear missile submarines in the Atlantic Ocean
- Naval Station Mayport, Florida
- Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada
- Guantanamo Bay — A small section on the south coast of Cuba is leased by the United States and used as a naval base.
- U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan. Largest overseas Naval facility.

Personnel

Commissioned officer

Commissioned officers in the Navy have paygrades from O-1 to O-10. Officers with superior performance may be promoted. Officers between O-1 and O-4 are called junior officers, O-5 and O-6 are called senior officers, and O-7 to O-10 are called flag officers. See U.S. Navy officer rank insignia for a complete list of paygrades and corresponding ranks. Commissioned officers belong to one of the following communities:
- Unrestricted line: Surface Warfare, Aviation Warfare, Submarine Warfare, Special Warfare, Nuclear
- Restricted line: Engineering Duty, Aerospace Engineering Duty, Aerospace Maintenance Duty, Cryptologic, Naval Intelligence, Public Affairs, Meteorology and Oceanography, Information Professional, Human Resource
- Staff Corps: Supply Corps, Medical Corps, Medical Service Corps, Dental Corps, Nurse Corps, Chaplain Corps, Civil Engineer Corps, Judge Advocate General Corps, Navy Band Corps The term "line" officer means someone who may command a warship or an aviation unit. It is a carryover from the 18th-century British tactic of employing warships in a "line" to take advantage of cannons on each side of the ship. The captains of such vessels commanded "ships of the line." Today, all Navy line officers wear a star on the sleeves of uniforms near the cuff braid that denotes rank. Staff officers wear different insignias. Note: Marine Corps officers, also part of the Department of the Navy, are all considered "line" officers because they are qualified as troop commanders in addition to their specialties. Commissioned officers originate from the United States Naval Academy, Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), Officer Candidate School (OCS), direct commission, and other commissioning programs (such as [https://www.sta-21.navy.mil/ Seaman to Admiral-21] and Limited Duty Officer programs).

Enlisted

Enlisted members of the Navy have paygrades from E-1 to E-9. Enlisted members with superior performance may be advanced in paygrade. Two notably significant advancements are Seaman to Petty Officer Third Class (E-3 to E-4) and Petty Officer First Class to Chief Petty Officer (E-6 to E-7). Advancement to Chief Petty Officer is especially significant, marked by a special initiation ceremony. See U.S. Navy enlisted rate insignia for a complete list of the paygrades. All new active-duty enlisted members receive basic training ("boot camp") at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois. Those who have a contract for a specific rating continue onto "A" schools for training in the rating. Those who don't have a specific rating go into the fleet to learn on the job and later strike for a rating. Some members may go to additonal training in a "C" school either before a tour of duty, or after a tour of duty. A "C" school assigns a member a Navy Enlisted Classification code, or NEC, which shows that a sailor is able to perform a specific task requiring that NEC, such as NEC 2780 - Network Security Vulnerablity Technician. Enlisted members of paygrades E-4 and above are said to be "rated" and have a rating: an occupational specialty. As of June 2005, there are more than 50 ratings, including Boatswain's Mate, Quartermaster, Engineman, Damage Controlman, Electronics Technician, Information Systems Technician, Air Traffic Controller, Fire Control Technician, Gunner's Mate, Sonar Technician, Construction Mechanic, Hospital Corpsman, Yeoman, Disbursing Clerk, Culinary Specialist, Photographer's Mate, Musician, Master-at-Arms, Aviation Electronics Technician, and Cryptologic Technician. Some ratings have subspecialties acquired either through an initial "A" school for training (such as Cryptologic Technician Technical and Cryptologic Technician Collection) or through a separate "C" school (such as Aviation Electronics Technician Organizational and Aviation Electronics Technician Intermediate.)

Qualifications

Sailors prove they have mastered skills and deserve responsibilities by completing Personal Qualification Standards (PQS) tasks and examinations. Among the most important is the "warfare qualification," which denotes a journeyman level of capability in Aviation Warfare, Special Warfare, Surface Warfare, or Submarine Warfare. Many qualifications are denoted on a sailor's uniform with U.S. Navy badges and insignia.

Sea Warrior

Launched in 2003 as part of the Navy's [http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/cno/proceedings.html Sea Power 21] transformation plan, Sea Warrior is intended to link the fleet's personnel processes (recruiting, training, and assigning) with acquisition processes (buying ships, aircraft, etc.) in a way that also improves each individual sailor's ability to guide his or her own career in a satisfying direction. The aim is to more efficiently muster the right number of sailors with the right skills and seniority at each ship, squadron, and duty station. Sea Warrior is led by the Chief of Naval Personnel[http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/flags/biographies/hoewinggl.html], and the commander of the [https://www.cnet.navy.mil/netc/netc.html Naval Education and Training Command].

Naval culture

Navy sailors are trained in the core values of Honor, Courage, Commitment. Sailors cope with boredom on long cruises of six months to a year, and cherish their time in their home ports, as well as vacations at ports abroad.

Naval jack

Chief of Naval Personnel Chief of Naval Personnel Chief of Naval Personnel The naval jack of the United States is the First Navy Jack, first used during the American Revolutionary War. On May 31, 2002, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England directed all U.S. naval ships to fly the First Navy Jack for the duration of the War on Terrorism. Many ships chose to shift colors on September 11, 2002. The jack is flown from the bow of the ship and the ensign from the stern when the ship is moored or anchored. When underway, the ensign is flown from the main mast. The former naval jack was a blue field with 50 white stars, identical to the canton of the ensign, both in appearance and size. A jack of similar design was first used in 1794, though with 13 stars arranged in a 3–2–3–2–3 pattern.

Naval jargon

Main article: Military slang A distinct jargon has developed among sailors over the course of the last four centuries. Naval jargon is spoken by American sailors as a normal part of their daily speech. There are three distinct components of Naval jargon:
- Words that are unique to sailing and have no use in standard English, such as yardarm, bow, and stern.
- Archaic English that remains common in naval jargon, such as "aye" (the common English word for "Yes" until the 16th century), "Fo'c'sle" (from Fore Castle), and Bo'sun (from "Boat Swain", swain being Middle English for a young man or a servant).
- Modern jargon, such as "Bird" to refer to missiles, or 1MC. See U.S. Navy slang for more information. Also see Covey Crump.
Notable members of the U.S. Navy
Covey Crump Officers
- Vern Clark — former Chief of Naval Operations
- Robert Dennison — retired admiral, presidential aide
- George Dewey — Hero of the Battle of Manila Bay in Spanish-American War; first and only Admiral of the Navy
- David Farragut — American Civil War Admiral, first officer to become an Admiral in the U.S. Navy
- Wilson Flagg — retired Admiral, killed in Sept 11 attack
- William Halsey, Jr. — Third Fleet Commander, won battles off Guadalcanal and the Solomons; attained rank of Fleet Admiral (5 stars)
- Esek Hopkins — first Commander in Chief of the navy during the Revolutionary War
- Grace Hopper — early computing pioneer, attained the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy Reserve
- John Paul Jones — commander during the American Revolutionary War, considered to be the founder of the American Naval tradition
- Ernest King — Fleet Admiral; former Chief of Naval Operations
- William D. Leahy — first Fleet Admiral; first head of the Chiefs of Staff (before the post was renamed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff); former Chief of Naval Operations; former Governor of Puerto Rico; former U.S. ambassador to France
- Richard Marcinko — author, founder and commander of SEAL Team Six
- Chester Nimitz — Fleet Admiral; former Chief of Naval Operations; signed for the U.S. when Japan formally surrendered onboard the USS Missouri, class of carriers named after him
- Matthew Perry — Commodore who forced the opening of Japan
- Eli Thomas Reich — Vice Admiral, only submariner to sink a Japanese battleship unaided during WW2.
- Hyman G. Rickover — Admiral, "Father of the Nuclear Navy"
- Raymond A. Spruance -Commander at the Battle of Midway, led the Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific and Okinawa. Rebuilt the Naval War College after World War II Politicians
- George H. W. Bush — former U.S. President; youngest Naval Aviator in World War II; former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Jimmy Carter — former U.S. President; Cold War submariner and Peace Prize laureate
- Glenn Robert Davis — former member of the US House of Representatives
- Gerald Ford — former U.S. President; served aboard carrier during World War II
- Lyndon B. Johnson — former U.S. President; worked as a bomb observer with the Army during World War II
- John F. Kennedy — former U.S. President; decorated PT Boat commander in World War II
- John Kerry — junior U.S. Senator and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate; swift boat commander during the Vietnam War
- John McCain — senior U.S. Senator from Arizona and Republican presidential primary candidate in 2000; former naval aviator and POW
- Richard M. Nixon — former U.S. President; supply officer in World War II Astronauts
- Neil Armstrong — astronaut, first man on the moon
- James Lovell — naval aviator, astronaut, pilot of first lunar orbit flight (Apollo 8) and commander of Apollo 13 mission
- Alan Shepard — naval aviator, first American in space (Mercury-Redstone 3) and Apollo 14 commander
- John Young — naval aviator and Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle astronaut Others
- Bill Cosby — actor, comedian and educational philanthropist
- Lenny Bruce — American comedian
- Robert A. Heinlein — science fiction author
- L. Ron Hubbard — science fiction author and founder of the Church of Scientology
- David Robinson — former NBA star (San Antonio Spurs), commonly nicknamed "The Admiral"
- Bill Sharman — basketball Hall of Famer
- Roger Staubach — football hall of Famer, Vietnam veteran
- Jesse Ventura — actor, professional wrestler, Governor of Minnesota
See also

- Continental Navy
- Electronics Technician rating
- Information Systems Technician rating
- Seabees, US Navy Construction Battalions, hence CBs
- Navy SEAL, special forces
- BUPERS
- Fleet Week
- WAVES
- Ship-Submarine recycling program
- U.S. Navy officer rank insignia
- U.S. Navy enlisted rate insignia
- Unrestricted Line Officer
- Restricted Line Officer
- Limited Duty Officer
- Awards and decorations of the United States military
- Military badges of the United States
- United States armed forces
- United States Secretary of the Navy
- Comparative military ranks
- List of United States Navy bases
- List of ships of the United States Navy
- List of active Navy ships, sorted by homeport
- List of units of the United States Navy
- U.S. Navy munitions
- Navy Band
- Eternal Father Strong to Save (the U.S. Navy hymn)
References

- [http://www.navy.mil Official U.S. Navy Website]
- [http://www.hq.navy.mil/ Department of the Navy Website]
- [https://www.nko.navy.mil Navy Knowledge Online]
- [http://www.seawarrior.navy.mil Sea Warrior]
- [http://www.nosi.org Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)] — a digital library of world naval operational news, curated from open source intelligence, and intended to serve as a source of continuing education on naval and military affairs
- [http://www.microworks.net/pacific/ U.S. Navy in WW II] — a web site devoted to the U.S. navy in the Pacific theater during World War II
External links

- [http://www.navsource.org NavSource Naval History - Photographic History Of The U.S. Navy ] — a source of thousands of photographs of US Navy ships.
- [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/us_battleship_list.htm Maritimequest US Battleship photo gallery]
- [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ The Offical Chronology of the US Navy In World War II]
- Category:Navies ja:アメリカ海軍

USS Terry (DD-25)

The first USS Terry (DD-25) was a modified Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I, and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated CG-19. She was named for Edward Terry. Terry was laid down on 8 February 1909 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company; launched on 21 August 1909; sponsored by Mrs. George Henry Rock; and commissioned on 18 October 1910, Lieutenant Commander Martin E. Trench in command. Following trials off the east coast, Terry joined the Atlantic Fleet Torpedo Flotilla in winter operations in Cuban waters. She conducted both torpedo exercises with the flotilla and general maneuvers with the Fleet as a whole. The routine of winter maneuvers in the Caribbean alternated with spring and summer operations along the New England coast continued until November 1913, when the torpedo boat destroyer arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, for overhaul. Soon after entering the navy yard there, Terry was placed in reserve. Though still in reserve after her overhaul was completed, Terry continued to be active. During 1914, she cruised the coast of Florida; and, by February 1915, she was back in Cuban waters for winter maneuvers. That summer, Terry steamed as far north as Newport, Rhode Island, to conduct another round of torpedo exercises. Upon completion of the mission, she returned to her base at Charleston. By 1 January 1916, the torpedo boat destroyer was operating with a reduced complement destroyer division. On the 31st, she cruised with units of the Atlantic Fleet to Key West, Florida. In May, she steamed from there to Santo Domingo. On 10 June, while maneuvering in the inner harbor at Puerto Plata, she struck a reef and settled until the greater part of the main deck was submerged. On the 13th, under the supervision of the commanding officer of Sacramento (Gunboat No. 19), Terry's officers and men joined the staff of a wrecking company in salvage operations. The warship was refloated on 26 July, temporarily repaired by 7 July, and returned to the Charleston Navy Yard on 15 July. America's entry into World War I saw Terry undergoing extensive repairs at Charleston. Upon completion of the yard work, she began duty patrolling along the Atlantic coast and escorting merchantmen bound for Europe. In January 1918, Terry put to sea for operations with the destroyer force based at Queenstown, Ireland. There, she escorted convoys through the submarine-infested waters surrounding the British Isles. Her tour of duty at Queenstown was a relatively peaceful, though rigorous, one. While she never sighted a German U-boat nor engaged in combat operations, on one voyage she escorted a convoy which lost one ship to a submarine. On another occasion, on 19 March 1918, she assisted Manley (Destroyer No. 74) with casualties after that destroyer was damaged by an accidental depth charge explosion. In December 1918, Terry returned to the United States; and, after 11 months of extremely limited service, she was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 13 November 1919. She remained there until she was transferred to the Coast Guard on 7 June 1924. Based in New York, she served as part of the Rum Patrol. She served in the Coast Guard until 18 October 1930, when she was returned to the Navy and restored on the Navy list in a decommissioned status, listed as a "vessel to be disposed of by sale or salvage." On 2 May 1934, Terry was sold for scrapping. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 June 1934. See USS Terry for other ships of this name. Terry Terry

Destroyer

:This article is about the warship. For other meaning, see destroyer (disambiguation). destroyer (disambiguation) destroyer]] In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). At the beginning of the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatants in general use, with only two nations (the United States and Russia) operating cruisers and none operating battleships or battlecruisers.

Genesis of the destroyer

The destroyer originated in Britain and Japan in the last years of the 1880s, and became firmly established after the Chilean Civil War of 1891 and in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). In those conflicts, a new type of ship proved to be devastatingly effective—the swift, small torpedo-boat invented by John Ericsson. These small boats had speed greater than that of the larger ships, and could dash in close to them, loose their torpedoes, and dash away. While normally a small, short-range boat of this sort would be easily destroyed long before getting into range, they could be operated within a fleet with larger ships as long as the fleet was close to base. In this case the defending force had to choose which set of targets to attack: the larger ships which they were built to counter, or the smaller torpedo boats which were charging in to attack. Yet this one-two punch cost almost nothing to the attacker, as the small torpedo boats were very inexpensive. The world's navies recognized the need for a counter weapon and developed the torpedo-boat destroyer. The basic idea was to have a screen of ships that were as fast as the torpedo boats, but armed with guns instead of torpedoes. They would operate at a distance from the main fleet of capital ships to keep the torpedo-boats from ever getting into torpedo firing range. However it was clear even at the time that this concept had problems of its own. The ship would indeed be capable of holding off an attack by torpedo boats (which typically have no guns of their own), but while operating away from the fleet they would be easy targets for any other capital ship. Thus they were often given torpedoes of their own. Another problem was that the torpedo-boats were short ranged and thus easy and cheap to produce. However the destroyers had the problem of needing to operate as a screen for the fleet. This required them to have the speed and range of the battleships, so destroyers were often much larger than the boats they were designed to counter.

First designs

battleships (1887)]] The first effective design of a torpedo-boat destroyer emerged in 1885 with the Japanese Kotaka, a Japanese-designed, but British-built, torpedo-boat with expanded capabilities and performances, which "was the forerunner of torpedo-boat destroyers that appeared a decade later" (Kaigun, David C. Evans). Designed and ordered in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. She was armed with four 1-pounder (37 mm) quick-firing guns and four torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots, and at 203 tons, was the largest torpedo boat yet designed. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could go beyond a role of coastal defense, and was capable of following larger ships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for the Kotaka, "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer" (Howe). Yarrow shipyards Almost immediately after the order of the Kotaka was placed, Fernando Villaamil of the Spanish Navy also placed an order for a torpedo-boat destroyer in November 1885, with the British builder James and George Thompson, of Clydebank, also nearby the Yarrow shipyards. The ship, named Destructor, was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887, thereby becoming the first torpedo-boat destroyer to be completed. Her displacement was 380 tons, and she was equipped with triple expansion engines generating 3,800 HP, for a maximum speed of 22.6 knots. She was armed with one 90 mm Hontoria cannon, four 57 mm Nordenfeldt cannon, two 37 mm Hotchkiss guns and 3 Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. Her complement was 60 men. Hotchkiss).]] The next effective design of torpedo boat destroyer, with the range and speed to keep up with battleships, was the Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy, developed in 1892 under the newly appointed Third Sea Lord Rear Admiral "Jackie" Fisher, and launched in 1893. The Havock had a 240 tons displacement, a speed of 27 knots, and was armed with a single 12-pounder (76 mm) gun, three 6-pounders (57 mm), and three 46 cm torpedo tubes. The torpedo boat destroyer later on took over the role of the smaller torpedo boats, performing torpedo attacks on fleets, such as the devastating Japanese attack on the Russian fleet in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, and attacks in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

World War I

Torpedo Boat destroyers grew in size and effectiveness in the early part of the 20th century. Innovations such as turbine propulsion, oil-fired rather than coal-fired boilers, and longer ranged "heater" torpedoes led to effective ships being designed by Britain and Germany. The threat evolved by World War I with the perfection of the submarine. In general, the submarine, or U-boat, of the era was nothing more than a submersible torpedo boat. This change allowed the submarine to hide from the guns of the destroyers and close to firing while underwater. This led to an equally rapid destroyer evolution during the war, which was quickly equipped with depth charges and sonar for countering this new threat. At the end of the war the state of the art was represented by the British V and W class destroyer.

Inter War

V and W class destroyer Destroyer construction continued during the inter war period initially with designs evolved from the British V & W Class. A major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class destroyers or special type of 1928, which introduced enclosed turrets capable of anti-aircraft fire and the 24-inch (60cm) oxygen fuelled Type 93 torpedo. Most other nations replied with similar larger type ships examples include the US Porter-class destroyer leader and the British Afridi-class destroyer (commonly called "Tribals") The submarine threat had been insufficiently realized, however; while sonar (or ASDIC)was fitted, training in its use was indifferent. Weapons to attack submarines changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in WW1, had made no progress.

World War II

By World War II the threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the fleet destroyers were unequipped for combatting these new targets. They were re-equipped with new anti-aircraft guns, radar, and ahead-throwing ASW weapons, in addition to their existing light guns, depth charges, and torpedoes. By this time the destroyers had become large multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right rather than expendable vessels for the protection of others. This led to the introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized anti-submarine warships by the Royal Navy: corvettes and later frigates, while the US introduced destroyer escorts.

Post War

Some conventional destroyers were completed in the late 1940's and 1950's which built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit Machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons such as the Squid mortar. Examples include the British Daring-class, US Forrest Sherman-class, and the Soviet Kotlin-class destroyers. Some World War II-vintage ships were modernised for anti-submarine warfrare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include the US FRAM I programme and the British Type 15 frigate.

The Missile Age

The advent of surface-to-air (SAM) missiles and surface-to-surface (SSM) missiles, such as the Exocet, in the early 1960's changed naval warfare. Guided missile destroyes (DDG in the US Navy) were developed to carry these weapons and protect the fleet from air, submarine and surface threats. Examples include the Soviet Kashin-class, the British County-class, and the American Charles F. Adams-class.

Modern destroyers

Charles F. Adams-class The United States commissioned its first destroyer, USS Bainbridge, Destroyer No. 1, in 1902. In the US Navy, destroyers operate in support of carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious groups and replenishment groups. Destroyers (with a DD hull classification symbol) primarily perform anti-submarine warfare duty while guided missile destroyers (DDGs) are multi-mission (anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and anti-surface warfare) surface combatants. The relatively-recent addition of cruise missile launchers has greatly expanded the role of the destroyer in strike and land-attack warfare. As the expense of heavier surface combatants has generally removed them from the fleet, destroyer tonnage has grown (a modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has the same tonnage as a World War II light cruiser). Arleigh Burke is billed by her builders, the Bath Iron Works, as ton-for-ton the most powerful warship in history. Bath Iron Works destroyer]] One class of destroyers is currently in use by the US Navy: the Arleigh Burke class. The last Spruance class destroyer in service, USS Cushing (DD-985), was decommissioned on September 21, 2005. The Zumwalt class were planned to replace them; on November 1, 2001, the US Navy announced the issuance of a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Future Surface Combatant Program. Formerly known as DD 21, the program will now be called DD(X) to more accurately reflect the program purpose, which is to produce a family of advanced technology surface combatants, not a single ship class. DD(X) is no longer called Zumwalt class, and is much larger than traditional destroyers, being nearly three thousand tons heavier than a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. It will potentially employ advanced weaponry and an all-electric Integrated Power System. Integrated Power System The Royal Navy's first destroyers were the Havock-class destroyers of 1893. The Royal Navy currently operates 8 ships of the Type 42 class. The destroyers (as well as frigates) are, as always, the workhorses of the fleet, the former optimised for air defence and the latter for surface and subsurface warfare. They are equally at home in large task groups or on independent operations which may include sanctions enforcement, humanitarian relief or anti-drug patrols. British destroyers (of recent times) have an average displacement of around 5,000 tonnes, and are armed with a mixture of guns and missiles including 114 mm (4.5 inch) Mk 8 guns, Sea Dart Missiles, 20 mm Close range guns, Vulcan Phalanx close in weapons system (CIWS), anti submarine torpedo tubes. The current Royal Navy destroyers are to be replaced by the new Type 45 Daring Class from 2006 onwards. A class of 12 ships is envisaged, with an entire programme budget of £6 billion. Displacing around 7,200 tons, they will be equipped with the UK variant of the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). Design and construction of the first ships is to be split between BAE Systems and Vosper Thornycroft under the overall project management of BAE systems. Two of the ships will be assembled at Scotstoun, by BAE Systems and the other by Vosper Thornycroft at a new shipbuilding facility at Portsmouth Naval Yard.

References

- "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941", David C. Evans, Mark R.Peattie, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland ISBN 0870211927
- "The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War", Christopher Howe, The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226354857
- "The Atlantic Campaign", Dan van der Vat.
- "DD-963 Spruance-class" http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-963.htm

External links

- [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/stc0644.htm The Japanese 1887 Kotaka (Japanese)]
- [http://www.historialago.com/av_0110_d_destructor_tribal.htm The Spanish 1886 Destructor (Spanish)] Category:Ship types ko:구축함 ms:Kapal pembinasa ja:駆逐艦

World War I

, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas.]] World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the War of the Nations and the War to End All Wars, was a world conflict lasting from 1914 to 1919, with the fighting lasting until 1918. The label World War I or First World War did not come into general use until after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and until then it was known as the Great War or the World War. The war was fought by the Allied Powers on one side, and the Central Powers on the other. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers or involved so many in the field of battle. By its end, the war had become the second bloodiest conflict in recorded history (behind the Taiping Rebellion), though it was surpassed within a generation by World War II. World War I became infamous for trench warfare; this was especially true of the Western Front. The trenches went from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland in Europe. More than 9 million died on the war's battlefields, and nearly that many more on the home fronts because of food shortages, genocide, and ground combat. Among other notable events, the first large-scale bombing from the air was undertaken and some of the century's first large-scale civilian massacres took place, as one of the aspects of modern efficient, non-chivalrous warfare. In the First World War 5% of casualties were civilian. In the Second World War that was 50%. World War I proved to be the decisive break with the old world order, marking the final demise of absolutist monarchy in Europe. Four empires were shattered: the German, the Austro-Hungarian, the Ottoman, and the Russian. Their four dynasties, the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and the Romanovs, who had roots of power back to the days of the Crusades, all fell during or after the war. The post-war failure to deal effectively with many of the causes and results of the War would lead to the rise of Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany and the outbreak of World War II within a generation. The War was the catalyst for the Bolshevik Russian Revolution, which would inspire later Communist revolutions in countries as diverse as China and Cuba, and would lay the basis for the Cold War standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the east, the demise of the Ottoman Empire paved the way for a modern democratic successor state, Turkey. In Central Europe, new states such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were born and Poland was re-created. __TOC__

Causes

Poland of Franz Ferdinand. The murder was the igniting torch of World War I.]] :See also: Causes of World War I and Participants in World War I On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student. He was part of a group of fifteen assassins, acting with support from the Black Hand, a secret society founded by pan-Serbian nationalists, with links to the Serbian military. The assassination sparked little initial concern in Europe. The Archduke himself was not popular, least of all in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While there were riots in Sarajevo following the Archduke's death, these were largely aimed at the Serbian minority. Though this assassination has been linked as the direct trigger for World War I, the war's real origins lie further back, in the complex web of alliances and counterbalances that developed between the various European powers after the defeat of France and formation of the German state under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck in 1871.

Reasons & Responsibilities

- See also: Causes of World War I There are many different hypotheses that try to explain who, or what, is to blame for the outbreak of the First World War. Early explanations, prominent in the 1920s and 1930s, stressed the official version of responsibility as described in the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Trianon, that Germany and its allies were solely responsible for the war. However, as time progressed, scholars began looking toward the rigidity of both German and Russian military planning, each of which stressed the importance of striking first and executing plans quickly. The fact that for many decades the British had been accustomed to colonial wars which were won relatively easily against much weaker adversaries certainly helped build enthusiasm for the Great war. In addition, the fact that no major political force opposed the war meant that those who did not agree with it had little organisational power to build opposition, though small protests continued throughout the war. Another cause of the war was the building of alliances and arms races. An example of the latter is the launch of HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary battleship that rendered all previous ships obsolete as "pre-dreadnoughts", in 1906. This weakened Britain's power as a seafaring nation and sparked a major naval arms race in shipbuilding, particularly between Britain and Germany due to new imperialism. Overall, nations in the Triple Entente became fearful of the Triple Alliance and vice versa. The civilian leaders of the European powers also found themselves facing a wave of nationalist zeal that had been building across Europe for years. This left governments with ever fewer options and little room to manoeuvre as the last weeks of July 1914 slipped away. Frantic diplomatic efforts to mediate the Austrian-Serbian quarrel simply became irrelevant, as the automatic military escalations between Germany and Russia reinforced one another. Furthermore, the problem of communications in 1914 should not be underestimated; all nations still used telegraphy and ambassadors as the main form of communication, resulting in delays from hours to even days. There is probably no single concise or conclusive assessment of the exact cause of the First World War.

Outbreak of war

ambassadors are depicted in green, the Central Powers in red, and neutral countries in yellow.]] Austria–Hungary was created in the "Ausgleich of 1867" after Austria was defeated by Prussia. As agreed in 1867, the Habsburgs were the Emperors of the Austrian Empire. With the formation of the Dual Monarchy, Franz Josef became leader of a nation with sixteen ethnic groups and five major religions speaking no fewer than nine languages. In large measure because of the vast disparities that existed within the Empire, Austrians and Hungarians always viewed growing Slavic nationalism with deep suspicion and concern. Thus the Austro-Hungarian government grew worried with the near-doubling in size of neighbouring Serbia's territory as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. Serbia, for its part, made no qualms about the fact that it viewed all of Southern Austria–Hungary as part of a future Great South Slavic Union. This view had also garnered considerable support in Russia. Many in the Austrian leadership, not least Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph, and Conrad von Hötzendorf, worried that Serbian nationalist agitation in the southern provinces of the Empire would lead to further unrest among the Austro-Hungarian Empire's other disparate ethnic groups. The Austro-Hungarian government worried that a nationalist Russia would back Serbia to annex Slavic areas of Austria–Hungary. The feeling was that it was better to destroy Serbia before they were given the opportunity to launch a campaign. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip and nearly a month of debate the government of Austria–Hungary sent a 10-point ultimatum to Serbia (July 23, 1914) — the so called July Ultimatum — to be unconditionally accepted within 48 hours. The ultimatum was the first of a series of diplomatic events known as the July Crisis which set off a chain reaction and a general war in Europe. The Serbian government agreed to all but one of the demands in the ultimatum, noting that participation in its judicial proceedings by a foreign power would violate its constitution. Austria–Hungary nonetheless broke off diplomatic relations (July 25) and declared war (July 28) through a telegram sent to the Serbian government. The Russian government, which had pledged in 1909 to uphold Serbian independence in return for Serbia's acceptance of the Bosnia annexation, mobilised its military reserves on 30 July following a breakdown in crucial telegram communications between Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas II (the famous "Willy and Nicky" correspondence), who was under pressure by his military staff to prepare for war. Germany demanded (31 July) that Russia stand down its forces, but the Russian government persisted, as demobilization would have made it impossible to re-activate its military schedule in the short term. Germany declared war against Russia on August 1 and, two days later, against the latter's ally France. The outbreak of the conflict is often attributed to the alliances established over the previous decades — Germany-Austria-Italy vs France-Russia; Britain and Serbia being aligned with the latter. In fact, none of the alliances were activated in the initial outbreak, though Russian general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of the opposing alliance being brought into play. Britain declared war against Germany on August 4. This was ostensibly provoked by Germany's invasion of Belgium on August 4 1914, whose independence Britain had guaranteed to uphold in the Treaty of London of 1839, and which stood astride the planned German route for invasion of Russia's ally France. Unofficially, it was already generally accepted in government that Britain could not remain neutral, since without the co-operation of France and Russia its colonies in Africa and India would be under threat, while German occupation of the French Atlantic ports would be an even larger threat to British trade as a whole.

The spread of war

;1914
- July 23: Austria-Hungary ultimatum to Serbia.
- July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
- July 31: Russia begins mobilization.
- August 1: Germany declares war on Russia.
- August 2: German troops occupy Luxembourg.
- August 3: Germany declares war on France.
- August 4: Germany invades neutral Belgium; the United Kingdom declares war on Germany in response.
- August 6: Montenegro sides with its traditional ally, Serbia, and declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 10: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
- August 12: The United Kingdom and France declare war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 23: Japan declares war on Germany.
- September: Unity Pact signed by France, Britain, and Russia.
- October 9: Belgium falls to German troops at the Siege of Antwerp.
- October 29: The Ottoman Empire enters the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
- November 2: Russia declares war on the Ottoman sultanate.
- November 5: France and United Kingdom declare war on the Ottoman sultanate.
- December 25: Christmas Truce in the Trenches. ;1915
- April 25: Gallipoli campaign commences. Turks defeat Allies crushingly.
- April 26: Italy secretly signs the London Pact with the Triple Entente.
- May 23: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- October 14: Bulgaria declares war on Serbia and enters the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. ;1916
- March 9: Germany declares war on Portugal (see Portugal in the Great War).
- August 27: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 28: Italy declares war on Germany. ;1917
- January 16: Germany sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing an alliance against the United States.
- April 6: The United States declares war on Germany.
- June 27: Greece enters the war on the side of the Entente.
- July 6: Arab Revolt troops under Lawrence Of Arabia capture Aqaba, a main sea port for the Ottoman Empire.
- August 14: The Republic of China declares war on Germany.
- October 26: Brazil declares war on Germany.
- November 7: The October Revolution takes place in Russia.
- December 7: United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. ;1918
- January 8: President Woodrow Wilson made his famous Fourteen Points address, introducing the idea of a League of Nations.
- 3 March: Russia and the Central Powers sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, marking Russia's exit from World War I.
- October 30: Mudros/Turkish Armistice signed opening Turkish territory to Entente military operations.
- November 11: Armistice signed, end of World War I. ;1919
- 28 June: Treaty of Versailles, official end to World War I between the Entente and Germany. ;1920
- 4 June: Treaty of Trianon, partition of Austro-Hungarian Empire's Kingdom of Hungary. ;1923
- 24 July: Treaty of Lausanne, peace made with Turkey.
- 29 October: Turkey changes its government to republic.

Opening battles

republic Some of the very first actions of the war occurred far from Europe, in Africa and in the Pacific Ocean. On August 8 1914 a combined French and British Empire force invaded the German protectorate of Togoland. On August 10 German forces based in South-West Africa attacked South Africa. New Zealand occupied German Samoa (30 August 1914) and on September 11 the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of Neu Pommern, which formed part of German New Guinea. Within a few months the Entente forces had accepted the surrender of or driven out German forces in the Pacific. Sporadic and fierce fighting continued in Africa for the remainder of the war. In Europe, Germany and Austria-Hungary suffered from miscommunication regarding each army's intentions. Germany had originally guaranteed to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but the interpretations of this idea differed. Austro-Hungarian leaders thought Germany would cover her northern flank against Russia, but Germany had planned for Austria-Hungary to focus the majority of its troops on Russia while Germany dealt with France on the Western Front. This confusion forced the Austro-Hungarian army to split its troop concentrations from the south in order to meet the Russians in the north. The Serb army, coming up from the south of the country, met the Austrian army at the Battle of Cer on 12 August 1914. The Serbians occupied defensive positions against the Austrians. The first attack came on August 16th, between parts of the 21st Austro–Hungarian division and parts of the Serbian Combined division. In harsh night-time fighting the battle ebbed and flowed, until Stepa Stepanovic rallied the Serbian line. Three days later the Austrians retreated across the Danube, having suffered 21,000 casualties as against 16,000 Serbian. This marked the first major Allied victory of the war. The Austrians had not achieved their main goal of eliminating Serbia, and it became increasingly likely that Germany would have to maintain forces on two fronts. Germany's plan (named the Schlieffen plan) to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance involved delivering a knock-out blow to the French and then turning to deal with the more slowly mobilized Russian army. Rather than invading eastern France directly, German planners deemed it prudent to attack France from the north. To do so, the German army had to march through Belgium. Germany demanded free passage from the Belgian government, promising to treat Belgium as Germany's firm ally if the Belgians agreed. When Belgium refused, Germany invaded and began marching through Belgium anyway, after first invading and securing Luxembourg. It soon encountered resistance before the forts of the Belgian city of Liège, although the army as a whole continued to make rapid progress into France. Britain sent an army to France (the British Expeditionary Force, or BEF), which advanced into Belgium. Initially the Germans had great successes in the Battle of the Frontiers (14–24 August 1914). However, the delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgian, French and British forces; the unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russians; and the overly-ambitious objectives upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East Prussia, diverting German forces intended for the Western Front. Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles collectively known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg (17 August – 2 September). This diversion exacerbated problems of insufficient speed of advance from railheads, not allowed for by the German General Staff, and allowed French and British forces to finally halt the German advance on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914) as the Entente forced the Central Powers into fighting a war on two fronts. The German army had fought its way into a good defensive position inside France and had permanently incapacitated 230,000 more French and British troops than it had lost itself in the months of August and September. Yet staff incompetence and leadership timidity, as Ludendorff had needlessly transferred troops from the right to protect Sedan, cost Germany the chance for an early knockout.

Early stages: from romanticism to the trenches

Sedan, 1917]] The perception of war in 1914 was romanticized by many people, and its declaration was met with great enthusiasm by these people. The common view was that it would be a short war of manoeuvre with a few sharp actions (to "teach the enemy a lesson") and would end with a victorious entry into the enemy capital, then home for a victory parade or two and back to "normal" life. However, many people regarded the coming war with great pessimism and worry. Many military figures, such as Lord Kitchener and Erich Ludendorff, predicted the war would be a long one. Other political leaders, such as Bethmann Hollweg in Germany, were concerned by the potential social consequences of a war. International bond and financial markets entered severe crises in late July and early August reflecting worry about the financial consequences of war. The perceived excitement of war captured the imagination of many in the warring nations. Spurred on by propaganda and nationalist fervor, many eagerly joined the ranks in search of adventure. Few were prepared for what they actually encountered at the front. See also: Recruitment to the British Army during WW I

Trench warfare begins

:Main article: Western Front (World War I) Advances in military technology meant that defensive firepower out-weighed offensive capabilities, making the war particularly murderous, as tactics had failed to keep up. Barbed wire was a significant hindrance to massed infantry advances; artillery, now vastly more lethal than in the 1870s, coupled with machineguns, made crossing open ground a nightmarish prospect. General Staffs of European armies had uniformly ignored the lessons of the U.S. Civil War and were often indifferent to massive loss of life (General Haig's diaries are particularly striking in this respect). After their initial success on the Marne, Entente and German forces began a series of outflanking manoeuvres to try to force the other to retreat, in the so-called Race to the Sea. Britain and France soon found themselves facing entrenched German positions from Lorraine to Belgium's Flemish coast. Britain and France sought to take the offensive while Germany defended occupied territories. One consequence was that German trenches were much better constructed than those of their enemy: Anglo-French trenches were only intended to be 'temporary' before their forces broke through German defences. Some hoped to break the stalemate by utilizing science and technology. In April 1915, the Germans used mustard gas for the first time, opening a four mile wide hole in the Allied lines when French colonial troops retreated before it. This breach was closed by Canadian soldiers at Ypres, earning German respect. Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next four years, though protracted German action at Verdun throughout 1916, and the Entente's failure at the Somme in the summer of 1916 brought the French army to the brink of collapse. Futile attempts at more frontal assaults, at terrible cost to the French poilu (infantry), led to mutinies which threatened the integrity of the front line after the Nivelle Offensive in spring of 1917. News of the Russian Revolution gave a new incentive to socialist sentiments. Red flags were hoisted and the Internationale was sung on several occasions. At the height of the mutiny, 30,000 to 40,000 French soldiers participated. Throughout 1915-17 the British Empire and France suffered many more casualties than Germany, but both sides lost millions of soldiers to injury and disease. Around 800,000 soldiers from the British Empire were on the Western Front at any one time, 1,000 battalions each occupying a sector of the line from Belgium to the Arne and operating a month-long four stage system, unless an offensive was underway. The front contained over 6,000 miles of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for around a week before moving back to support lines and then the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the Poperinge or Amiens areas.

Southern theatres

Entry of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October–November 1914, due to the secret Turko-German Alliance signed on August 2, 1914, threatening Russia's Caucasian territories and Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal. British Empire action opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns, though initially the Turks were successful in repelling enemy incursion. In Mesopotamia, by contrast, after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915–16), British Empire forces reorganized and captured Baghdad in March 1917. Further to the west in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, initial British failures were overcome with Jerusalem being captured in December 1917 and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Edmund Allenby going on to break the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo (September 1918). Russian armies generally had the best of it in the Caucasus. Enver Pasha, supreme commander of the Turkish armed forces, was a very ambitious man, with a dream to conquer central Asia. He was not a practical soldier. He launched an offensive with 100,000 troops against the Russians in the Caucasus in December of 1914. Insisting on a frontal attack against Russian positions in the mountains in the heart of winter, Enver lost 86% of his force. A new Russian commander on the front in the fall of 1915, Grand Duke Nicholas, brought new vigour. A major offensive in 1916 drove the Turks out of much of present-day Armenia, and tragically provided a context for the deportation and genocide against the Armenian population in eastern Armenia. With control of part of the southern Black Sea coast, Nicholas pushed forward the construction of railway lines to bring up supplies. He was ready for an offensive in the spring of 1917. If it had gone ahead, there was a very good chance that Turkey would have been knocked out of the war in the summer of 1917. But, because of the Russian Revolution, Grand Duke Nicholas was recalled and the Russian armies soon fell apart.

Italian participation

:Main article: Italian Campaign (WWI) Italy had been allied to the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires since 1882, but had its own designs against Austrian territory in the Trentino, Istria and Dalmatia, and a secret 1902 understanding with France effectively nullifying its alliance commitments. Italy refused to join Germany and Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the war, because the alliance was defensive, while Austria declared war on Serbia. The Austrian government started negotiat