The United States Navy,
October 1, 1932
Using a copy of the Navy Directory from October 1, 1932 I am compiling the organization of the US Navy as of this date. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Navy had sunk to what was arguably its interwar nadir. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William V. Pratt, the one senior officer to realize the need to work with political leaders favoring naval limitation in the 1920's, made every effort to keep the fleet up to the strength established by the Washington and London treaties, but the lack of political will from the administration of President Herbert Hoover, not to mention the lack of available funding, made this an impossible task. Some destroyers and submarines were kept in a sort of "rotating reserve" as there was not enough manpower to keep all ships manned. Construction work, both on new ships authorized as recently as 1929 and existing ships undergoing refit, was slowed, and there was little if any chance for new authorizations in the immediate future. It would take the election of former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President in Novemebr 1932, and his administrations Depression-fighting New Deal programs, to begin the Navy on its long, slow climb back to respectability, a climb that would not end until World War II.

It should be of interest to compare these pages, when completed, to the pages on this site concerning the
Royal Navy at approximately the same date. I have no idea how long it will take to complete these pages, but I'll do the best I can. ONLY THE  LINKS MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK (*) BELOW ARE ACTIVE, THE OTHERS WILL LEAD TO A "FILE NOT FOUND" PAGE!!!!!!!

The information presented on the following pages helps show how the Navy stood at this key moment and shows how some of the key players in World War II were being prepared for their service.

FORCES AFLOAT
   UNITED STATES FLEET
    
BATTLE FORCE/BATTLESHIPS, BATTLE FORCE*
        
CRUISERS, BATTLE FORCE*
        
DESTROYERS, BATTLE FORCE*
        
AIRCRAFT, BATTLE FORCE*
        
MINECRAFT, BATTLE FORCE*
    
SCOUTING FORCE/CRUISERS, SCOUTING FORCE
        
AIRCRAFT, SCOUTING FORCE*
         DESTROYERS, SCOUTING FORCE
         TRAINING SQUADRON, SCOUTING FORCE
  
SUBMARINE FORCE
  
BASE FORCE*
    
SHIPS ON SPECIAL DUTY
  
ASIATIC FLEET*
  
  
SHORE ESTABLISHMENT
    NAVY DEPARTMENT
     
OFFICE OF SECRETARY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, AND CNO
     
BUREAUS* (PAGE TWO)*
     
NAVAL DISTRICTS PAGE TWO PAGE THREE PAGE FOUR PAGE FIVE, PAGE SIX
     
ACTIVITIES ON THE SEVERN AND POTOMAC RIVERS*
     
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS HEADQUARTERS*


SENIOR OFFICERS BY SIGNAL NUMBER*   


SHIPS ROSTERS OF OFFICERS*                    

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US Navy destroyers moored at Balboa, Canal Zone, in the early 1930's. Photo from the NHC
On-Line library. As far as I know it is in the public domain.
The converted yacht USS ISABEL (PY-10), photographed in 1932. ISABEL served as a "destroyer" in WWI and then spent the interwar years with the Asiatic Fleet, sometimes as the relief flagship. Escaping the Japanese onslaught of 1941-1942, ISABEL spent WWII on training duty in Australia before being scrapped after the war.
Photo from the NHC On-Line Library. As far as I know, it is in the public domain.
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