First Report

to the
Secretary of the Navy

Covering our Peacetime Navy and our Wartime Navy
and including combat operations up to 1 March 1944

by
Admiral Ernest J. King
Commander in Chief, United States Fleet,
and Chief of Naval Operations

(Issued 23 April 1944)

UNITED STATES FLEET

Headquarters of the Commander in Chief
Navy Department
Washington 25, D.C.

27 March 1944

Dear Mr. Secretary:

In view of the importance and complexity of our naval operations and the tremendous expansion of our naval establishment since we entered the war, I present to you at this time a report of progress.

It is of interest to note that the date of this report happens to be on the 150th anniversary of the passage by Congress of a bill providing for the first major ships of the United States Navy--the 44-gun frigates Constitution, United States, President and Chesapeake, and the 36-gun frigates Constellation and Congress.

This report includes combat operations up to 1 March 1944. I know of no reason why it should not be made public.

Ernest J. King
Admiral, U.S. Navy,
Commander in Chief, United States Fleet
and Chief of Naval Operations

The Honorable Frank Knox
Secretary of the Navy
Washington, D.C.

Introduction

Chapter I
The Peacetime Navy

Table of Contents ** Next Chapter (I-2)

Footnotes

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