Dick Lugar: “tomorrow, the U.S. Navy celebrates its 236th birthday. On Friday, October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress…”

“tomorrow, the U.S. Navy celebrates its 236th birthday. On Friday, October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress, representing the citizens of 13 American colonies, passed a resolution to acquire the first two warships for the Continental Navy. It stated ``that a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportional number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted with all possible dispatch, for a cruise of three months, and that the commander be instructed to cruise eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with war-like stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct.'' The Founders recognized the essential nature of a Navy to the strength and longevity of the Nation by authorizing Congress ``to provide and maintain a Navy'' in article I of the Constitution. A Naval Committee was established to build a fitting Navy for our fledgling country, acquire and fit out vessels for sea, and draw up regulations. The Continental Navy began a proud tradition, carried out for 236 years by our U.S. Navy, to protect our Nation and pursue the causes of freedom we hold so dear. For the past 236 years, the central mission of the Navy has been to protect the interests of our Nation around the world on the high seas, to fight and win the wars of our Nation, and to maintain control of the sea lines of communication enabling this Nation and other free nations to grow and prosper.…”