The United States Navy

• From reestablishment to the Civil War
We ought to begin a naval power, if we mean to carry on our commerce.—Thomas Jefferson
The United States would be without a navy for nearly a decade—a state of affairs that exposed its merchant ships to a series of attacks by Barbary pirates. The sole armed maritime presence between 1790 and the launching of the U.S. Navy's first warships in 1797 was the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (USRCS), the primary predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard. Although USRCS Cutters conducted operations against these pirates, the depredations far outstripped the abilities of the USRCS and Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates on 27 March 1794; three years later the first three were welcomed into service: the USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution.
Following an undeclared Quasi-War with France, the U.S. Navy saw substantial action in the War of 1812, where it was victorious in numerous single-ship duels with the Royal Navy. The Navy drove all significant British forces off of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain and prevented them from becoming British controlled zones of conflict. Despite this, the U.S. Navy was unable to prevent the British from blockading American ports and landing troops on American soil. After the war, the U.S. Navy again focused its attention on protecting American shipping assets, sending squadrons to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, South America, Africa, and the Pacific.