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The U.S. Navy: A Concise History
This fast-paced narrative traces the emergence of the United States Navy as a global power from its birth during the American Revolution through to its current superpower status. The story highlights iconic moments of great drama pivotal to the nation's John Paul Jones' attacks on the British in the Revolution, the Barbary Wars, and the arduous conquest of Iwo Jima.
The book illuminates the changes--technological, institutional, and functional--of the U.S. Navy from its days as a small frigate navy through the age of steam and steel to the modern era of electronics and missiles. Historian Craig L. Symonds captures the evolving culture of the Navy and debates between policymakers about what role the institution should play in world affairs. Internal and external challenges dramatically altered the size and character of the Navy, with long periods of quiet inertia alternating with rapid expansion emerging out of crises. The history of the navy reflects the history of the nation as a whole, and its many changes derive in large part from the changing role of the United States itself.
The book illuminates the changes--technological, institutional, and functional--of the U.S. Navy from its days as a small frigate navy through the age of steam and steel to the modern era of electronics and missiles. Historian Craig L. Symonds captures the evolving culture of the Navy and debates between policymakers about what role the institution should play in world affairs. Internal and external challenges dramatically altered the size and character of the Navy, with long periods of quiet inertia alternating with rapid expansion emerging out of crises. The history of the navy reflects the history of the nation as a whole, and its many changes derive in large part from the changing role of the United States itself.
152 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2015
43 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Craig L. Symonds
45 books241 followersCraig Lee Symonds is a retired professor and former chairman of the history department at the United States Naval Academy. He earned both his MA (1969) and Ph.D. (1976) from the University of Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 29, 2023
To Craig L. Symonds, the US navy has been subjectable of a running dispute between two views: in peacetime, a dedicated cadre of professionals operated and maintained a small permanent force and only when roused by an emergency, the nation engaged in a frantic buildup to meet the crisis after which the navy relapsed into its pre-war character.
Champions of a large standing navy insisted that a large US navy was an important means of validating US nascent nationhood. Those not in sympathy in this view, held that spending large amounts of money to elicit foreign respect was the worst kind of fiscal intelligence. Even if the nation could afford it, staking out a prominent place in the world was not a desirable goal and unnecessary and dangerous.
Craig L. Symonds shows that much of early US navy was a running dispute between these two views and only after World War II did the navalist view finally come to dominate. In this book, he gives an account of the peaks and troughs of this oscillating wave and it discusses the different mission assigned to the US navy during peacetime and the crisis that led up to its expansion.
It is a short book, unlike many of the other excellent books from Symonds but very readable and recommended for anyone who wants to gain a broad, although short, overview of the history of the US navy.
Champions of a large standing navy insisted that a large US navy was an important means of validating US nascent nationhood. Those not in sympathy in this view, held that spending large amounts of money to elicit foreign respect was the worst kind of fiscal intelligence. Even if the nation could afford it, staking out a prominent place in the world was not a desirable goal and unnecessary and dangerous.
Craig L. Symonds shows that much of early US navy was a running dispute between these two views and only after World War II did the navalist view finally come to dominate. In this book, he gives an account of the peaks and troughs of this oscillating wave and it discusses the different mission assigned to the US navy during peacetime and the crisis that led up to its expansion.
It is a short book, unlike many of the other excellent books from Symonds but very readable and recommended for anyone who wants to gain a broad, although short, overview of the history of the US navy.
March 17, 2016
Concise it was. And eloquent too. A great executive summary of the 246 years of the Navy in only 116 pages. I learned a thing or two.
July 13, 2025
I just love concise histories of a topic that I find interest, and Symonds does not disappointment. He writes concisely over each period of the US Navy evolution and divides each time period up wisely between wars and conflicts. The book dually serves as a springboard to more detailed histories you might want to find yourself. For me, it was the War of 1812, after reading this concise history of the US Navy. If you are looking for a broad overview of the history of the US Navy, this is a recommended find that would be welcomed in your valuable reading time.
October 2, 2022
The US Navy: A Concise History
Craig L. Symonds
I enjoyed this “brief” history of the US Navy.
If you have not studied much on the subject, this book may act as an excellent primer. If you have studied much on the US Navy, you will find yourself craving more details on certain events. That’s great; use Mr. Symonds’ sources or look for other specific books.
Either way, Mr. Symonds will have achieved his goal. Look at the definition of the word “concise.” This is exactly what was done. The book fills in any missed actions you may have, as it did for me.
One of the best things this book illustrated, intentionally or not, was the incredible influence the Navy has had on our foreign policy. In the days before mass communications, a Navy lieutenant or captain thousands of miles from Washington had to make momentous decisions.
The communications revolution is another subject the book demonstrates well.
In the early 1800’s, the President may have received a message describing how a Navy officer had blasted some miscreants several weeks before. Today, the President may be awakened at 3 AM told the Navy needs to know whether to blast these bad guys. The book does not say this specifically, but it makes the point obvious to the reader/listener.
Excellent, quick narration of our history.
Craig L. Symonds
I enjoyed this “brief” history of the US Navy.
If you have not studied much on the subject, this book may act as an excellent primer. If you have studied much on the US Navy, you will find yourself craving more details on certain events. That’s great; use Mr. Symonds’ sources or look for other specific books.
Either way, Mr. Symonds will have achieved his goal. Look at the definition of the word “concise.” This is exactly what was done. The book fills in any missed actions you may have, as it did for me.
One of the best things this book illustrated, intentionally or not, was the incredible influence the Navy has had on our foreign policy. In the days before mass communications, a Navy lieutenant or captain thousands of miles from Washington had to make momentous decisions.
The communications revolution is another subject the book demonstrates well.
In the early 1800’s, the President may have received a message describing how a Navy officer had blasted some miscreants several weeks before. Today, the President may be awakened at 3 AM told the Navy needs to know whether to blast these bad guys. The book does not say this specifically, but it makes the point obvious to the reader/listener.
Excellent, quick narration of our history.
August 13, 2023
U.S. Naval Academy historian Craig Symonds has written a brief overview of the U.S. Navy that takes the reader from the American Revolution through the twenty-first century in just 116 pages. The major point I gained from the book is that an evolving sense of what role in the world the United States should play has shaped the missions of the Navy across the nearly 250 years that the United States has now existed. For instance, during Thomas Jefferson's presidency in the first decade of the nineteenth century Navy personnel focused on defending the nation's own harbors with small gunboats. Although advocates called for the funding of more powerful frigates and ships of the line, the United States did not develop a navy that could rival the British or French. Yet by the last decade of the nineteenth century, many elected officials were determined to spread American influence abroad. Arguments such as Alfred Thayer Mahan's that a powerful Navy was the best way to spread a nation's power and wealth spurred them to fund battleships. By the end of World War II, the United States Navy was more than twice as large as all the rest of the world's navies combined. The Navy has remained the most powerful in the world through the early twenty-first century, as the United States has taken on the role of "global police officer" that has called for ships to subdue pirates, drug smugglers, and terrorists while providing humanitarian aid.
Symonds does a decent job of tracing the evolution of the Navy through all of these developments in terms of technologies and social change. He emphasizes the transitions from sail to steam power, wood to iron ships, and battleships to aircraft carriers. He also emphasizes that Navy personnel are now as diverse as the nation that they serve. Women compose 18 percent of what had long been a male dominated institution, while African-Americans compose nearly 20 percent and Hispanic-Americans about 15 percent. The book does leave me wanting more. For instance, how did electronics shape operations aboard Navy ships? What was life like for sailors aboard ships across time, in terms of sleeping, eating, recreation, etc.? This book provides only a brief overview, but it should be useful for an American history teacher like myself who wants an introduction to the Navy.
Symonds does a decent job of tracing the evolution of the Navy through all of these developments in terms of technologies and social change. He emphasizes the transitions from sail to steam power, wood to iron ships, and battleships to aircraft carriers. He also emphasizes that Navy personnel are now as diverse as the nation that they serve. Women compose 18 percent of what had long been a male dominated institution, while African-Americans compose nearly 20 percent and Hispanic-Americans about 15 percent. The book does leave me wanting more. For instance, how did electronics shape operations aboard Navy ships? What was life like for sailors aboard ships across time, in terms of sleeping, eating, recreation, etc.? This book provides only a brief overview, but it should be useful for an American history teacher like myself who wants an introduction to the Navy.
August 1, 2016
Weekend read. Nice wave tops accounting. Made a couple of notes for further study....
May 25, 2017
Solid, concise history of the US Navy. "Concise" hear means very brief; for example, there is no coverage of the "Maritime Strategy" of the 1980s, but instead only a few lines on the late Cold War. Still, Symond's book gives a good tour of the historical waterfront, including social and cultural issues within the Navy. Accessible to anyone, this is a great first stop for learning about the Navy, both in its major battles and as an admirable American institution.
June 5, 2018
Well, it's definitely concise. Quick and informative, but leaves a lot of history in the table. For instance, about Commodore Perry we are told that he opened Japan to trade through toughness and perseverance, and we are told what kinds of ships he had. Though the rest of that story isn't a naval story, so it's understandable. A fine jumping off point for further reading, but will likely leave most readers wanting more.
June 29, 2025
It was a quick read that told me what I needed to know about the US Navy. Completely ignorant of the subject matter, I feel more aware of the history of the navy and have a better understanding of its significance. I do wish the author discussed its humanitarian efforts. I hadn't really thought of it until the author brought it up on the very last page.
September 21, 2022
A great short history of the US Navy. Anyone who wants a overview of every period of the US navy would enjoy this. However it is very surface level as any book that goes over 200 years in about 120 pages must be. A great resource to get a quick overview of each conflict and phase of the navy.
November 18, 2018
I read it on Veterans' Day while thinking about my dad's naval service in the Pacific during World War II. Unlike Symonds's other books, this was a quick read, but worth the hour or two.
February 1, 2024
Good overview.
April 15, 2024
This is an excellent overview of the history of he US Navy. I recommend it for any history buffs.
Read
June 6, 2024Not rating because what I read was a Great Courses title that doesn't seem to be on Goodreads yet.
June 19, 2024
Perfect starter for learning U.S. Naval history.
Read
October 11, 2024nwm co to byl za read szczsrze mowiac
June 14, 2025
3.5
The content is great, but the narrator's mispronunciation of so many words (including Dr. Symonds' name) detracts from the overall experience.
The content is great, but the narrator's mispronunciation of so many words (including Dr. Symonds' name) detracts from the overall experience.
July 19, 2025
Go Navy.
July 21, 2025
Good if you’re interested in a concise history of the U.S. Navy. Some concepts could have been more layman friendly. No, I will not google while reading.
October 10, 2016
A quick, high level survey of the history of the US Navy. Aside form the review of battles and wars, it does a reasonably good job of showing the changes in sailors themselves. It also, does not end with World War II as Navy histories often do, but takes the reader through the launch of the USS Zumwalt. It was interesting to read about the times I served in, and what has happened since I retired 20 years ago.
July 5, 2016
I enjoyed this quick read about the history of the United States Navy. This military arm of the Department of Defense began as the Continental Navy, born on October 13, 1775. This date serves as the official birth date of the U.S. Navy.
I loved the analogy Symonds uses for the navy’s historical development, “from a handful of small sailing craft in the late eighteenth century to the juggernaut of today,” likened to the tracing of a sine wave you view on an oscilloscope, an undulating pattern that oscillates between peaks and valleys reflecting periods of rapid buildup and then rapid decline of the size of the American naval force over its 250-year existence. [Electrical engineers like myself, love this kind of stuff.]
A very visible American navy was an essential component of nationhood, according to Symonds. On top of that, the navy reflects a world where technology constantly changed to transform naval force, “as the Age of Sail gave way to the Age of Steam and Steel, to the Age of Carrier Warfare, and to our modern era of electronic and missile warfare.” Over this evolutionary period of two and a half centuries, “steamships replaced frigates, carriers replaced battleships, and missile platforms replaced gun turrets.”
Symonds ties in the evolution of the thinking of policymakers in the nation’s capital. He observes, “In the Age of the Sail the ambitions of American policymakers was to avoid overseas entanglements. In the age of steam and steel the United States began to look outward, and in the later years of the nineteenth century the country embraced a Pacific empire. The twentieth century – the American century – saw the nation, and its navy, emerge to assume the status of global prominence, if not preeminence.”
So where are we now?
The U.S. Navy has evolved to become, in 2016, the global cop in its varied roles of catching pirates, which was one of its early roles in the Mediterranean; chasing smugglers, a role the navy expanded from simply providing escorts for merchant ships and supply ships; taking out terrorists; and at times playing humanitarian roles when natural disasters strike.
Today, the U.S. Navy is one of the most diverse organizations in the country. Its officers have evolved from being assigned positions due to their title to earning leadership roles through rigorous training and time shipboard.
Bravo to the American men and women on the high seas who continue to serve their country with distinction!
I loved the analogy Symonds uses for the navy’s historical development, “from a handful of small sailing craft in the late eighteenth century to the juggernaut of today,” likened to the tracing of a sine wave you view on an oscilloscope, an undulating pattern that oscillates between peaks and valleys reflecting periods of rapid buildup and then rapid decline of the size of the American naval force over its 250-year existence. [Electrical engineers like myself, love this kind of stuff.]
A very visible American navy was an essential component of nationhood, according to Symonds. On top of that, the navy reflects a world where technology constantly changed to transform naval force, “as the Age of Sail gave way to the Age of Steam and Steel, to the Age of Carrier Warfare, and to our modern era of electronic and missile warfare.” Over this evolutionary period of two and a half centuries, “steamships replaced frigates, carriers replaced battleships, and missile platforms replaced gun turrets.”
Symonds ties in the evolution of the thinking of policymakers in the nation’s capital. He observes, “In the Age of the Sail the ambitions of American policymakers was to avoid overseas entanglements. In the age of steam and steel the United States began to look outward, and in the later years of the nineteenth century the country embraced a Pacific empire. The twentieth century – the American century – saw the nation, and its navy, emerge to assume the status of global prominence, if not preeminence.”
So where are we now?
The U.S. Navy has evolved to become, in 2016, the global cop in its varied roles of catching pirates, which was one of its early roles in the Mediterranean; chasing smugglers, a role the navy expanded from simply providing escorts for merchant ships and supply ships; taking out terrorists; and at times playing humanitarian roles when natural disasters strike.
Today, the U.S. Navy is one of the most diverse organizations in the country. Its officers have evolved from being assigned positions due to their title to earning leadership roles through rigorous training and time shipboard.
Bravo to the American men and women on the high seas who continue to serve their country with distinction!
April 28, 2016
A good serviceable quick introduction to the history of the US Navy, basically a lecture. Of course, much is left out, but it should serve as an appetizer to get readers to pick out areas they might have most interest in. Some things seem to have been purposely left out (especially the "black eyes", such as the shooting down of the Iranian airliner, the loss of nuclear bombs, the Iowa explosion, Forrestal, Indianapolis), but I suppose that is to be expected in a short, mostly positive, volume. I applaud his decision to broach some of the social issues, as well as positive improvements to the fleet. As a son of a submariner, I find myself often delving into naval history, and this book would be a good book to hand to youngsters, particularly, to whet their appetite.
June 9, 2016
Concise indeed. Symonds absolutely flies through 200+ years of American naval history. If you know anything about US history at all, little of the material will be new. However, by bringing the high and low points together in this short volume, Symonds is able to demonstrate the typical "sine curve" pattern of American naval strength. Right now we are clearly in a trough. However, we've been here before, and we've always been able to build up when threats dictate. What we need to be careful not to do is to slip further, to the point where we cannot maintain our global patrols and deterrence.
March 12, 2016
Well done
This concise but informative review of the history of th US navy is well-written. The references are sufficient to follow-up on any additional information required.
This concise but informative review of the history of th US navy is well-written. The references are sufficient to follow-up on any additional information required.
February 28, 2016
Perfect for that Midshipman who suddenly needs to know the material after blowing off a semester's worth of reading.
March 14, 2016
A "Cliff Notes" history of the United States Navy.
November 15, 2016
Got me through History of Sea Power at the Merchant Marine Academy with flying colors! Great book!
December 30, 2016
A great primer on the US Navy and its role in war and peace in the world since the early days of the republic. Love books like this.
March 22, 2016
Wonderfully concise and informative.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews