Two-Ocean Navy Act

The Two-Ocean Navy Act, (a.k.a. Vinson-Walsh Act) was an American Act of Congress passed on July 19, 1940,^[1] to increase the size of the United States Navy by 70%, making it the largest naval procurement bill in U.S. history.^[1]

On June 17, a few days after German troops had entered Paris and conquered France, Chief of Naval Operations Harold Stark requested four billion dollars from Congress in order to increase the size of the American combat fleet by 70%; an additional 257 ships amounting to 1,325,000 tons. It was approved on July 19, 1940.^[2]

Items authorized by the Two-Ocean Navy Act include: ^[1][2]

• 2 Iowa class battleships
• 5 Montana class battleships
• 6 Alaska class cruisers
• 18 aircraft carriers
• 27 cruisers
• 115 destroyers
• 43 submarines
• 15,000 aircraft
• The conversion of 100,000 tons of auxiliary ships
• $50 million for patrol, escort and other vessels
• $150 million for essential equipment and facilities
• $65 million for the manufacture of ordnance material or munitions
• $35 million for the expansion of facilities

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hutcheson Jr., John A. Encyclopedia of World War II: A Political, Social, and Military History, pg. 1541
2. ^ ^{a b} The Decline and Renaissance of the Navy, 1922-1944, Senator David I. Walsh, 78th Congress, Session 2, Document No. 2, http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/USN/77-2s202.html