United States Department of the Navy

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The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenry, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy (USN). From 1798 to 1834, the department additionally exercised de facto jurisdiction over the United States Marine Corps. Since 1834, the department has exercised de jure superintendence of the Marine Corps. Additionally, the department oversees any wartime jurisdiction of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). These branches remain at all times independent and coequal service branches within the DON or the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard during peacetime. It is led by the secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), a statutory civilian officer. The Department of the Navy was an executive department, whose secretary served on the president's cabinet, until...

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