Naval Act of 1938

Naval Act of 1938
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titlesSecond Vinson Act
Long titleAn Act to establish the composition of the United States Navy, to authorize the construction of certain naval vessels, and for other purposes.
NicknamesNavy Construction Act of 1938
Enacted bythe 75th United States Congress
EffectiveMay 17, 1938
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 75–528
Statutes at Large52 Stat. 401, Chap. 243
Codification
Titles amended34 U.S.C.: Navy
U.S.C. sections amended34 U.S.C. §§ 498, 498a, 498c–k, 749b
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 9218 by Carl Vinson (D-GA) on March 4, 1938
  • Committee consideration by House Naval Affairs, Senate Naval Affairs
  • Passed the House on March 21, 1938 (294–100)
  • Passed the Senate on May 3, 1938 (56–28)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on May 4, 1938; agreed to by the House on May 11, 1938 (Agreed) and by the Senate on May 13, 1938 (Agreed)
  • Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 17, 1938

The Naval Act of 1938, known as the Second Vinson Act, was United States legislation enacted on May 17, 1938, that "mandated a 20% increase in strength of the United States Navy",[1] allocating $1.09 billion (equivalent to $18.5 billion in 2023 relative to GDP inflation[2]) for it.[3] It represented the United States' response to the Japanese invasion of China, the German annexation of Austria[4] and the disintegration of the naval treaty system established in 1922 when both Japan and Italy refused to sign the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.

The act was sponsored by Carl Vinson, a Democratic Congressman from Georgia who was Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. It updated the provisions of the Vinson-Trammell Act ("First Vinson Act") of 1934 and the Naval Act of 1936, which had "authorized the construction of the first American battleships in 17 years" (six battleships were authorised under the 1934 Act – BB-55 to BB-60), based on the provisions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930.[1][5] The 1938 Act specifically authorised the construction of 105,000 tons of battleships (the first three Iowa-class ships were built under this authorisation), 40,000 tons of aircraft carriers (expended on Hornet), 68,754 tons of cruisers (expended on 4 Cleveland and 4 Atlanta-class light cruisers), 38,000 tons of destroyers and 13,658 tons of submarines (eight vessels were built under this authorisation – SS-204 to SS-211), together with various smaller vessels. It was followed by the Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940.

  1. ^ a b J. David Rogers, "Development of the World's Fastest Battleships", The Second Vinson Act (1938), accessed August 8, 2012
  2. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  3. ^ https://memim.com/naval-act-of-1938.html [bare URL]
  4. ^ Elmer Belmont Potter, Nimitz (Naval Institute Press, 1976)), 169
  5. ^ "Vinson-Trammell Act of 1934 – P.L. 73-135" (PDF). 48 Stat. 503 ~ House Bill 6604. Legis Works. March 27, 1934. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2017.