USS Jack H. Lucas, First Flight III Destroyer, Commissioned
The Navy commissioned its first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer at Tampa, Florida, on October 7, 2023.
Guide: The Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer Fleet, As of 2024
The Arleigh Burke class is the US Navy's principal guided-missile destroyer, in construction since 1988 and in service since 1991.
Virginia-Class Attack Submarines: The Navy's Fast-Attack Fleet, As of 2026
A guide to the Navy's Virginia-class fast-attack submarine program, its two-shipyard construction partnership, and its status through the July 2026 contract award and the August 2026 fleet-tasking milestone for USS Massachusetts (SSN-798).
Policy
Guide: How U.S. Freedom of Navigation Operations Work
The Freedom of Navigation Program is a Department of Defense initiative, in place since 1979, that uses U.
The Jones Act and the U.S. Naval Shipbuilding Base, Explained
The century-old cabotage law sets three conditions for domestic shipping and has become a fixture in debates over the health of the shipyards the Navy depends on.
How the Navy Holds People Accountable for Collisions: The 2017 Precedents
The Navy's accountability system reaches from deckplates to fleet command: the 2017 Pacific Fleet collisions produced relief of commanding officers, a fleet commander, and staff admirals, alongside nonjudicial punishment for dozens of sailors.
Prize Law Explained: When and How a Navy May Seize Ships at Sea in War
The law of naval warfare has governed the capture of merchant ships for centuries, and its machinery of prizes, prize courts, and prize money is dormant in American practice but never repealed in principle.
Sealift and Merchant Marine Readiness: How America Moves a War Through Commercial Ships
Nearly all U.S. military equipment moves to a contested theater by sea, and the policy architecture that makes that possible rests on a shrinking commercial fleet, a government surge fleet, and a mariner workforce that watchdogs say is too small.
How the Navy Investigates Collisions: A Primer on Boards, Reviews, and Reports
When a U.S. warship collides with another vessel, at least three parallel investigations begin within days, and their findings move on separate administrative, safety, and civil tracks.
Shipbuilding
Primer: How a Navy Ship Moves From Keel to Commissioning
A US Navy warship passes through five documented milestones between first construction and active service, each marked by an official event.
How A Navy Warship Moves From Keel To Commissioning
The construction of a U.S. Navy surface combatant or submarine follows a fixed sequence of ceremonies and milestones, each marking a documented stage of the shipbuilding process.
The Navy's Repair Backlog: How Ship Availabilities Work and Why They Fall Behind
Ship maintenance in the Navy is organized around scheduled availability periods at public and private shipyards, and successive GAO and Navy reports through 2024-2025 documented a persistent pattern of late starts, overruns, and an accumulating backlog that costs the fleet thousands of operating days.
LPD Flight II: A Program Guide to the San Antonio Class's Current Build Standard
LPD Flight II is the Navy's ongoing production run of San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks — LPD-29 onward — built solely at Ingalls Shipbuilding as the planned replacement for the retiring LSD-class dock landing ships.
Maritime News
How U.S. Navy Ships Move From Keel to Commissioning
A guide to the four documented milestones that turn a hull under construction into a commissioned warship, drawn from Naval History and Heritage Command and Naval Sea Systems Command records.
Dhow Hijackings Kept Somali Piracy Active Through 2025 as Global Incidents Rose
The ICC International Maritime Bureau logged 45 incidents worldwide in the first quarter of 2025, and dhows and fishing vessels were hijacked off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden through the year.
Navy Released Its Findings on the USS Gettysburg Friendly-Fire Shootdown of December 2024
USS Gettysburg (CG-64) downed an F/A-18F Super Hornet over the Red Sea on December 21, 2024; the Navy published the strike group investigation findings in December 2025.
The Gerald R. Ford Strike Group Entered Fourth Fleet on November 11, 2025
The Navy announced on November 11, 2025, that USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its strike group had repositioned from Europe to the U.S. Fourth Fleet area in the Caribbean.
Government News
How Fixed-Price Incentive Contracts Shape Navy Shipbuilding
An explainer on the contract type behind most U.S. Navy warship programs, why the Navy prefers it, and what recent oversight findings say about how well it works.
Navy Recruiting Turnaround: 44,096 Accessions Against a 40,600 Goal in Fiscal 2025
The Navy ended fiscal year 2025 with 44,096 enlisted accessions against a goal of 40,600, roughly 108.6 percent of target, in what the Defense Department described as the military's best recruiting year in 15 years.
GAO Finds Navy's Billions in Shipyard Investment Lack a Fully Developed Strategy
A Government Accountability Office report published on February 27, 2025 concluded that despite billions invested in private shipbuilders and repair yards, the Navy lacks a strategy for deciding where ship industrial base money goes.
NAVFAC Awards $442 Million Contract to Modernize Dry Dock 3 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard
NAVFAC Atlantic awarded a $442.1 million firm-fixed-price contract on December 4, 2025 to General Contractors Inc. to modernize Dry Dock 3 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard under the Navy's shipyard infrastructure program.