08/22/2026
First USA navy ship panting or illustration When the U.S. naval forces first started during the American Revolutionary War (Continental Navy, established in October 1775), the very first commissioned armed vessel was the schooner USS Hannah in September 1775, though it was a small armed fishing schooner.
For the formal modern permanent U.S. Navy established under the Naval Act of 1794, the first ships built were the original six frigates, with USS United States being the first launched (in May 1797). However, the most famous and oldest surviving commissioned ship from that foundational era is USS Constitution (launched in October 1797, shown above), famously nicknamed "Old Ironsides."
