19th Century

Date	Event
January 22, 1800	CAPT Thomas Tingey ordered to duty as first Superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard.
February 2, 1800	USS Constellationunder the command of CAPT Thomas Truxton defeats French naval vessel la Vengeance.
February 7, 1800	USS Essex becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to cross the Equator.
March 28, 1800	USS Essex becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to pass the Cape of Good Hope.
February 3, 1801	Senate approves peace treaty with France ending the undeclared naval war that began in 1798.
February 16, 1804	LT Stephen Decatur, with volunteers from the frigate USS Constitution and the schooner Enterprise, enters Triploi harbor by night in the ketch Intrepid to burn the captured frigate USS Philadelphia.  Decatur's raid succeeds without american losses.  England's Lord Nelson calls this "the most daring act of the age."
February 26, 1811	Congress authorizes the first naval hospital.
January 12, 1813	The frigate USS Chesapeake captures HMS Volunteer.
January 14, 1813	The frigate USS Chesapeake captures British brig HMS Hero.
February 14, 1813	USS Essex becomes the first U.S. warship to round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean.
February 24, 1813	USS Hornet, under the command of CAPT James Lawrence, captures the HMS Peacock.
February 14, 1814	USS Constitution captures British ships Lovely Ann and Pictou.
February 19, 1814	USS Constitution captures the British brig HMS Catherine.
March 28, 1814	HMS Phoebe and Cherub capture USS Essex off Valparaiso, Chile.  Before being captured herself, Essex captured an impressive 24 British prizes during the War of 1812.
January 14, 1815	HMS Endymion, Tenedos and Pomone capture USS President.
February 7, 1815	The Board of Naval Commissioners, a group of senior officers, is established to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Navy, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy.
February 16, 1815	USS Constitution captures British Susannah.
February 20, 1815	USS Constitution, under the command of Charles Stewart, captures the HMS Cyane and the sloop-of-war Levant.
March 23, 1815	USS Hornet captures the HMS Penguin in a battle that lasted only 22 minutes.
March 22, 1820	Commodore Stephen Decatur dies from a gunshot wound received in a duel with CAPT James Barron.
March 6, 1822 April 2, 1827	USS Enterprise captures four pirate ships in the Gulf of Mexico. First Naval Hospital construction begun at Portsmouth, VA.
January 17, 1832	USS Peacock makes contact with Vietnamese court officials.
March 20, 1833	CDR Geisinger of the USS Peacock negotiates first commercial treaty with the King of Siam.
January 19, 1840	LT Charles Wilkes, USN is the first American to discover Antartic coast.
February 14, 1840	Officers from the USS Vincennes make the first landing in Antarctica on floating ice.
February 28, 1844	Explosion of Peacemaker, an experimental 14 inch gun, on board the USS Princeton.
January 8, 1847	Battle of San Gabriel.  Combined Navy, Marine and Army force defeats Mexicans in CA.
March 9, 1847	Commodore David Connor leads successful amphibious assualt near Vera Cruz, Mexico.
February 13, 1854	Admiral Perry anchors off Yokosuka, Japan to receive the Emperor's reply to his treaty proposal.
March 8, 1854	Commodore Mathew Perry opens treaty negotiations with Japan.
March 31, 1854	Commodore Mathew Perry negotiates the Treaty of Kanagawa to open trade between U.S. and Japan.
March 2, 1859	Launch of USS Saginaw, at Mare Island, first Navy ship built on the West Coast of the U.S.
February 25, 1861	USS Saratoga, a member of U.S. African Squadron, captures slaver sloop Express.
January 30, 1862	Launching of the first turreted warship, USS Monitor.
February 2, 1862	CAPT David G. Farragut departs Hampton Roads for the Mississippi River campaign on the USS Hartford.
February 6, 1862	Union gunboat squadron captures Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.
February 8, 1862	Joint amphibious force captured Roanoke Island, key to Albermarle Sound.
February 10, 1862	Union gunboats destroy Confederate ships at Elizabeth City, NC.
February 11, 1862	SecNav directs formation of organization to evaluate new inventions and technical development which eventually led to the formation of the National Academy of Science.
March 8, 1862	Ironclad ram CSS Virginia destroys USS Cumberland and USS Congress.
March 9, 1862	First battle between ironclads, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia.
January 4, 1863	Blockading ship USS Quaker City captures sloop CSS Mercury carrying despatches emphasizing desperate plight of the Confederacy.
January 14, 1863	Navy General Order 4, Emancipation Proclamation.
March 14, 1863	RADM Farragut's squadron of 7 ships forces its way up the Mississippi River to support Union troops at Vicksburg and Baton Rouge.
February 17, 1864	Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic.
January 13, 1865	Union amphibious attack on Fort Fisher, NC.
February 22, 1865	RADM Porter's gunboats' bombardment causes the surrender of Wilmington, NC.
March 2, 1867	Birthday of the Civil Engineer Corps.
February 22, 1870	After arriving on USS Nipsic, and supported by USS Guard and USS Nyack, the Darien Expedition, commanded by CDR Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. begins active operations ashore at Caldonia Bay to survey the Isthmus of Darien, Panama, for an interoceanic ship canal.
March 3, 1871	Navy Medical Corps established.
January 5, 1875	CDR Edward Lull begins expedition to locate best ship canal route across Panama.  Route followed 30 years later.
March 23, 1882	SECNAV Hunt issues General Order No. 292 creating the Office of Naval Intelligence.
March 3, 1883	Congress authorizes 4 modern steel ships; three cruisers, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, and dispatch boat Dolphin.
February 8, 1890	USS Omaha sailors and marines assist Hodogary, Japan in subduing a large fire.
February 28, 1893 April 1, 1893	Launching of USS Indiana (BB-1), the first true battleship in the U.S. Navy. Navy General Order 409 of 25 February 1893 establishes the rate of Chief Petty Officer as of this date.
March 13, 1895	Award of the first submarine building contract to John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Co.
February 15, 1898	U.S. battleship Maineblows up in Havanna Harbor.
March 17, 1898	USS Holland, the Navy's first submarine launched.
March 2, 1899	Act of Congress creates the rank of Admiral of the Navy for George Dewey.