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United States Secretary of the Navy

Statutory office and the head of the U.S. Department of the Navy

Summary

Statutory office and the head of the U.S. Department of the Navy

Field	Value
post	United States Secretary
body	the Navy
insignia	United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg
insigniacaption	Seal of the Department of the Navy
flag	Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy.svg
flagcaption	Flag of the secretary
image	Secretary of Navy John Phelan.png
incumbent	John Phelan
acting	no
incumbentsince	25 March 2025
department	Department of the Navy
style	Mister Secretary
The Honorable (formally)
abbreviation	SECNAV
reports_to	Secretary of Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense
appointer	The president
appointer_qualified	with Senate advice and consent
constituting_instrument
formation
first	Benjamin Stoddert
succession	3rd in SecDef succession
deputy	Under Secretary
(Principal Civilian Deputy)
Chief of Naval Operations
(Navy Advisor and Deputy)
Commandant
(Marine Corps Advisor and Deputy)
salary	Executive Schedule, level II
website

The Honorable (formally) Deputy Secretary of Defense (Principal Civilian Deputy) Chief of Naval Operations (Navy Advisor and Deputy) Commandant (Marine Corps Advisor and Deputy) The secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirmed as Secretary of the Navy.

By law, the secretary of the Navy must be a civilian at least seven years removed from active military service (). The secretary is appointed by the president and requires confirmation by the Senate.

History

The position of Secretary of the Navy was created in 1798. It was a member of the president's Cabinet until 1949, when the secretary of the Navy (and the secretaries of the Army and Air Force) were by amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 made subordinate to the secretary of defense.

From 2001 to 2019, proposals to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, which would have also renamed the secretary of the Navy to the secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps, were introduced with wide support in the United States Congress, but failed due to the opposition of Senator and retired U.S. Navy officer John McCain.

Responsibilities

The Department of the Navy (DoN) consists of two uniformed services: the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. The secretary of the Navy is responsible for, and has statutory authority () to "conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Navy", i.e. as its chief executive officer, subject to the limits of the law, and the directions of the president and the secretary of defense. In effect, all authority within the Navy and Marine Corps, unless specifically exempted by law, is derivative of the authority vested in the secretary of the Navy.

Specifically enumerated responsibilities of the SECNAV in the aforementioned section are: recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing, and demobilizing. The secretary also oversees the construction, outfitting, and repair of naval ships, equipment, and facilities. SECNAV is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and programs that are consistent with the national security policies and objectives established by the president or the secretary of defense.

The secretary of the Navy is a member of the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), chaired by the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Furthermore, the secretary has several statutory responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with respect to the administration of the military justice system for the Navy & the Marine Corps, including the authority to convene general courts-martial and to commute sentences.

The principal military advisers to the SECNAV are the two service chiefs of the naval services: for matters regarding the Navy the chief of naval operations (CNO), and for matters regarding the Marine Corps the commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC). The CNO and the Commandant act as the principal executive agents of the SECNAV within their respective services to implement the orders of the secretary.

Navy regulations

The United States Navy Regulations is the principal regulatory document of the Department of the Navy, and all changes to it must be approved by the secretary of the Navy.

U.S. Coast Guard

Whenever the United States Coast Guard operates as a service within the Department of the Navy, the secretary of the Navy has the same powers and duties with respect to the Coast Guard as the secretary of homeland security when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Department of the Navy.

Navy Secretariat

The Office of the Secretary of the Navy, also known within DoD as the Navy Secretariat or simply just as the Secretariat in a DoN setting, is the immediate headquarters staff that supports the secretary in discharging their duties. The principal officials of the Secretariat include the Under Secretary of the Navy (the secretary's principal civilian deputy), the assistant secretaries of the Navy (ASN), the general counsel of the Navy, the judge advocate general of the Navy (JAG), the Naval inspector general (NIG), the chief of Legislative Affairs, and the chief of naval research. The Office of the Secretary of the Navy has sole responsibility within the Department of the Navy for acquisition, auditing, financial and information management, legislative affairs, and public affairs.

Pursuant to SecNavInst 5090.5F, the Department of the Navy Environmental Programs Manual, the secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations recognize a number of commands annually for achievements in such areas as environmental quality, environmental cleanup, natural resources conservation, cultural resources management, pollution prevention, and recycling.

The chief of naval operations and the commandant of the Marine Corps have their own separate staffs, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (also known by its acronym OPNAV) and Headquarters Marine Corps, respectively.

Secretaries of the Navy

Continental Congress

Position	Portrait	Name	Term of office
Chairman of the Marine Committee	[[File:Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800-1815, NGA 42933.jpg	90x90px]]	John Adams	13 October 1775 – 1779
Member of the Marine Committee	[[File:John langdon.jpg	75px]]	John Langdon	13 October 1775–?
Member of the Marine Committee	[[File:Silas Deane - Du Simitier and B.L. Prevost.jpg	75px]]	Silas Deane	13 October 1775–?
Member of the Marine Committee	[[File:Joseph Hewes.png	101x101px]]	Joseph Hewes	1775
Continental Navy Board
(under Marine Committee)			6 November 1776 – 28 October 1779
Chairman of the Continental Board of Admiralty	[[File:Francis Lewis.jpg	75px]]	Francis Lewis	December 1779 – 1780
Secretary of Marine	[[File:AlexanderMcdougall.jpg	75px]]	Alexander McDougall	7 February 1781 – 29 August 1781
Agent of Marine
(devolved onto Superintendent of Finance)	[[File:Robert Morris by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1782 (New Orleans Mus of Art 78.2) - wide crop.jpg	91x91px]]	Robert Morris	29 August 1781 – 1784

(Post of Secretary of Marine created but remained vacant)

Executive Department, 1798–1949

No.	Portrait	Name	Start
1	[[File:Benjamin Stoddert SecNavy.jpg	75px]]	Maryland	Federalist Party (United States)}};"
Democratic-Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1801–1809)
2	[[File:Secretary of the Navy, Robert Smith.jpg	75px]]	Maryland
3	[[File:SECNAVY Paul Hamilton.jpg	75px]]	South Carolina	Democratic-Republican Party (United States)}};"
4	[[File:Secratary of the Navy, William Jones.jpg	75px]]	Pennsylvania
5	[[File:BenjaminWilliamsCrowninshield.jpg	75px]]	Massachusetts
Democratic-Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1817–1825)
6	[[File:Secretary of the Navy, Smith Thompson.jpg	75px]]	New York
7	[[File:Samuel L. Southard.jpg	75px]]	New Jersey
Democratic-Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1825–1829)
8	[[File:John Branch.jpg	75px]]	North Carolina	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
9	[[File:Secretary of the Navy, Levi Woodbury.jpg	75px]]	New Hampshire
10	[[File:Secretary of the Navy, Mahlon Dickerson.jpg	75px]]	New Jersey
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1837–1841)
11	[[File:James K. Paulding.jpg	75px]]	New York
12	[[File:Secretary of the Navy, George E. Badger.jpg	95x95px]]	North Carolina	Whig Party (United States)}};"
Whig Party (United States)}};"
(1841–1845)
13	[[File:Abel P. Upshur.jpg	75px]]	Virginia
14	[[File:David Henshaw.jpg	75px]]	Massachusetts
15	[[File:Thomas W. Gilmer.jpg	75px]]	Virginia
16	[[File:JYMason.jpg	75px]]	Virginia
17	[[File:George Bancroft United States Secretary of Navy c. 1860.jpg	75px]]	Massachusetts	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
18	[[File:JYMason.jpg	75px]]	Virginia
19	[[File:WmBdPreston.jpg	75px]]	Virginia	Whig Party (United States)}};"
20	[[File:William Alexander Graham - Brady-Handy.jpg	75px]]	North Carolina	Whig Party (United States)}};"
21	[[File:John Pendleton Kennedy Smithosonian 1.jpg	88x88px]]	Maryland
22	[[File:James Cochran Dobbin, attributed to John Cranch, c. 1845, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-9300792A.jpg	92x92px]]	North Carolina	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
23	[[File:Isaac Toucey - Brady-Handy.jpg	75px]]	Connecticut	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
24	[[File:Gideon Welles cph.3b20114.jpg	100x100px]]	Connecticut	Republican Party (United States)}};"
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1865–1869)
25	[[File:Adolph Borie, Brady-Handy bw photo portrait, ca1860-1875.jpg	75px]]	Pennsylvania	Republican Party (United States)}};"
26	[[File:George Robeson 1865 1880.jpg	75px]]	New Jersey
Acting	[[File:William Faxon.jpg	103x103px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
27	[[File:RWThompson.jpg	75px]]	Indiana
28	[[File:Nathan Goff, Jr. - Brady-Handy.jpg	75px]]	West Virginia
29	[[File:William-Henry-Hunt.jpg	75px]]	Louisiana	Republican Party (United States)}};"
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1881–1885)
30	[[File:Wm Eaton Chandler.jpg	100x100px]]	New Hampshire
31	[[File:William Collins Whitney by Charles Milton Bell c1892.jpg	75px]]	New York	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
32	[[File:BFTracy.jpg	75px]]	New York	Republican Party (United States)}};"
33	[[File:Hilary A. Herbert.jpg	75px]]	Alabama	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
34	[[File:JDLong.jpg	75px]]	Massachusetts	Republican Party (United States)}};"
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1901–1909)
35	[[File:WHMoody.jpg	75px]]	Massachusetts
36	[[File:Paul Morton.jpg	75px]]	Illinois
37	[[File:CJBonaparte.jpg	75px]]	Maryland
38	[[File:Victor H Metcalf 002.jpg	97x97px]]	California
39	[[File:Truman Handy Newberry (cropped).jpg	75px]]	Michigan
40	[[File:Portrait of George von Lengerke Meyer.jpg	113x113px]]	Massachusetts	Republican Party (United States)}};"
41	[[File:Josephus Daniels 1.jpg	75px]]	North Carolina	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
42	[[File:ECDenby.jpg	75px]]	Michigan	Republican Party (United States)}};"
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1923–1929)
Acting	[[File:LC-DIG-ggbain-37582.jpg	97x97px]]
43	[[File:Curtis D. Wilbur, (3-24-24) LOC npcc.10863 (cropped).jpg	107x107px]]	California
44	[[File:Charles Francis AdamsⅢ.jpg	94x94px]]	Massachusetts	Republican Party (United States)}};"
45	[[File:SWANSON, CLAUDE. HONORABLE LCCN2016856629 (3x4a).jpg	100x100px]]	Virginia	Democratic Party (United States)}};"
46	[[File:Charles Edison.jpg	75px]]	New Jersey
Acting	[[File:Lewis Compton (Assistant Secretary of the Navy).jpg	75px]]
47	[[File:Frank Knox 1940s portrait.jpg	75px]]	Illinois
Acting	[[File:Ralph A. Bard cph.3a40857.jpg	94x94px]]
48	[[File:James Forrestal - SecOfDef.jpg	75px]]	New York
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1945–1953)
49	[[File:John L Sullivan SecofNavy.jpg	75px]]	New Hampshire
50	[[File:Francis P. Matthews.jpg	75px]]	Nebraska

Military Department (Department of Defense), 1949–present

No.	Portrait	Name	Start	Duration
50	[[File:Francis P. Matthews.jpg	75px]]		Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1945–1953)
51	[[File:DanAKimball.jpg	75px]]
52	[[File:80-G-K-14927 Robert B. Anderson.jpg	95x95px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1953–1961)
53	[[File:CharlesSThomas Cropped.jpg	75px]]
54	[[File:Thomas S Gates Jr..jpg	96x96px]]
55	[[File:K-19407 William B. Franke official portrait (cropped).jpg	75px]]
56	[[File:John Connally.jpg	75px]]		Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1961–1963)
57	[[File:FredKorth.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:PaulBFay.jpg	75px]]
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1963–1969)
58	[[File:Nitze, Paul.jpg	95x95px]]
Acting
59	[[File:Ignatius, Paul Robert.jpg	75px]]
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1969–1974)
60	[[File:J.L. 3814 John H. Chafee, 1969 (cropped)-2.jpg	94x94px]]
61	[[File:John W Warner Sec of Navy.jpg	75px]]
62	[[File:John William Middendorf (1969).jpg	99x99px]]
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1974–1977)
63	[[File:W. Graham Claytor 1984.jpg	75x75px]]		Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1977–1981)
64	[[File:I06944k.jpg	75px]]
65	[[File:John Lehman, official photo as Secretary of the Navy, 1982.JPEG	75px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1981–1989)
66	[[File:James Webb, Assistant Secretary of Defense, official photo.JPEG	75px]]
67	[[File:Secretary of the Navy William Ball.jpg	75px]]
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1989–1993)
68	[[File:Henry Lawrence Garrett III, official Navy photo, 1987.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:J. Daniel Howard, Under Secretary of the Navy (2).jpg	75px]]
69	[[File:Sean O'Keefe, official Navy photo, 1992.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Admiral Frank Kelso, official military photo.JPEG	75px]]		Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1993–2001)
70	[[File:DaltonJohn.jpg	75px]]
71	[[File:Richard Danzig, official Navy photo.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Robert Pirie, official photo portrait, circa 2001.jpg	75px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
(2001–2009)
72	[[File:Gordon England portrait.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:US Navy 030202-N-0000X-001 Under Secretary of the Navy.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:US Navy 030402-N-0000X-001 Secretary of the Navy Hansford T. Johnson (Acting).jpg	75px]]
73	[[File:Gordon England portrait.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:AvilesDionel.jpg	75px]]
74	[[File:Donald Winter, official photo as Secretary of the Navy, 2006.jpg	75px]]
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(2009–2017)
Acting	[[File:PennBJ.jpg	75px]]
75	[[File:SECNAV-Mabus-OfficialPhoto2-2014.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Sean J. Stackley.jpg	75px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
(2017–2021)
76	[[File:Richard V. Spencer.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Thomas B. Modly.jpg	75px]]
76	[[File:Richard V. Spencer.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Thomas B. Modly.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:James McPherson Acting Navy Secretary.jpg	75px]]
77	[[File:Kenneth J. Braithwaite II official photo.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Thomas W. Harker official photo.jpg	75px]]		Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(2021–2025)
78	[[File:Carlos Del Toro SECNAV portrait.jpg	75px]]
Acting	[[File:Terence G. Emmert (2).jpg	75px]]		Republican Party (United States)}};"
(2025–present)
79	[[File:Secretary of Navy John Phelan.png	75px]]	Incumbent

References

(March 25, 2025). "Honorable John Phelan Sworn in as 79th Secretary of the Navy at National Archives".
"Guide to Federal Records – General Records of the Department of the Navy, 1798–1947".
(2016-05-02). "Congressman: I'll 'keep fighting like a bulldog' to rename the Navy Department for Marines". Marine Corps Times.
"Responsibilities".
"10 U.S. Code § 8013 – Secretary of the Navy".
(3 January 2006). "The Honorable Donald C. Winter". U.S. Navy Biographies.
"10 U.S. Code § 8013a – Secretary of the Navy: powers with respect to Coast Guard".
"10 U.S. Code § 8014 – Office of the Secretary of the Navy".
"Archived copy".
"Department of the Navy, Office of the General Counsel (DON-OGC) – OGC History".
[http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/j4/joseph_hewes.htm Joseph Hewes]{{Webarchive. link. (10 May 2013 . Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical and Heritage Command.)
Benson J. Lossing. [http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_vol_2/continenta_bce.html Household History for All Readers] {{Webarchive. link. (30 June 2016 . 1877. Republished in Our Country vol. 2)
Staff reporter. (29 December 2005). "Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Relinquishes Top Navy Post". American Forces Press Service.
(13 March 2009). "Navy Secretary Departs Office". United States Department of Defense.
Staff reporter. (19 May 2005). "Mabus Sworn in as New Navy Secretary". NNS.
(2020-05-29). "Kenneth Braithwaite Sworn in as Secretary of the Navy".

Wikipedia Source

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