Naval Expansion Act
The Naval Expansion Act ( also: Second Vinson Act ) was a US law passed on May 17, 1938 , which allowed the US Navy to expand by 20%.
The law
The law made it possible to increase the Navy spending by 1.09 billion US dollars for the development of a "two-ocean fleet" over the next ten years.
It went back to the House of Representatives Carl Vinson . This was preceded by the “Naval Parity Act” (“Vinson-Trammell Act”, the “First Vinson Act”) of 1934 and the “Naval Act” of 1936. The successor was the “ Two-Ocean Navy Act ” of 1940.
It was a reaction to the Japanese invasion of China and the German invasion of Austria .
The US Navy tonnage limits allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Conference of 1930 have been increased by law in the following ways:
- Capital ships : by 135,000 tons to 660,000 tons
- Aircraft carrier : by 40,000 tons to 175,000 tons
- Cruiser : by 86,750 tons to 412,524 tons
- Destroyer : by 38,000 tons to 228,000 tons
- Submarines : by 13,658 tons to 81,956 tons