33 amphibious landing ships 29 combat logistics force ships 33 support vessels Historically significant vessels The U.S. Navy has operated a number of vessels important to both United States and world naval history: , nicknamed "Old Ironsides", is the only surviving vessel of the original six frigates authorized by Congress in the Naval Act of 1794, which established the United States Navy. It served with distinction in the War of 1812, singlehandedly defeating a number of powerful enemy warships, and is currently docked in Charlestown, Massachusetts, as the oldest commissioned warship afloat. was involved in the Battle of Flamborough Head on 23 September 1779, one of the most celebrated naval actions of the American War of Independence. This battle is famous in part for Bonhomme Richards commander John Paul Jones, when called upon to surrender his sinking ship by the captain of the more heavily armed British frigate by replying, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!", before defeating and capturing the Serapis. was a 36-gun sailing frigate that ran aground and was captured intact in Tripoli Harbor by Barbary corsairs during the First Barbary War. On the night of 16 February 1804, four months after the ship was turned against American ships, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a small detachment of U.S. Marines aboard a captured Tripolitan ketch close enough to board her. Decatur's men stormed the ship, overpowered the Tripolitan sailors, and set fire to Philadelphia. British Admiral Horatio Nelson is said to have called this "the most bold and daring act of the age." was Commodore Matthew Perry's flagship when the threat of force by his fleet brought about the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. This treaty played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West and the creation of the Open Door Policy. and are together known for participating in the first engagement between two steam-powered ironclads, known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, on 9 March 1862. Monitor was the first ironclad built by the U.S. Navy and its design introduced the rotating gun turret to naval warfare. was the first submarine built by the U.S. Navy. The submarine sank in 1863 while being towed during a storm and never saw combat. Though not a U.S. Navy vessel, the Confederate (from the same war and era) was the first successful combat submarine. and fought a celebrated a single-ship action