The under secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The under secretary reports to the secretary of the navy (SECNAV). Before the creation of the under secretary's office, the second-highest civilian at the Department of the Navy was the assistant secretary of the navy.
List of under secretaries of the navy, 1940–present The following men and women have held the post:
No.PortraitNameAssumed officeLeft officePresident appointed bySecretary served under1James V. ForrestalAugust 22, 1940 May 16, 1944 Franklin D. RooseveltFrank Knox2Ralph A. BardJune 24, 1944 June 30, 1945 James Forrestal3Artemus GatesJuly 3, 1945 December 31, 1945 Harry S. Truman4John L. SullivanJune 17, 1946 September 18, 19475W. John KenneySeptember 19, 1947 September 24, 1949John L. Sullivan6Dan A. KimballMay 25, 1949July 31, 1951Francis P. Matthews7Francis P. WhitehairAugust 7, 1951January 29, 1953Dan A. Kimball8Charles S. ThomasFebruary 9, 1953August 5, 1953 Dwight D. EisenhowerRobert B. Anderson9Thomas S. Gates Jr.October 7, 1953April 1, 1957Robert B. AndersonCharles Thomas10William B. FrankeApril 17, 1957June 7, 1959Thomas S. Gates Jr.11Fred A. BantzJune 8, 1959January 20, 1961William B. Franke12Paul B. FayFebruary 16, 1961January 15, 1965John F. KennedyJohn ConnallyFred KorthPaul Nitze13Kenneth E. BeLieuFebruary 26, 1965July 1, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson Paul Nitze14Robert H. B. BaldwinJuly 2, 1965July 31, 196715Charles F. BairdAugust 1, 1967 January 20, 1969Paul Robert Ignatius16John WarnerFebruary 11, 1969May 4, 1972 Richard NixonJohn Chafee17Frank P. SandersMay 5, 1972June 29, 1973 John Warner18J. William MiddendorfAugust 3, 1973June 20, 197419David S. PotterAugust 28, 1974April 1, 1976 Gerald Ford J. William Middendorf20David R. MacdonaldSeptember 14, 1976February 4, 197721R. James Woolsey Jr.March 9, 1977December 7, 1979 Jimmy CarterW. Graham Claytor Jr.22Robert J. MurrayFebruary 7, 1980September 29, 1981Edward HidalgoJohn Lehman23James F. GoodrichSeptember 29, 1981August 6, 1987 Ronald ReaganJohn Lehman24Henry L. Garrett IIIAugust 6, 1987May 15, 1989Jim WebbWilliam L. Ball25J. Daniel HowardAugust 7, 1989January 20, 1993George H. W. BushHenry L. Garrett IIISean O'Keefe26Richard J. DanzigNovember 29, 1993May 30, 1997 Bill ClintonJohn Howard Dalton27Jerry MacArthur HultinNovember 13, 1997July 14, 2000John Howard DaltonRichard Danzig28Robert B. Pirie Jr.October 12, 2000June 6, 2001Richard Danzig29Susan M. LivingstoneJuly 26, 2001February 28, 2003 George W. BushGordon R. England30Dionel M. AvilesOctober 8, 2004May 19, 2009Gordon R. EnglandDonald C. Winter31Robert O. WorkMay 19, 2009March 22, 2013 Barack Obama Ray Mabus–Robert C. Martinage (acting)March 22, 2013January 15, 2014–Thomas W. Hicks (acting)January 15, 2014March 17, 201632Janine A. DavidsonMarch 17, 2016January 20, 2017–Thomas W. Hicks (acting)January 20, 2017February 17, 2017 Donald Trump Sean Stackley (acting)–Thomas P. Dee (acting)February 17, 2017December 4, 2017 Richard V. Spencer33Thomas B. ModlyDecember 4, 2017April 7, 2020–Gregory J. Slavonic (acting)April 24, 2020January 20, 2021Kenneth J. Braithwaite–James F. Geurts (acting)February 4, 2021August 24, 2021Joe BidenThomas Harker (acting)–Meredith A. Berger(Performing the Duties of)August 25, 2021April 13, 2022Carlos Del Toro34Erik RavenApril 13, 2022August 1, 2024–Thomas Mancinelli (acting)August 20, 2024January 20, 2025–Victor Minella (acting)January 22, 2025April 16, 2025Donald TrumpJohn Phelan–Brett A. Seidle (acting)April 16, 2025October 3, 2025John Phelan35Hung CaoOctober 3, 2025IncumbentJohn Phelan– William Toti (Performing the Duties of)May 1, 2026September 15, 2026Hung Cao
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