Here are some 80+ patents that had an influence on the growth of the U.S. Navy - be it on, above or below the surface of the water. Each chapter is focused on important patents that shaped the growth of the Navy, be it in communications, navigation, surveillance, the ship's structure itself, weaponry, medical and life-saving, administration and miscellaneous. When we began researching the patents, the first few came easy - inventors like Edison, Bell, Burroughs, Seversky, Marconi, Morse, the Wright Brothers, Curtiss, Goodyear, Cousteau, Grumman, etc., easily made the first cut. Other inventors were harder to find yet their contribution to the advancement of the Navy was nonetheless important. One example would be the patented process of dive-bombing on enemy vessels using submarine torpedoes - patented in 1912! Another would be the catapult for launching aircraft off ships, patented in 1928.