The
Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was the
U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all
naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.
History
Congress established the Bureau in the
Department of the Navy by an act of July 5, 1862 (12 Stat. 510), which transferred the
hydrographic functions of the Navy's
Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography (1842-1862) to the newly-established
Bureau of Navigation.
During the early 20th century, BuOrd became involved in the development of aerial weapons. This often led to friction with the
Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), which had responsibility for the development of
Naval aircraft. BuAer's work on "pilotless aircraft," or
drones, conflicted with BuOrd's development of
guided missiles. After
World War II, the Navy examined ways to improve coordination between the two bureaus; ultimately, the decision was made to merge the two organizations into a new bureau, to be known as the Bureau of Naval Weapons (BuWeps).
BuOrd was disestablished by Congress by an act of August 18, 1959 (), and its functions were transferred to the newly-established
Bureau of Naval Weapons. BuAir merged with BuOrd to form BuWeps. BuWeps, in turn, was disestablished in 1966 when the Navy overhauled its material organization, and was replaced with the
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Other system commands included the Naval Ship Systems Command and the Naval Ordnance Systems Command. Ship and Submarine ordnance...
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