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''(This paper, which was read at the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historic and Underwater Archaeology at Corpus Christi, Texas on 10 January 1997, represent the views of the author and not necessarily the views of Naval Historical Center.)''

The United States Navy and the State of Maryland have long shared a natural resource which has proved to be both of significant importance and a responsibility to both entities, namely the Chesapeake Bay and its myriad miles of navigable tributaries. For the Navy, the Chesapeake Tidewater has historically been of strategic importance. With Washington, D.C. lying at the head of Potomac River navigation, Baltimore at the head of the Patapsco, and the state capital of Annapolis, home of the U.S. Naval Academy, on the Severn, the Navy has frequently been charged with protecting state waters against hostile attack. Not surprisingly, the Navy and Maryland have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship since the launching of the USS Constellation at Baltimore in 1797, one of the first six frigates ordered by Congress. From the Jeffersonian era to the end of the Cold War, innumerable Maryland shipbuilders constructed ships for the Navy. Maryland contractors provided arms, provisions, and support of every kind for Navy ships, while Maryland citizens were recruited to man, field, and fight aboard them. Since 1797, Maryland has been home to many U.S. Navy bases and facilities, ranging from scientific research centers, weapons testing centers, and communications complexes to sprawling establishments such as the Patuxent Naval Air Station.