In what was then the largest naval procurement bill to date in U.S. history, it increased the size of the United States Navy by 70%.

[4] On June 17, a few days after German troops conquered France, Chief of Naval Operations Harold Stark requested four billion dollars from Congress to increase the size of the American combat fleet by 70%, adding 257 ships amounting to 1,325,000 tons.

Rep. Vinson, who headed the House Naval Affairs Committee, said its emphasis on carriers did not represent any less commitment to battleships, but "The modern development of aircraft has demonstrated conclusively that the backbone of the Navy today is the aircraft carrier.

The carrier, with destroyers, cruisers and submarines grouped around it[,] is the spearhead of all modern naval task forces.

The Act authorized the procurement of:[1][5][7] The expansion program was scheduled to take five to six years, but a New York Times study of shipbuilding capabilities called it, "problematical" unless proposed "radical changes in design" were dropped.