Threedecks Forum

When did the Secretary of the U.S. Navy first make an annual report to the President and Congress? On the Naval History and Heritage site of the U.S. Navy it appears to be 1821. The title was then Condition and Expenses of the Navy.

Letter from the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting an abstract of the expenditures on account of the contingent expenses of the Navy, during the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth September, 1819. February 4, 1820. Referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.
Date February 4, 1820
Session 16th Congress, 1st Sessiio

Letter from the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting a statement of the expenditure and application of the moneys drawn from the Treasury on account of the Navy, from first of October, 1816, to thirtieth of September, 1817; and of the unexpended balances of former appropriations remaining in the Treasury, on the 1st Oct., 1816. January 7, 1818. Read, and ordered to lie on the table.
Date January 7, 1818
Session 15th Congress, 1st Session
Volume Serial Set Vol. No. 7 Session Vol. No. 3

Thanks Andreas. So the form and content of reporting developed gradually over time. It is first called the 'annual report' of the secretary in 1825 (U.S. Naval History and Heritage site).