A fleet of ships; the aggregate of vessels of war belonging to an independ-ent nation. In a broader sense, and as equlv-alent to “naval forces,” the entire corps of officers and men enlisted in the naval serv-ice and who man the pnblic ships of war, In-cluding in this sense, in the United States, the officers and men of the Marine Corps. See wilkes v. Dinsman, 7 How. 124, 12 L. Ed. 618; U. S. v. Dunn, 120 U. 8. 249, 7 Sup. Ct. 507, 30 L. Ed. 667
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
