WASHINGTON — The man chosen by President Joe Biden to lead the Navy's 347,000 active duty personnel said the United States needs a larger fleet.
If confirmed, Carlos Del Toro would become the nation's 78th Secretary of the Navy.
He had his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Del Toro said if he had his way, there would be a lot more ships.
Under the Navy's "divest to invest" strategy, in its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal, the branch is seeking to decommission 15 ships. Seven of those are are guided-missile cruisers.
"This is an incredibly important issue and I fully support the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that has as a goal, a 355-ship fleet," said Del Toro.
The Navy currently has 297 ships.
Del Toro was questioned about sexual assault in the military, and the recent push to take criminal investigations out of the hands of unit commanders and turn them over to independent military prosecutors.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) asked: "Will you support President Biden's commitment to take sexual assaults and related crimes out of the chain of command?"
Del Toro said he would.
"I fully support the Secretary's independent review committee and all the recommendations that they've made," he said.
A 1983 Naval Academy graduate, Del Toro has been a commanding officer of the Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley. He won enthusiastic praise from Virginia's two senators.
"This is a man of enormous character," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia). "He is a proud American, he loves our Navy. He loves this country."
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) also weighed in.
"I echo everything that Mark said about the professional qualifications, the patriotism, and most especially, the character of this nominee," Kaine said. "And I look forward to supporting you as you continue your public service to the country."
There has been a lot of turnover at the top in the office of the Secretary of the Navy recently.
In the last four years, there have been two Senate-confirmed secretaries (Richard Spencer and Kenneth Braithwaite) and three acting secretaries.
For now, Thomas Harker remains acting secretary.