"Newps" wrote

The navy got to 600 ships under Reagan(or was it 500? I forget, it was
some large round number.)

Close but not quite. Post-Vietnam peak was 594
total active ships (with 223 surface warfare ships, 14
carriers, and 139 submarines) in 1987.

I wouldn't rule out a "publicity stunt" active force of
600 at some moment, though, although the Navy
provides the above peak numbers officially.