USS Recruit

USS RECRUIT
Built in the Middle of Manhattan
The USS RECRUIT, also known as the Landship Recruit or the Land
Battleship, was a full scale...albeit truncated...wooden mockup of an early 20th
century American battleship. It was located in New York City's Union Square and
used for recruitment and other patriotic purposes during World War I.
The US Navy commissioned this landlocked replica in 1917 and treated it as if it
were a normal seagoing vessel. The USS RECRUIT, which local citizens
nicknamed the 'USS Neversail' was manned by a crew of recruiters and trainee
sailors until the end of the war. The Landship Recruit is credited with enticing
over 25,000 men to enter the naval service.
The post-war Navy's need for men was greatly reduced, so in 1920 the USS
RECRUIT was 'decommissioned', carefully dismantled and was supposed to
have been reconstructed at Coney Island. That never transpired, but while the
'ship' was 'operational' in Union Square it was certainly a sight to behold.
When the United States entered World War I in April of
1917, New York City was asked to supply 2,000 recruits to
the cause of national defense. John Purroy Michel [left],
the mayor of New York City believed in universal military
training and publicly encouraged such enlistments. To his
extreme embarrassment, only 900 of the city's citizens
answered the call.
In order to promote enlistments in the Navy and Marine
Corps, he created the Mayor's Committee on National
Defense. They raised $10,000 [over $200,000 in 2015
dollars] so that the most unique recruiting station in America could be erected in
the middle of Manhattan's Union Square.
Michel cajoled Donn Barber, a prominent architect and Jules Guerin, a famous
mural artist to create the design for a mock dreadnought, using the battleship
MAINE for inspiration. This vessel, was not the USS MAINE that was blown up in
Havana harbor in 1896. Rather, it was one of the nation's older battleships which
was used as a training vessel throughout World War I.
With
typical
artistic
license, plus fairly limited
space available in Union
Square,
Barber
and
Guerin came up with a
reasonable facsimile of a
warship that was 200
feet long and had a
beam of 40 feet [the
USS MAINE was 393
feet long by 72 feet
wide].
Constructed
almost entirely of wood,
the
so-called
Land
Battleship was erected
very quickly, in time for
an elaborate ceremony
on Memorial Day, 1917.
On
that
day,
as
thousands gathered in
the square, the mayor's
wife christened the USS
RECRUIT and the mayor
formally presented it to
the US Navy.
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Topped with a single dummy smokestack and two 50-foot tall cage masts, the
USS RECRUIT's silhouette closely resembled American battleships of that era.
From ground level [the vessel's 'waterline'] to the top of the cage masts it stood
seven stories tall. Its massive size overwhelmed the relatively small park.
Wooden replicas of gun turrets and 14-inch naval rifles were the USS
RECRUIT's most prominent feature. There were also ten wooden 5-inch guns
poking out of casemates along the sides of the hull. Initially painted battleship
grey, the landlocked curiosity also had an operable searchlight and two very real
one-pounder saluting guns.
The US Navy assigned Captain
C. F. Pierce to command the
USS RECRUIT and to be in
charge of recruiting for the
Navy and Marine Corps in New
York City. Additional officers
and enlisted men maintained
the Land Battleship, answered
questions for the curious and
for prospective recruits, and
stood watches...just like on a
real US Navy vessel.
The crew also washed their
own clothes, but did so
alongside the wooden hull...no
doubt to the amusement of the
local populace.
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The crew size ranged between
39 and 80. As shown on the
right, they was augmented by
several mascots.
In
addition
to
providing
accommodations for this crew,
the interior of the USS
RECRUIT's hull was fitted with
spaces for conducting physical
examinations, dressing rooms
and waiting rooms for recruiting
purposes.
The Navy offered public access
and tours in order for civilians to
get a taste of how a Navy
warship was operated and to
entice recruits.
Visitors to the USS RECRUIT
included a group of native
American Indians [left] and
various personalities. Mabel
Garrison, a world famous
opera star of that era is
depicted below with Captain
Pierce] and one of the vessel's
one-pounder saluting guns.
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In addition the USS RECRUIT played host to a large number of both patriotic and
social events. On Saturday, September 8, 1917, the New York Times reported
that 'the United States landship Recruit' was to hold its first social function that
afternoon. The article went on to explain that the ship's officers and crew would
act as hosts for invited guests, and that tea would be served from 1 to 6 o'clock.
The ladies of New York City did their part to support the recruiting station. In
March of 1918, an organization called the Sunset Club held a 'Betsy Ross
Sewing Party' in the roof garden of a nearby hotel. They created a silk flag that
measured nine by six feet, which was later presented to the commanding officer
of the USS RECRUIT. It was raised every morning with suitable ceremony.
During World War I, the Navy
chose to use abstract dazzle
patterns in varying bright colors
as a way to disorient enemy
submarine commanders from
aiming accurately. It was called
camouflage, in spite of making
most ships more visible at sea.
In July of 1918, the USS
RECRUIT
was
repainted
overnight
by
twenty-four
members of a local group
dubbed The Women's Reserve
Camouflage Corps who were
assisted by a squad of sailors.
The result, as shown below was startling, to say the least!
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Once the Armistice was signed in November of 1918, the Navy's need for recruits
declined drastically. Nevertheless, the USS RECRUIT remained intact in New
York City's Union Square for another year. But by early 1920, the civilian
population of the city was ready to forget about war. They wanted Union Square
to be restored to a more pleasurable and peaceful place.
On March 16, 1920, the
USS RECRUIT was
decommissioned.
The
huge wooden replica
was carefully dismantled
and carted away. The
announced intention was
to reassemble it in
Coney Island's Luna
Park [right] to continue to
serve
as
a
Navy
recruiting station and
also as an attraction.
But apparently that never happened. No images or accounts of the landship
Recruit actually being erected at Coney Island are known to exist. Likewise, no
record of the structure's ultimate disposition could be located.
Union Square, today, looks much different than it did in 1917 when the USS
RECRUIT dominated the scene there. The following 'then and now' images,
made from about the same vantage point show changes realized over almost a
century. Several buildings appear in both images, but the 'now' view includes
some skyline additions; notably the Empire State building, far left in that image.
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Although the original USS RECRUIT disappeared decades ago, her name was
utilized again by the US Navy shortly after the end of World War II. But not for
recruiting purposes, but instead for training sailors. Why the name 'Recruit' was
used again is perhaps a reflection of the title of Seaman Recruit; the lowest rank
in the US Navy.
The USS RECRUIT (TDE-1), depicted
on the right in its original configuration
was constructed at the Naval Training
Center near San Diego and formally
commissioned on July 27, 1949. She
was built to represent a DEALEY-class
destroyer escort, but was two-thirds
actual size and had either steel or
wood framing, covered by sheet metal.
This facilty provided basic training in seamanship for over 50,000 recruits a year.
She was fitted with all the standard bridge and deck gear found on a real ship.
TDE-1 was decommissioned in March of 1967, but later refurbrished to represent
an OLIVER HAZARD PERRY-class frigate. Recommissioned in 1982 with the
designation of TFFG-1, the training facilty retained it original name.
When the training center where she is
located was closed in 1997, TFFG-1
was abandoned in place. Neglected
for a number of years, she has
recently been saved from further
deterioration and possible destruction.
Currently she is somewhat of a tourist
attraction in a park-like setting [left]
near a retail center built on the former
grounds of the training center.
Two other US Navy basic training mock-ups have come and gone during the
latter half of the 20th century. The USS COMMODORE, built to resemble a small
escort vessel at the Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland was
demolished when that base was closed in the 1970s. The USS BLUEJACKET, a
landlocked destroyer replica which once was located at a training center near
Orlando, Florida was dismantled when that base was shut down in 1995.
Recruitment centers today are largely located in strip malls and other civilian
facilities. Training for Seamen Recruits is provided in classrooms, through the
use of simulators and eventually by spending time at sea onboard a naval vessel
under the watchful eye of a grizzled Navy Chief. More economical and effective?
Perhaps so. But it just ain't the same...
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However, there is often an exception to any rule. The Naval Nuclear program,
which is exceptional in its own right, fits this premise. The Nuclear Navy still
utilizes land-based training facilities. Scattered around the country are a few fullscale reactor plants that originally served as prototypes to demonstrate the
practicality of what once were state-of-the-art naval reactor designs. Today,
although outdated, they contine to provide a useful function as vehicles for
hands-on training of sailors seeking nuclear qualification.
Plus, there are two older nuclear-powered submarines that are permanently
moored at the Naval Nuclear Prototype Training Unit in South Carolina. They
provide the most realistic environment possible for operating and maintaining
shipboard reactor plants. Both are former ballistic missile submarines; the USS
DANIEL WEBSTER (SSBN-626) and the USS SAM RAYBURN (SSBN-635).
Both subs lost their missilefiring capabilty in the 1980-1990
timeframe, followed by being
decommissionied. The SAM
RAYBURN, in the foreground of
the image on the right is now
designated as MTS-635; the
DANIEL WEBSTER behind her
is now officially identified as
MTS-626. Both are scheduled
to serve as training ships until
at least 2018.
Developing this story reminded me that the SAM RAYBURN, which was built by
Newport News Shipbuilding also contributed to my own training long, long ago. In
the summer of 1964, she and three other 'boomers' were at an outfitting pier in
Newport News...a virtual production line type of process the likes of which
probably will never be seen again. The shipyard's submarine reactor plant test
group went from boat to boat, performing all the tests necessary before sea trials.
A number of then-young and eager graduate engineers, including yours truly
worked in that group to attain practical reactor plant test experience before going
into formal training to become Shift Test Engineers. As trainees, we were
probably considered to be as lowly as Seamen Recruits. It was a time when a lot
of test data was obtained by trainees reading gauges in the hot and humid
machinery spaces of those subs during test evolutions conducted 24/7.
My memories of what I experienced onboard SAM RAYBURN and the other subs
that summer remain quite vivid...even though they were etched in my memory
cells over fifty years ago...
Bill Lee
August 2016
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