1917-1920: The battle ship in Union Square.....

nhboy

nhboy

Ubi bene ibi patria
Link

"In 1917 the U.S. Navy built a full-size battleship in Union Square, New York. It would stay there for the next three years.

Intended as a recruitment and training center, the ship was commissioned as a normal seagoing ship, under the command of Acting Captain C. F. Pierce, and manned by trainee sailors from Newport Training Station.

Internally the ship had a wireless station, full officer's quarters, doctor's quarters and examination rooms to assess the health of potential candidates.

Constructed from wood, the USS Recruit carried two cage masts, a conning tower and a dummy funnel, or smokestack. It had six wooden replicas of 14-inch (360 mm) guns housed in three twin turrets, 10 wooden five-inch (130 mm) anti-torpedo boat guns and two replica one-pound saluting guns, matching the configuration of battleships of the time."
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
This is bizarre beyond words. Two fully navigable rivers and endless docks are a short walk from Union Square. Wouldn't that be where you put a ship?
 
Homer J

Homer J

Power Chord
Larry Gude said:
This is bizarre beyond words. Two fully navigable rivers and endless docks are a short walk from Union Square. Wouldn't that be where you put a ship?
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Then it would actually have to be seaworthy. Much cheaper this way since it was strictly a recruiting tool.

Here it is.

USS Recruit.jpg
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Homer J said:
Then it would actually have to be seaworthy. Much cheaper this way since it was strictly a recruiting tool.

]
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I read the link and looked at the pics. Simply bizarre. Much cheaper? You sure about that? Putting it up, taking it down, not able to use it as ship for any purpose including a recruiting tool? This is like building a wagon on a barge to recruit people to 'go west young man'.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
Larry Gude said:
I read the link and looked at the pics. Simply bizarre. Much cheaper? You sure about that? Putting it up, taking it down, not able to use it as ship for any purpose including a recruiting tool? This is like building a wagon on a barge to recruit people to 'go west young man'.
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Wood vs. steel, especially at that time, yes much cheaper.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
Larry Gude said:
So this isn't odd to you at all? I take comfort in that.
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Maybe you need to understand history. There was this thing called a "war" going on. They needed to build these things called "ships," "tanks," and "guns." Steel was in high demand, wood was not. Any ship that could float was being used, so there was no "spare" ship to just park in NYC for three years.
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
MMDad said:
Maybe you need to understand history. There was this thing called a "war" going on. They needed to build these things called "ships," "tanks," and "guns." Steel was in high demand, wood was not. Any ship that could float was being used, so there was no "spare" ship to just park in NYC for three years.
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1917-1920 is what it says were the dates of construction and that it was left there. The war was over in 1918.

Besides that if it was the best idea ever to build a wooden boat to attract recruits that still doesn't make any sense with two rivers blocks away they could have put the WOODEN boat in to accomplish the same task. Only with a real boat. A wooden one. In the water. Where the recruits would, ostensibly, be patrolling. Not Union Square where they'd probably not be patrolling. Unless you were in charge. Then, a wooden boat, in Union Square, blocks from two rivers, suddenly makes sense. :buddies:
 
b23hqb

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Larry Gude said:
So this isn't odd to you at all? I take comfort in that.
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Come on, Gude - way cheaper, countlessly so, than any real ship. All you see is the wood structure above the "waterline". The bulk of nearly every ship lies below, with all the associated engineering, storage, living, steering, fuel/coal bunkers, ammo rooms, etc.

Building it and taking it down kept people employed for a short time, at least.

But I agree with the bizarre/odd/different aspect. But pretty neat, really. Never heard of this before.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
Larry Gude said:
1917-1920 is what it says were the dates of construction and that it was left there. The war was over in 1918.
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It was built in 1917 and stayed there for three years. US involvement in the war did not end until July 2nd 1921. Until all troops were back home a drawdown could not happen, so recruiting continued.

They were recruiting, not patrolling. You don't take people off the street and start them patrolling. You recruit them, do the paperwork, do aptitude tests, do medical screening, send them off to training, and then use them. This was not a patrol vessel, it was a temporary building that they adorned with some fake guns. It drew interest. It was not a weapon, it was a recruiting tool.

I understand that you are not aware of the difference between a building with fake guns and a ship that is armed and seaworthy. Building a ship for this purpose would have been a far greater waste of limited resources than just making a temporary building.

The military does a lot of seemingly extraneous stuff as recruiting tools. Lots of things that are not directly related to wars. Should we disband the Blue Angels? Stop all participation in air shows? Get rid of the Old guard at Arlington and replace them with Walmart greeters? Get rid of military music? Stop participating in fleet week? Stop donating ships for memorials and museums?

This was an advertising gimmick. They knew their audience. Maybe it doesn't make sense to you, who readily volunteered to serve your country without having to be recruited. But the Navy felt that they needed to get the attention of the public to fill their ranks, and this is one way they did it.

Maybe they should have invented TV, put a TV in every home, and run ads instead. That would make more sense, right?
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
Larry Gude said:
That, at least, makes sense. :buddies:

Which of course, defeats mm's position that it was a money saving idea.
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Show me where I said that. Show me that I said this saved money. I'll wait a while for you to admit that you pulled it out of your Larryhole.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
b23hqb said:
Come on, Gude - way cheaper, countlessly so, than any real ship. All you see is the wood structure above the "waterline". The bulk of nearly every ship lies below, with all the associated engineering, storage, living, steering, fuel/coal bunkers, ammo rooms, etc.
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Larry, read the part you did not quote.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
Larry Gude said:
How about this? I don't like you. You don't like me. #### off.
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I like you just fine. You make me feel smart. Kind of like when I feel ugly I go to Walmart and it makes me feel good about myself.

I'm sad that you don't like me. :sad:
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
MMDad said:
I like you just fine. You make me feel smart. Kind of like when I feel ugly I go to Walmart and it makes me feel good about myself.

I'm sad that you don't like me. :sad:
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You win. Yay you. I don't even know you. You're just some anonymous whatever on the web that I am stupid enough to argue with. So, you win.
 
b23hqb

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Larry Gude said:
You win. Yay you. I don't even know you. You're just some anonymous whatever on the web that I am stupid enough to argue with. So, you win.
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Surely there must be some kind of icon for a thread make up huggy kissy, maybe even a group thread hug.......
 
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