CHAPTER XXX
THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND STRONG
VAST OPERATIONS COULD HARDLY HAVE BEEN CARRIED ON WITHOUT NAVAL RESERVES AND NATIONAL NAVAL VOLUNTEERS—MANNED HUNDREDS OF VESSELS PLYING TO FRANCE—SERVED ON TRANSPORTS, DESTROYERS, SUB-CHASERS AND EVERY KIND OF CRAFT—NAVAL AVIATION COMPOSED MAINLY OF RESERVISTS—THIRTY THOUSAND MADE OFFICERS.
"We are coming, Uncle Samuel, three hundred thousand strong!" That was the spirit if not the song of the reservists who besieged the recruiting stations and flocked into the Navy at the call of war.
They came from every walk of life—mechanics and millionaires, farm boys and college students, clerks and merchants, yacht owners and boatmen, fishermen and firemen. There was hardly a trade, profession or calling that was not represented. Ninety-nine out of every hundred were landsmen, knowing nothing of the sea. But they took to the naval service like ducks to water, and the rapidity with which they learned, and the efficiency with which they served, amazed the old sea-dogs.
Never again will men dare to ridicule the volunteer, the reservist, the man who in a national crisis lays aside civilian duty to become a soldier or sailor, to shoulder a gun or take his place in the turret. The splendid body of young men from civil life who quickly adapted themselves to military service astonished the old timers, who believed that long service was absolutely necessary to make one efficient.
On every ship in the Navy were found young men who, without previous training, had enrolled for the war, and in a short time were performing well the duties of naval service. Moved by a zeal and patriotism which quickened their ability to learn, the ambitious young men who responded to the call in 1917-18 mastered military knowledge so rapidly as to astonish naval officers, as well as the country. The most capable were placed in command of small naval craft, and the commendation of older officers was hearty and enthusiastic.
Before 1917, responsible naval officials knew that the chief need when war came would be trained leaders. There was never any doubt that patriotic young men would enroll by the thousands and tens of thousands. But you cannot make a naval officer in a day. It is easier to secure good officers on land than on sea. It was leadership, a quality indefinable, that the Navy needed.
There was need for many more officers. After promoting many capable regulars, we turned for officer material to the apt and alert young men in colleges and schools, in shops, in professions and on the farms. Most of them were given their intensive training on board ship, but the Navy was able to give 1,700 a special course at the Naval Academy. Securing that assignment by competition with all other reservists, they came with the imprimatur of approval from ships or shore stations. After the thorough course at Annapolis they went immediately to service afloat, and from admirals and captains I received reports that gave proof of their efficiency. Some did so well that they were keen competitors, in the special duties they performed, with those who had enjoyed a full four-year course at the Naval Academy.
Over 30,000 reservists were made commissioned or warrant officers, nearly three times as many as the total, 10,590, in the regular Navy. They served on vessels of every type, from submarine chasers to battleships. On the transports the larger percentage of the officers were reservists. The usual plan was to have the duties of the captain, executive officer, chief engineer, gunnery officers, senior supply and medical officers performed by regulars, the others being of the reserve force. Out of a total of, say, thirty officers on board a transport, twenty-four of them would be reservists. They were on duty on deck, in the engine room, in the sick quarters, in the supply office, and in practically every part of the ship.