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USS Recruit (1917): The Wooden Dreadnought in Manhattan's Union Square
- mcpackieh 3y agoI love the dazzle camo, it really does make the 'ship' hard to recognize as a ship. Maybe not effective for it's intended purpose of frustrating the use of optical rangefinders, but it sure looked cool.
- evbogue 3y agoIs this real? I've been through Union Square 10,000 times over the past 20 years and never heard mention of it.
- Tommstein 3y ago> ”When the First World War came to an end, the USS Recruit stayed put for another two years. However, as Christenson explains, 'By 1920, the United States had the largest Navy in the world in terms of sailors, and there was less of a need for them with the end of World War I.' As such, the ship’s flag was lowered on March 16, 1920, and she was decommissioned and dismantled."
- evbogue 3y agowell yes, I assumed it was gone by the time I wandered through Union Square. I just feel like I should have seen a memo printed into metal about it at some point during my journeys.
- Cthulhu_ 3y agoNah; it was an army recruitment stunt, not like a monument or whatever. People don't usually leave markers for temporary marketing stunts like this.
- thisismyaccoun7 3y agoNope. Its successor is still in San Diego though https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Recruit_(TDE-1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Recruit_(TDE-1)
- mcpackieh 3y agoThere's a somewhat similar sort of thing in New Jersey for development/training (not recruiting afaik), basically a warehouse with the superstructure of a cruiser/destroyer sitting on top of it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rancocas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rancocas
- thatfunkymunki 3y agoYou sure about that? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Recruit_(1917) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Recruit_(1917)
- evbogue 3y agoWow! You can see Barnes and Noble from that photo. Never knew about it, now I know.
- psunavy03 3y agoI don't think you read the linked article. Yes, there have been several "USS Recruits" at various bases which have hosted Navy boot camps over the years. One is in San Diego at Liberty Station, a mixed-use development which used to be Naval Training Center San Diego and is now anchored by a Stone brewpub. Source: I served in San Diego in the reserves, did detachments there while on active duty, quaffed quite a few pints at said Stone brewpub, and have walked around the "ship."
- lostlogin 3y agoI’m confused. Are you saying the NY ship did, or didn’t exist?
- 3y ago
- simmerup 3y agoThere are so many photos of it in the article…
- pjc50 3y ago"was only there for three years" a century ago.