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European Arena - 14325_147
THE POSTWAR YEARS - 14325_149

Basic Military Requirements (BMR) Revised Edition
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Possibly the most versatile of the many new types of ships built during World War II were the destroyer escorts, now called  frigates. Other types built during that time included attack cargo ships, transports, barracks ships, net tenders, repair ships, radar pickets, minelayers, and mine sweepers. Those ships, as well as many other types of ships too numerous to mention, changed the shape of the U.S. Navy almost overnight. When  the  Japanese  attacked  Pearl  Harbor, 111 American submarines were in commission, 60 in the  Atlantic  Fleet  and  51  in  the  Pacific.  After  the invasion of North Africa, U.S. efforts were concentrated in  the  Pacific,  leaving  submarine  operations  in  the Atlantic to U.S. Allies. The Pacific became the hunting grounds for American submarine forces. The  number  of  American  submarines  during  the war peaked at 247. During the war, the United States lost 52 of these boats along with 3,505 submariners. The number  of  vessels  sunk  by  U.S.  submarines  played  a major  part  in  the  American  victory  in  World  War  II. American  submarines  sank  1,750  Japanese  merchant ships  and  more  than  200  combatants.  Those  vessels represented  55  percent  of  the  total  Japanese  tonnage sunk in the war. For an island nation such as Japan, those figures represented a fatal impact. Radar and sonar came into full use during World War II.  The  English  used  them  initially  to  combat  German U-boats,  but  they  were  also  incorporated  into  the submarine as an attack aid. Sonar has become the most important of the submarine’s senses. Hydrophones listen for  sounds  from  other  ships  and  the  echoes  of  sound waves transmitted from the submarine itself. Women in the Navy Twenty-one  years  after  the  Yeomanette  era, women  were  needed  to  fill  an  acute  shortage  of personnel caused by rapid expansion of the Navy for World War II. On July 30, 1942, Congress authorized establishment  of  the  Women’s  Reserve,  with  an estimated  goal  of  10,000  enlisted  women  and  1,000 officers.   This   new   organization   had   certain congressional limitations. Women could not serve at sea or outside the continental United States and could not exercise military command over men. They could not  go  beyond  lieutenant  commander  on  the  pro- motion  ladder.  On  August  4,  1942,  Mildred  Helen McAfee was sworn in as Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Naval  Reserve,  to  become  Commander  of  the Women’s Reserve. A boot camp for women volunteers was established at Hunter College in New York City. It was promptly dubbed USS Hunter. Since basic training lasted from 6 to  8  weeks,  every  other  week  some  1,680  women seamen  had  to  be  housed,  fed,  and  uniformed.  (The housing was provided in 17 apartment buildings near the college taken over by the Navy.) At about the same time, three other schools were commissioned  in  the  Middle  West  to  train  enlisted women  as  Yeomen,  Storekeepers,  and  Radiomen.  In July  1943,  the  Navy  Japanese  Language  School  in Boulder, Colorado, opened to women. Navy women came to work the same hours as Navy men, standing both day and night watches. They stayed in uniform at all times except in the barracks or when engaged in active sports. They were called on to meet the  same  standards  of  neatness  and  good  behavior  as those required of men in uniform. In short, women were fitted into the Navy as an integral part of the service. They  slipped  into  the  same  spot  in  the  chain  of command as the men they replaced and performed the same duties. This system gave Navy women the same status, responsibilities, and restrictions as men. The first Reserve classification for women officers was W-V(S), meaning Woman-Volunteer (Specialist). 5-18 Student Notes: Figure 5-12.—V-J Day aboard USS Missouri. Fleet Admiral Nimitz signs the Japanese surrender document on 2 September 1945.







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