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United States Navy Apprentice Boys
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By Lieutenant A. B. Wyckoff, U.S.N.
The first attempt to establish an apprentice system was in 1837, when Congress passed an act making it "lawful to enlist boys for the navy, not being under thirteen nor over eighteen years of age, to serve until twenty-one." Within a few months there were several hundred apprentices on board naval vessels, and the experiment gave promise of success. The secretary directed that the boys were to be "thoroughly instructed so as to best qualify them to perform the duties of seamen and petty officers." The law of Congress was enacted eight years before the establishment of the United States Naval Academy, and the impression seems to have gone abroad that the apprentices would eventually receive commissions as officers. In consequence, many boys from influential families enlisted. But when only two of their number received appointments as midshipmen, the remainder became dissatisfied and brought such pressure to bear on the Secretary of the Navy that their requests for discharges were granted. In 1843 the attempt to keep the act of Congress in force was abandoned.
Twenty years thereafter Captain S. B. Luce and the officers of the practice ship USS Macedonian (1836) had an opportunity to thoroughly examine the English apprentice system at Portsmouth and Plymouth. Upon their return they made such favorable reports to Secretary Welles as led to the revival of the law of 1837. It was in the midst of the Civil War, and patriotic impulse influenced many boys of superior position to enlist. A few of these were admitted to the Naval Academy, and, as soon as this was known, the training ship Sabine was thronged with ambitious boys, who could not gain appointments through the members of Congress or the President. This annual selection of a few of the apprentices for the Naval Academy continued for several years; but it was found that this rendered the remainder discontented, and the majority either deserted or secured their discharges through political influence. The apprentice system was again declared to be a failure.
For ten years after the close of the war our officers contended with extreme difficulties in keeping up the well-deserved reputation of our naval vessels, because of the very bad class of men that composed the crews. The percentage of Americans in the service was small, and it was no unusual circumstance to have the powder division of a ship made up almost entirely of foreigners, who could neither speak nor understand English. The intelligent officers of our navy could not rest content with this anomalous condition of affairs, and constantly suggested improvements. Several of these were adopted, but the amelioration of the character of our men-of-wars men was very gradual.
The success of the apprentice system in the European navies pointed to the only effective solution of the question. This fact was so fully impressed upon Secretary Robeson, that, notwithstanding the former failures, be issued a circular, April 8, 1875, again reviving the law of 1837, but avoiding previous mistakes in the details of execution. The circular distinctly states that the education of the boys will comprise only the elements of an English education, alternating with practical seamanship and other professional occupations designed to prepare them for sailors in the navy.
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The frigates Minnesota and Constitution, and the sloops Portsmouth and Saratoga were commissioned as "school" and "training" ships. The qualifications for admission as apprentices, at present, are almost identical with those in the circular of 1875, except an increase in the age limit, which is now from fourteen to eighteen. Each boy must satisfy the examining board of officers that he is of robust frame, intelligent, of perfectly sound and healthy constitution, and that he is able to read and write. In special cases, where the boy shows general intelligence and is otherwise qualified, he may be enlisted when his reading and writing are imperfect. Upon presenting himself for enlistment, he must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. When these reside at a distance, however, printed forms will be sent them by which the enlistment can be perfected. Boys of bad character will not be received, and no allowance is made for travelling expenses.
If the boy is found to be qualified in every way, he signs an agreement to serve continuously until he is twenty one years of age. He then receives an outfit of clothing, which must not exceed $45 in value. If afterward discharged at his own request this amount must be refunded. His pay is $9 per month, and one ration. If deserving, he may be promoted to $10 and $11 per month, while serving on the training ships. After the first six months on a cruising vessel, his pay can be advanced to $19, and after one year to $24, if a board of officers is satisfied as to his physical and professional qualifications. When he has $30 on the books he can allot a portion of his pay to his family. If recommended for ad honorable discharge, when he becomes of age, he will receive a continuous service certificate, which, upon re-enlistment within three months, entitles him to pay during that time, and an addition of one dollar per month to that of his rating. After his re-entry into the service he will be eligible for the position of a petty officer, with increased pay, at the discretion of his commanding officer. Those injured in the service, or having contracted disease in the line of duty, will be given a pension. Boys are enlisted on the receiving ships at the navy yards on the Atlantic coast, on the Michigan at Erie, Pa., and the Minnesota, at New York. They must be sent to the training station as soon after enlistment as practicable.
This training station is at Coaster's Harbor Island, near Newport, R. I. On December 20, 1880, the people of Newport ceded " Woonachasset," or Coaster's Harbor Island, to the State, and on March 2, 1881, Rhode Island ceded title and jurisdiction to the United States, for the purpose of a training station. On August 7, 1882, Congress accepted " the cession by the State of Rhode Island to the United States of said island for use as a Naval Training Station."
Coaster's Harbor Island contains ninety acres of land, and is less than two miles from the city. Its surface is rolling and of pleasing aspect, and the whole marine activity of the bay is visible from it. A causeway connects it with Rhode Island, so that free access to the city of Newport can be had, even when ice and fog interrupt the trips of the ferry-boats. The island is in every way an admirable location for a training station, except for the long and severe winters, which interfere seriously with the open-air drills and exercises.
The old double-deck frigate New Hampshire was brought to Newport in August, 1881, and was eventually moored to a large quay extending out from Coaster's Harbor Island. She was housed in, heated with steam, and lighted by electricity. A large reservoir on the highest part of the island, kept filled by pumps from deep drive-wells, furnished an abundant supply of pure water to the ship, for cooking, washing, and bathing purposes. The New Hampshire comfortably accommodated five hundred apprentices. They slept in hammocks, assisted in keeping the ship clean, and in various ways were gradually accustomed to a nautical life. The daily routine began at 5:30, when "reveille" was sounded and all hammocks were lashed and stowed. After an early breakfast of hot cocoa and bread, they washed their clothes, scrubbed decks, and bathed. Three " square " meals were given them,
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and about six hours daily were occupied with studies and drills. "Tattoo" was sounded at 9 p.m., when all had to be in their hammocks and keep quiet.
An epidemic of typhoid fever some time since caused the temporary removal of the comfortable old New Hampshire to New London, where she was " frozen out " to eliminate any traces of the disease. The boys were taken on shore and quartered in the gymnasium. The Richmond was sent to take the place of the New Hampshire, but being a much smaller vessel, could only accommodate a portion of the boys at a time. They have had, therefore, the benefits of both the barrack and ship systems of training, each of which has its earnest advocates among the officers of the service. The same routine is practically enforced.
Many kinds of games are furnished the boys, and they have free access to a splendid library. The hours after supper and Saturday afternoons are entirely given up to recreation. They have their ball clubs, and the large area of the island gives plenty of room for athletic exercises. Those whose conduct admits of the privilege, are allowed to visit the city at least one afternoon each week, and large squads are frequently sent to the theatre. Entertainments are also given in the drill-hall every Friday evening during the winter months. The boys settle down very quickly to the prescribed routine, and, as a rule, are quite contented. Their surroundings are probably more comfortable than at ]ionic, and the food is abundant and of excellent quality. The drills and exercises are not severe, and the rapidity of the boys' physical development, under such auspicious circumstances, is very remarkable. Their fine, healthy appearance was particularly commented upon by the public press when they took part in the inaugural parade in 1889.
There are three departments of instruction, viz., seamanship, gunnery, and English. The latter includes reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, and singing. The instruction in the professional branches is made as practical as possible. The lessons in gunnery seem particularly interesting to the boys, and they soon acquire a considerable knowledge of magazines, projectiles, fuses, primers, torpedoes, etc. All boys love a gun, whether big or little, and their military ardor makes it a pleasure to drill them as infantry or at the great guns. Instruction is also given in fencing, boxing, and gymnastics.
Most of the boys show considerable aptitude in learning all a sailor's duties aboard ship. The compass, lead, and log are stumbling-blocks to some, and at first there is a timidity about work aloft. But they soon delight in being in the tops, and become as nimble as squirrels in climbing the rigging. They take naturally to boats and swimming, and the boy who has once slept in a hammock never again desires a bed.
The apprentices are divided into gun crews, and the gun captains are selected for good conduct, military bearing, and general proficiency. These petty officers are required to preserve order and discipline in their crews at all formations, and in marching to and from the recitation-rooms. It is very noticeable how quickly this little authority develops the bearing and habit of command in the boy, and furnishes a valuable suggestion as to what would be the result on board all of our men-of-war if the petty officers were trusted and given more responsibility.
The apprentices are generally very amenable to discipline, notwithstanding the fact that the majority of them come from the tenement-house districts of cities. The change of surroundings, and the orderly routine of the ship and barracks have an instant effect. A new chapter has opened in the life of the street gamin, and frequently he develops into a reliable, energetic man. Of course, many vicious boys are shipped, and some of them give considerable trouble. But as the apprentice is constantly under the oversight of an officer or schoolmaster, his character is soon known, and the incorrigible boy is summarily dismissed from the service. The most difficult boy to instruct and discipline, however, is the one who comes from a family in good circumstances, but who has grown up without any home training. When their son is found to be beyond their control, the parents seize upon the opportunity of placing him under naval discipline. There is no thought of his remaining permanently in the navy, and in a few weeks or months he either deserts, or his parents relent and secure his discharge. The poorer and more friendless the boy, the greater the chance of his making a competent and contented man-of-wars man.
The apprentice is supposed to remain at the training station for at least six months. During that time, even with the very limited number of instructors, the average boy learns more about his future profession than the average " landsman " on a man-of-war does in a three years' cruise.
The instructors or schoolmasters are all ex-apprentices, who have re-entered the service upon the expiration of their enlistments. They are well qualified for their positions and, having been through the school, appreciate the essentials both in drills and discipline. They have a uniform different from the blue-jackets, consisting of a coat with brass buttons and a cap. They are given a certain amount of authority, and are the drill-masters at all except general exercises. As in the case of the gun-captains, so with these schoolmasters; they show what petty officers in the service might become, if uniformed, given some authority, and inspired with confidence and self-respect.
There are several line-officers attached to the training station, who supervise the discipline and instruction. Their number is always inadequate to give that thorough attention to details which would still further improve the efficiency of the school. Four warrant officers are supposed to give technical instruction in their specialties, but the limited number of watch officers usually causes their assignment to that duty. A chaplain looks after the moral training of the boys, and is always ready with friendly counsel and sympathy to inspire them with higher ideals of manhood. He conducts a service every Sabbath, and, with the assistance of the officers and some benevolent ladies, a under naval discipline. There is no thought of his remaining permanently in the navy, and in a few weeks or months he either deserts, or his parents relent and secure his discharge. The poorer and more friendless the boy, the greater the chance of his making a competent and contented man-of-wars man.
The apprentice is supposed to remain at the training station for at least six months. During that time, even with the very limited number of instructors, the average boy learns more about his future profession than the average " landsman " on a man-of-war does in a three years' cruise.
The instructors or schoolmasters are all ex-apprentices, who have re-entered the service upon the expiration of their enlistments. They are well qualified for their positions and, having been through the school, appreciate the essentials both in drills and discipline. They have a uniform different from the blue-jackets, consisting of a coat with brass buttons and a cap. They are given a certain amount of authority, and are the drill-masters at all except general exercises. As in the case of the gun-captains, so with these schoolmasters; they show what petty officers in the service might become, if uniformed, given some authority, and inspired with confidence and self-respect.
There are several line-officers attached to the training station, who supervise the discipline and instruction. Their number is always inadequate to give that thorough attention to details which would still further improve the efficiency of the school. Four warrant officers are supposed to give technical instruction in their specialties, but the limited number of watch officers usually causes their assignment to that duty. A chaplain looks after the moral training of the boys, and is always ready with friendly counsel and sympathy to inspire them with higher ideals of manhood. He conducts a service every Sabbath, and, with the assistance of the officers and some benevolent ladies, a successful Sunday-school. The Catholics are permitted to attend their own church, and the chaplain and the parish priest work together in entire harmony in their efforts for the moral welfare of the boys.
A sentence in a daily paper, which has just caught my eye, expresses volumes regarding the conduct of the apprentices : Mayor Coggeshall, of Newport, R. I., in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, says, in regard to the apprentice boys at the naval training station : `The boys are uniformly well behaved; courteous to our citizens; and it is an exception when reproof is necessary. It is due to these lads, without home influence, to assure you of their manliness when in our city.' It is often asserted that the apprentices are coddled too much at the training station, and that their generous treatment there makes them immediately discontented when transferred to the necessary hardships incident to their positions on the training ships and cruisers. This may be true to a certain extent, but the changes to assimilate their condition to what it will be in actual service should be undertaken with extreme care.
Twice annually the sloops Jamestown and Portsmouth appear at Newport, and about seventy boys are drafted to each. The capacity of these vessels being insufficient, the Monongahela is soon to be added to the training fleet. The training ships make a summer cruise to Europe, and a winter cruise to the West Indies. Only half of the crews are changed at a time, and each apprentice remains on board a year. This year is supposed to transform the boy into a deep-water sailor. Their former instruction is continued, but the principal result is a splendid development of physique, a thorough knowledge of a sailing ship, and perfect fearlessness and activity aloft.
There has been some criticism of these obsolete ships, but the consensus of opinion in the service is decidedly in favor of this year of training on a sailing vessel, because of the general result to character and the physical condition of the apprentice. A very proper criticism upon both the training school and ships is the entirely obsolete materials which are provided for the drills and exercises. Both should be furnished with the most recent great guns and machine guns, so that while the apprentices is being made a sailor, he can also be trained in the use of the weapons which he must eventually handle. It would no doubt save some excellent boys to the service, and perhaps produce other beneficial results, if the training ships came to Newport only once each year. They could then take their full complement and make a cruise of eleven months to Europe and the West Indies, always arranging to keep in warm climates. The old sloops of war are very uncomfortable in cold weather, and the drills aloft must be curtailed or expose the boys unnecessarily to inclement conditions. In addition, they are rendered discontented, while in the home ports by frequent communication with their friends, which leads many to desert or procure their discharges. If they were kept abroad they would not desert, and would probably become so accustomed to their surroundings as to imbibe a liking for their new profession.
When the year on the training ship is completed, the apprentice is transferred to a regular man-of-war. Here his education is still continued, and the remainder of his enlistment is none too long for him to become thoroughly acquainted with a modern ship and her armament.
After re-enlistment, such ex-apprentices as have shown a proper aptitude can be sent to the Washington Navy Yard for a six months course of instruction in gunnery. A limited number of these are afterward detailed to Newport, R. I., for an equal length of time, to be given a practical knowledge of electricity and torpedoes. They then graduate into the service as seamen gunners, which insures them petty officer’s billets and better pay. The ram Alarm is being fitted out for the more complete instruction of gun-captains, to meet a positive necessity.
After a description of our own apprentice system, it will be instructive to glance at those of foreign countries. Until the year 1853 the war vessels of Great Britain were manned by volunteers for the commission, and they were paid off when the ship returned from a cruise. It was anticipated that there would be a sufficient number of volunteers should an emergency occur requiring a large number of men. But the exigency having arisen in 1850, it was found impossible to secure crews for the vessels ordered into commission. Several months would elapse before men-of-war could be gotten to sea, although the merchant marine of England numbered fully two hundred and fifty thousand men at that time. Notwithstanding the special inducements offered, the difficulty continued until careful consideration led to the adoption of an apprentice system in 1853. England has since had many failures of ships and guns, but there has never been any trouble in keeping all her war vessels fully manned by efficient crews.
Boys of over fourteen will be enlisted as apprentices in England if they meet the physical requirements and can produce evidence of good character. After signing an engagement to serve until thirty years of age, they are sent to a training ship and are given an outfit of clothing. At the end of a year they may be promoted to first-class boys, and when eighteen can, if qualified, obtain the higher rating of ordinary seamen. Their future advancement then depends upon character and their aptitude for the profession. The positions of petty and warrant officers are open to them, when their annual pay would range from $400 to $800, besides a number of allowances for special qualifications. Apprentices receive regular instruction in primary studies, and great attention is paid to their physical education. Careful records are kept, which insure to merit its reward. The drills and exercises on the training brigs make seamen of them, and develop that nerve and contempt of danger which are such essential characteristics of a good sailor. When drafted to a regular man-of-war the systematic training in gunnery and torpedoes is continued, until an extensive practical technical knowledge is obtained. The allowance of increased pay for special acquirements is a very great incentive to earnest application, and will always produce beneficial results. If a man has twenty-two years of good service, when he reaches the age of forty, he can retire with a respectable pension. If he chooses to remain in active service until be is fifty, his pension is correspondingly increased.
The system of securing men for the French navy is radically different from that of the English. While the training of boy volunteers is relied upon to a certain extent, the acceptance of the principle of compulsory service greatly simplifies the problem. The number of apprentices is not fixed by law, and fluctuates with the voluntary enlistments and the demands of the service. Boys are accepted on the training ships, for preliminary instruction, between fourteen and fifteen years of age. When sixteen they must either enlist for five years or refund the expense of their previous maintenance. The apprentices who show special aptitude are sent to the training schools, and are there thoroughly instructed. These afterward receive preference in the service, and eventually fill the positions of specialists and principal petty officers. Those selected for seamen-gunners are given fifteen months of practical training. After passing the required examinations, they become the gun-captains of the fleet.
In addition to the regular apprentices, boys from the maritime population, between sixteen and eighteen, may be shipped for two years. They receive similar training to the apprentices, and, at the expiration of their enlistments, must either re-enter for five years, or be subjects to the naval inscription. These two classes are the trained men of the service. The remaining men needed are obtained by the maritime inscription, and the military conscription. The former serve five years afloat, and two in the reserve. The men transferred from the army have five years in active service, and four in the reserve.
There is a close resemblance between the German and French systems of manning their respective navies. The German boys enter the service at fifteen or sixteen, and are educated for three years. After passing the school they enlist for nine years. The apprentices are very carefully trained in all the specialties, The same may be said of all European navies. While the majority of the men in each service except the English are secured by conscription, and volunteers of mature age are admitted, the apprentice system alone is trusted to furnish the skilled petty officers.
In former times the ideal man-of-wars man was a good sailor, of strong, active physique. It was not necessary that he should he educated or have a high order of intelligence. His training was entirely practical. The best sailors were supposed to be careless, reckless men, who defied danger in every form at sea, and courted the worst slums of cities when on shore.
Ships were handled under sail with marvelous skill, and seamanship was a perfect science. But seamanship, considered as the science of handling a sailing ship, is a thing of the past. The developments, since the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac, have been so great that we have practically reached a new era. As the old-time battleship has been relegated to history, so must be the old-time man-of-wars man. An English admiral has fittingly remarked, that, "a seaman of today must know as much as the lieutenant of forty years ago."
After a long period of inertness and apparent indifference, our country has recently awakened to the imperative necessity of a navy, sufficient, at least, for defense. With practical unanimity the people and press have urged Congress to make the requisite appropriations. As a consequence, the progress of the construction of anew navy, during the last six years, has been very rapid. The severe tests prescribed by our naval authorities have spurred on our protesting steel manufacturers until their two years two private establishments, which have been wisely fostered by large orders from the Government, will turn out armor-plates of any size. Many other steel works are steadily enlarging their plants. Our cruisers are well built, and those which have been tried have proved equal to any afloat of their class, in speed, facility of maneuvering, steadiness of platform, and seaworthiness. Our naval guns, also, compare favorably with those manufactured at the several celebrated private factories in Europe.
We have reason to congratulate ourselves as a nation upon such a result, so quickly attained. It has shown how great is American creative genius. We now have the experience, the required designs, and the plants; only money is necessary to place the material of our navy on an equality with any in existence. But the felicitations of our people are somewhat premature. While Congress has been so generous in legislating the new navy into existence, the personnel both officers and men has been almost entirely neglected. The majority of the officers are struggling manfully to keep abreast of the times. The requirements of naval science are now so great, and its developments so rapid, that they must apply themselves diligently during every spare moment. The student age is long past for most of them, but in spite, of their years, the esprit de corps is such that they will not be found wanting when the hour of trial comes.
With the men it will be different, unless some change of policy occurs. Our crews are still largely composed of the dregs of all nations. The necessities of the service prevent any but a physical standard for enlistments : and nationality, intelligence, age, and moral character are not considered. Congress should realize that new vessels and new guns are incompetent to defend the national honor, unless they are efficiently manned. The ability of our officers cannot bring success in the next naval war, unless there is more trained intelligence among their subordinates.
In former wars we looked to the merchant marine and fishing fleet for our needed volunteers, and they were an efficient reliance. But with the modern war ship the fisherman and the merchant seaman would not be any more valuable as a recruit than a landsman of greater intelligence, who could be more quickly trained as a gunner or torpedoist.
There is a consensus of opinion among naval officers regarding our unfortunate position; but they seem to differ widely as to the manner of improving it. Logical reasoning, and the experience of foreign navies, should convince us that there is but one solution. We must take intelligence in the formative period and train it to meet our necessities. We must have an efficient apprentice system. Granting this, three questions arise How shall we get a sufficient number of apprentices, how shall we train them, and how retain them in the service? The first question can be answered if Congress will authorize the enlistment annually of fifteen hundred apprentices, and make the necessary appropriations for the recruiting and training service. At present we rely upon two or three large cities to furnish the majority of our apprentices. Even in these localities we make no special effort to attract the boys. They accidentally bear of the opportunity to enlist, and then with difficulty ascertain where to present themselves. And in these cities, the boys who are homeless and friendless are hardened little sinners, as a rule, disliking all restraint, and accustomed to take care of themselves. If they are of a roving disposition, they can always ship on a merchant vessel for a short cruise, and soon have their freedom again. The boys born and bred in the country are radically different. They know little of the world, and are afraid to venture away from their family surroundings. But let the Government say to them : I will clothe you, feed you, educate you, advance you to a position of good pay and some honor and responsibility when competent, and after twenty years' service retire you on a fair pension, and there will be no difficulty in getting numbers of them to enlist. In every agricultural State there are hundreds of boys who would rejoice at such a chance. Every village would furnish its quota of poor boys, who otherwise must be bound out, or labor for very scanty wages. Compare such material for moulding into seamen with vagrants, vicious productions of tenement-houses in the cities. The rural youth would enter the navy as a profession, and not as a temporary expedient. And he would neither have the inclination nor the nerve to desert and face the uncertainties of life in a seaport.
The ignorance regarding the navy in the interior States is stupendous. The only idea, if any, the country boy has of the service was obtained from a novel of Marryat's, when his blood was curdled by the terrible brutality of naval officers and the terrific dangers of the sea. To get this class of recruits, you must inform them of the existence of the apprentice system, and the advantages it offers. The army has its recruiting stations scattered throughout the country. Why should not the navy? It is equally important to the United States, and, in an emergency, might prove more so. Why should the navy be confined to the seaports, and not have representatives of all parts of the country? Recruiting offices could be moved from place to place, advertising thoroughly in advance, and remain only a few weeks in each town. The personnel needed could be restricted to three or four persons, and the expense of each party would be small. When a dozen boys had been enlisted, they could be sent to the nearest rendezvous. In this way the navy could be Americanized and popularized, for the poor boys of every State would have an equal chance.
How should apprentices be trained? Enlist them for eight years. Give them six months' preliminary instruction, and one year on the training ships, as previously outlined. Furnish both training schools and ships with the most modern war material, and have plenty of instructors. Next send the apprentice to a cruiser for three years and finally to a battle ship for an equal length of time. Throughout his entire service his instruction should be special and progressive. An individual record should be kept, and promotion given according to merit.
How shall we keep apprentices in the service? It is said that nine-tenths of the apprentices fail to re-enlist when they become of age. Many officers consider the system a failure for this reason. I do not agree with them. The Government has had three years' efficient service from the apprentices on board war vessels, where they fully earned their pay as members of the crew. The one-tenth who continue in the navy become our most intelligent petty officers. Those who decline to re-enlist would no doubt enroll themselves in the Naval Reserve, and would be the first to volunteer in the event of war. The proportion of apprentices who remain in the service could be greatly increased if better treatment were vouchsafed them. The pay of the seamen is sufficiently large, and the navy ration is excellent. But it is very poorly cooked, and great improvement in this respect is necessary. The men's quarters have always been bad, and are much worse on the new ships than on the old ones. It does seem that very little attention is paid to their comfort in designing the modern war ships. Rectify this as far as possible. Largely increase the pay of the petty officers, and give them a uniform. Men should be promoted to petty officers only after a careful scrutiny of their record, and a satisfactory examination by aboard of officers. Then they should not be reduced, except by sentence of a court-martial. Give them more authority, and make them drillmasters under the supervision of the officers. Put them in a position where they will respect themselves and have the obedience and respect of the men.
They should have separate messes and quarters, and be treated as well as the non-commissioned officers in the army. Under these circumstances they will not lightly leave the service, and the apprentices will always have the stimulus of these favored billets before their eyes.
The men should be retired when they reach the age of forty, if they have had twenty years of continuous service. The English recognize that twenty years' service practically renders a man physically incompetent to perform longer the arduous duties on a man-of-war. Congress should realize this fact, and give adequate pay and pensions for the privations and hardships of a life at sea.
The Navy Department is doing all that is possible, with its limited means, to improve the efficiency of the apprentice system. If Congress would constitute a joint committee of both houses to thoroughly investigate the personnel of the navy, it would certainly result in lasting benefit to the service.
Bibliography
Wyckoff, A. B., Lieutenant, USN, The United States Apprentice System, Scribner's Magazine, Volume X, July - December 1891, page 563 to page 574, New York, Charles Scribners Sons - F. Warne & Co., London
U.S. Training Ship Monongahela and U.S. Naval Training System Illustrated , Frank H. Child, Publisher, No. 242 Thames Street, Newport, R.I., 1892
Ships Of Other Days, Edmund Sears Sayer, Printed October 30, 1930, Nice, France, Copy No. 146 of 1000
Photographs
Reynolds, Francis J. The United States Navy From The Revolution To Date, New York, New York, P.F. Collier & Son, 1916. Photos of the Frigate Constellation and Monongahela |- | | | |- |- | |}
- ^ Wyckoff, A. B., Lieutenant, USN, The United States Apprentice System, Scribner's Magazine, Volume X, July - December 1891, page 563 to page 574, New York, Charles Scribners Sons - F. Warne & Co., London