United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland
Encyclopedia
Port Deposit, Maryland
Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay...
, on the bluffs of the northeast bank of the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
. It was active from 1942 to 1976.
The training center occupied the former campus of the Tome School
Tome School
The Tome School is a private school located in North East in Cecil County in Maryland, USA and is one of the oldest schools in the state of Maryland.-Port Deposit:...
for boys. Its was ideally located in the militarized U.S. East Coast of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and was located halfway between U.S. 1
U.S. Route 1 in Maryland
U.S. Route 1 is the easternmost and longest of the major north–south routes of the United States Numbered Highway System, running from Key West, Florida to Fort Kent, Maine. In the U.S...
and U.S. Route 40
U.S. Route 40
U.S. Route 40 is an east–west United States highway. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, U.S. 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the original 1920s U.S. Highways, and its first termini were San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey...
, approximately 35 miles (56.3 km) northeast of Baltimore, Maryland, and 75 miles (120.7 km) from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The center was placed under the command of the Commander of the Fifth Naval District, based in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
.
The site was approved by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the property of the Jacob Tome school for boys was expanded, by government purchase, from 330 acres (1.3 km²) to 1132 acres (4.6 km²). Eggers & Higgins
Eggers & Higgins
Eggers & Higgins was a New York architectural firm partnered by Otto Reinhold Eggers and Daniel Paul Higgins . The architects were responsible for the construction phase of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial beginning in 1939, two years after the death of its original architect, John Russell Pope,...
, the architects on the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was among the architects for the center’s construction. The center was expanded with an additional five hundred buildings and was activated on October 1, 1942. Ten days later the Center was opened and the first batch of U.S. Navy recruits were admitted for “boot camp” training and indoctrination.
President Roosevelt personally chose the name of “Bainbridge” for the Center in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge
William Bainbridge
William Bainbridge was a Commodore in the United States Navy, notable for his victory over HMS Java during the War of 1812.-Early life:...
who had commanded the famous American frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and defeated the British frigate HMS Java
HMS Java (1811)
HMS Java was a British Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. She was originally launched in 1805 as the Renommée, described as a 40-gun Pallas-class French Navy frigate, but the vessel actually carried 46 guns...
. The president reportedly expressed his wishes that the Center would live up to the high standards established by Commodore Bainbridge.
Recruit training
Once the gates were opened for recruits on October 11, 1942, the first busloads of recruits arrived from transportation collection points at Havre de Grace and Perryville, MarylandPerryville, Maryland
Perryville is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,672 at the 2000 census. The town is located off Interstate 95, on the north side of the mouth of the Susquehanna River.-History:...
. The recruits were given a battery of tests to determine their educational and skill levels, then trained in indoctrination, ordnance and gunnery, seamanship, fire fighting, physical training, and military drill.
Part of each recruit's training included the ignoble “service week” training, which occurred halfway through boot camp training and included kitchen duty, peeling potatoes, mopping, picking up “butts”, etc. However, the more fortunate recruits with special desirable skills, such as typing, could end up on an office typewriter rather than in a kitchen.
Military recruits were also trained in shipboard duties. However, these “shipboard duties” were aboard the R.T.S. Commodore
USS Commodore (401B)
USS Commodore , also known as R.T.S. Commodore, was a landlocked "dummy" training ship of the United States Navy. Built to resemble a small escort ship, she was built at the United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge in Maryland...
, a relatively large ship built on dry land. The dry land-bound ship was equipped with most of the facilities found on a real ship, including deck guns, pilot house, davit
Davit
A davit is a structure, usually made of steel, which is used to lower things over an edge of a long drop off such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching a lifeboat over the side of a ship....
s with whaleboat
Whaleboat
A whaleboat is a type of open boat that is relatively narrow and pointed at both ends, enabling it to move either forwards or backwards equally well. It was originally developed for whaling, and later became popular for work along beaches, since it does not need to be turned around for beaching or...
s, and mooring lines fastened to earth-bound bollard
Bollard
A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally it meant a post used on a ship or a quay, principally for mooring. The word now also describes a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic, such as posts arranged in a line to obstruct the passage of motor vehicles...
s, so that crew members could even learn casting off hawser
Hawser
Hawser is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse....
s and other lines connecting the ship to its dock.
By the end of World War II, the center had trained a total of 244,277 recruits who were formally graduated and transferred to various ships and stations throughout the world.
After World War II, the center continued limited operations until June 30, 1947, when it was inactivated as a Navy training center.
Non-recruit training
A total of 24,484 recruit graduates were trained and graduated during World War II with technical skills under the direction of the Service School Command.The following activities, under the control of the Service School Command and the Administrative Command, were located in the Naval Training Center during World War II and were not part of the Recruit Training Command portion of the Naval Training Center:
- Coast Guard School
- Rockefeller Research Unit (Report to Naval Training Station).
- Stewards Mates' School Roll
- Naval Academy Preparatory School
- Naval Hospital
- Hospital Corps School
- Naval Training School (Radio)
- Naval Training School (Fire Controlmen)
- Fire Fighters School
- Naval Training School (Electrical)
- Naval Training School (Physical Instructors)
- Naval Training School (Instructors)
- Naval Training School (Sound Motion Picture Technician)
- Fire Fighters Training Unit)
- Naval Training School (Motion Picture Operators)
- Naval Training School (Recruit Instructors - C)
Source: United States Naval Facilities World War II
First deactivation
After World War II, the center was deactivated in 1947, and the only school remaining at the center was then the Naval Academy Prep School, which continued to operate at Bainbridge until it was moved to Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, in August 1974.
Korean War reactivation
Since the center’s closing in 1947, a maintenance staff remained to protect the buildings from weather and other damage. In mid-1950, with the advent of the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
crisis, plans were made to reactivate the center, and it was officially reopened on February 1, 1951, in a ceremony in which Captain Robert Hall Smith, USN, took overall command.
Initial inspection of the center indicated that the buildings, despite the care of the maintenance staff, were in severe disrepair. A defense contract was awarded to Consolidated Engineering Company, of Baltimore, Maryland. The work of building renewal, plumbing, electrical and road repair, was accomplished ahead of schedule, allowing the center to reopen its gates for its first recruits on April 5, 1951.
The plan was to admit 500 recruits per week, but, because of the war, the rate of admission was soon increased to 1,000 recruits per week. The first 500 recruits who graduated as seamen recruits on June 23, 1951.
The center was divided into four subordinate activities, each with its own commanding officer:
Administrative Command
The Administrative Command was responsible for the various tasks and services necessary in running a center containing about 35,000 inhabitants. Tasks included base maintenance, physical security, fire protection, logistics, material procurement, medical care, religious services, transportation, and so on.
Recruit Training Command
The Recruit Training Command was the largest of the center’s commands and was responsible for the basic training of recruits. It consisted of four independent commands – known as camps—each of which had its own regimental drill hall, mess hall, barracks, class rooms, and so on:- Camp Rodgers
- Camp Perry
- Camp James
- Camp Barney
Each camp contained 5,000 male recruits. A training school was established for WAVE
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
recruits in October 1951. Circa 1959, male recruit training at Bainbridge was closed and male recruit training was only in Great Lakes, Illinois and San Diego, California. Bainbridge was the sole recruit training center for Waves until moving to Orlando, Florida in 1971.
Service School Command
The Service School Command was organized to train selected personnel who had completed “recruit” basic training and demonstrated an aptitude for a skill during initial recruit testing. The command had a capacity of providing specialty training to 4,000 sailors at a time. These personnel were assigned to training in gunnery, fire control, radio, telemetry, and other technical subjects.The United States Academy Preparatory School was a component of the Service School Command and was chartered to train enlisted personnel for acceptance into the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
. The school also trained sailors and marines in necessary academic skills required for admission to colleges and universities under the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps
Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.-Origins:...
.
Naval Hospital
The naval hospital was established as a 500-bed hospital for the care of center operating staff, recruits, students and dependents, with provision to increase capacity to 1,000-beds or more if necessary.The Hospital Corps School, with approximately 1,200 students studying to become Hospital Corpsmen, operated in conjunction with the naval hospital.
Center deactivation
In 1962, a Naval Nuclear Power School was installed on the center, but was eventually moved to the Naval Training Center at Orlando, FloridaOrlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. The Center was deactivated in 1976, after which the center’s facilities were used by the Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
as a Job Corps
Job Corps
Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free-of-charge education and vocational training to youth ages 16 to 24.-Mission and purpose:...
Training Center on part of the installation until 1990.
Famous individuals who served at the USNTC
- Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
football star & two-time Heisman TrophyHeisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
runner-up - Stephen P. De Mallie, Commander in World War 2 also called for the Korean conflict. Showed on CBS TV.
- Admiral Frank B. Kelso IIFrank B. Kelso IIFrank Benton Kelso II is a retired admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations in the early 1990s.-Early life:...
(1933-), who later became Chief of Naval OperationsChief of Naval OperationsThe Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
, served as Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School at the U.S. Naval Training Center Bainbridge from 1969-1971. - Paul PiercePaul Pierce (American football)Paul Edward "Red" Pierce was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Sul Ross State University from 1946 to 1951 and at Sam Houston State University from 1952 to 1967, amassing a career college football record of 94–52–7 134–72–9...
, who later became head football coach at Sul Ross State UniversitySul Ross State UniversitySul Ross State University , a public university in Alpine, Texas, is named for former Texas governor, Civil War general Lawrence Sullivan Ross. It was founded in 1917 as Sul Ross Normal College and was made a university in 1969....
and Sam Houston State UniversitySam Houston State UniversitySam Houston State University was founded in 1879 and is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in the State of Texas. It is located in Huntsville, Texas. It is one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first...
.
Base closing
On November 3, 1986, the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
authorized the Secretary of the Navy to dispose of the NTCB (Naval Training Center, Bainbridge) facility by sale to private parties or transfer to other government agencies. NTCB is the Federal Facilities equivalent of a brownfield site with the primary goal of the Navy being effective re-use of the former property by the State of Maryland and the people of Cecil County
Cecil County, Maryland
Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of the Delaware Valley. It was named for Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , who was the first Proprietary Governor of the colony of Maryland from 1632 until his death in 1675. The county seat is Elkton. The newspaper...
. Congress specified that before any sale, the Secretary of the Navy was required to “restore such property to a condition that meets all applicable Federal and State of Maryland environmental protection regulations" (Public Law 99-956). The U.S. Navy has transferred this site to the Bainbridge Development Corporation. The cleanup is complete.
Source: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MDD985397256.htmNaval Training Center, Bainbridge, U.S. EPA Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
sites]
See also
- World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
- Naval Station Great LakesNaval Station Great LakesNaval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center and Navy Recruiting District Chicago...