Pelham Bay Naval Training Station

Pelham Bay Naval Training Station was a World War I-era United States Navy training facility located in Pelham Bay Park's Rodman's Neck in the Bronx.[1] Located near City Island, and Westchester county, it was operational from 1917 to 1919.[2]

Pelham Bay Naval Training Station
Rodman's Neck, Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx in United States
Pelham Bay Naval Training Station
Coordinates40°51′58″N 73°48′37″W
Site information
OwnerCity of New York
OperatorUS Navy
Site history
Built1917 (1917)
Built byEwing & Allen, Architects
In use1917 (1917)–1919 (1919)
FateDemolished
Garrison information
Past
commanders
  • Commander William B. Franklin (until 25 February 1919)
  • Captain Julian Lane Latimer, 25 February 1919 -

History

Prior to the creation of the Pelham Bay Naval Training Station, a national guard base was set up in the heart of Pelham Bay Park. The 280 acre[3] site was designed by the architectural firm of Ewing & Allen[4] and included a ninety acre hospital.[3]

The camp also featured entertainment facilities provided by the Knights of Columbus, the Y.M.C.A.,[4][5] and other organizations including the American Red Cross and the American Library Association.

Curriculum

The camp offered a number of sequential training courses, with mastery of a given course being required to advance to the next one.[3]

  • First: Inoculation period of 21 days in the Isolation Camp (also known as the "Probation Camp").[4] During this time, the trainee also learned about naval regulations and some basic seamanship topics.[3]
  • Second: Month-long seamanship course.[3]
  • Third: If qualified - Three weeks of either Petty Officer's School, Radio school, Quartermaster School, Gunnery School, or Boatswain Mate schools.[3]
  • Fourth: If qualified - Two months of Officers' Material School or the Naval Auxiliary School.[3]

Influenza pandemic of 1918

The camp suffered from the Influenza pandemic of 1918 from late 21 September through late 21 October 1918, and again in December 1918.[6][7] There were 2,399 cases of influenza, with a total of 145 deaths.[6]

Personnel

Commandants
Pelham Bay Naval Training Station turned over from Commander William B. Franklin to Captain Julian L. Latimer.

Librarians

A number of Queens Borough Public Library staff members took a leave of absence, and were placed at the Naval station via the efforts of the American Library Association. The station's library staff included:

  • Blanche Galloway - Librarian. Queens Borough Public Library Jamaica Branch Librarian.[8]
  • Wilhelmina Harper - Assistant librarian. Queens Borough Public Library Jamaica Branch Children's librarian.
  • Amy E. Doncourt - Hospital librarian. Queens Borough Public Library Flushing Branch assistant librarian.[9][10]

Other personnel
Pelham Bay Navy Second Class Patch of Fred Dedert

See also
First Training Regiment, Pelham Bay Naval Training Camp, Bronx, NYC
Sailors from Pelham Bay Naval Training Station marching down Fifth Avenue in the Fourth Liberty Loan Parade, New York City.
1908 map of the earlier Naval Reserve training camp at Pelham Bay Park.

References
  1. Ells, Mark D. Van (2015). America and World War I. Interlink Publishing. p. Chapter 5. ISBN 9781623710675. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  2. Twomey, Bill (2007). The Bronx, in Bits and Pieces. AuthorHouse. p. 103. ISBN 9781600080623. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. Rockwell, T. R. (November 1918). "What A Naval Training Station Really Is" (magazine). MotorBoating. XXII (4): 8–9, 20. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  4. Ewing & Allen, Architects (1918). "The Pelham Bay Naval Reserve Training Station". The Architectural Forum. Billboard Publications. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  5. Lloyd, Nelson (1918). How we went to war. New York, C. Scribner's sons. pp. 134–138. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. "HyperWar: SecNav: Misc. Reports 1919: Influenza". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  7. "Influenza spread in US Navy September 1918". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  8. Galloway, Blanche (1918). "A Woman Among Ten Thousand Bluejackets". Bulletin of the American Library Association. American Library Association. XII (January - November 1918): 222–225. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  9. "ALA Handbook". Bulletin of the American Library Association. American Library Association. 10 (January - November 1916): 628. 1916.
  10. "Public Libraries". 25 (1). Chicago: Library Bureau. January 1920: 225. Retrieved 23 February 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Did You Know? Fun Facts About NYC's Parks | THIRTEEN - New York Public Media". THIRTEEN - New York Public Media. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  12. Beck, Robert. Edward G. Robinson Encyclopedia. McFarland. p. 334. Retrieved 1 March 2018. edward g robinson world war one.
  13. "Idalis (S. P. 270)". www.history.navy.mil. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  14. Newark Advocate article, 08/10/1917 "General Strike May Stop Work on Army Camps"
  15. St. Petersburg Independent article, 08/10/1917 "Settle Strike By Agreement"

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pelham Bay Naval Training Station.
  • Trippett, Josephine (1918). "Sketch of a Naval Emergency Hospital". The American Journal of Nursing. 18 (8): 683–687. doi:10.2307/3405867. JSTOR 3405867. – An eyewitness account of the training station by one of the American Red Cross nurses
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