Women’s service in the Navy is not a new idea; it began in 1908 with the Navy Nurse Corps. Later, as U. S. entry into World War I drew near, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels authorized enrolling women in the Naval Reserve. When the war ended, 11,275 women had become yeomen (F), the “F” for “female.” By filling shore positions in Washington and naval districts, they replaced men needed for sea duty. There were no women officers, and most yeomen (F) were clerical workers. The women returned to civilian life in mid-1919.
Late in 1941, when U. S. involvement in a two- ocean war presaged a severe manpower shortage, military planners once again considered allowing females in the armed services. After Congress- woman Edith Nourse Rogers (Repub.-Mass.) sponsored legislation establishing the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, she asked Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz—whose Bureau of Navigation was responsible for naval personnel—whether the Navy would like a similar bill. Nimitz was lukewarm to the idea. He nevertheless asked various bureaus and offices if they could use women as substitutes for men in shore jobs. The only favorable responses came from the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Bureau of Aeronautics. As naval leaders bickered for several months, one woman observer quipped, “Many admirals would prefer to enroll monkeys, dogs, or ducks.”
In April 1942, Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, the new chief of the Bureau of Navigation, requested all shore and headquarters stations to send lists of positions that women could fill. Once again, most responses were negative. The greatest enthusiasm came from the Bureau of Aeronautics, the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and naval communications and intelligence. As public and congressional interest grew, Jacobs began to list potential jobs for women and sell the idea to naval leaders.
Realizing that Congress would pass some type of legislation for a women’s reserve, the Navy appointed Elizabeth Reynard, a professor of English at Barnard College, to help devise a program for women. The energetic, British-born Reynard worked as a special assistant to Admiral Jacobs. The press had begun calling the future reservists “sailorettes,” “goblettes,” and “swans,” so one of Reynard’s early assignments was to choose a nickname for the women. She suggested the nautical sounding Waves—Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.
Needing more guidance on organizing the Waves, the Navy again looked to the educational world and appointed Dean Virginia Gildersleeve of Columbia University to head an advisory council. The council, which began meeting in April, consisted of prominent women educators throughout the country. Especially useful in the formative months of the Waves, the council worked with the Navy in setting up standards and procedures for the new group.
An important early task of the advisory council was to recommend a director for the Waves. Hoping to attract qualified applicants to the service and also to reassure the women’s families, the council suggested Mildred McAfee, president of Wellesley College. She had a great deal of experience in working with young women and accepted the challenge of supervising the military program.
While the Navy made its tentative plans, Representative Melvin Maas (Repub.-Minn.) introduced a bill in March 1942 to provide for a women’s reserve as part of the Naval Reserve. In the Senate, Naval Affairs Committee Chairman David I. Walsh (Demo.-Mass.) adamantly opposed women’s entry into the Navy. Such a move, he argued, would lead to the breakup of American homes and eventually to the decline of civilization. Later, however, he reluctantly agreed to a women’s auxiliary for the Navy similar to the Army’s.
If the Navy had to have women members, it wanted tight control over them for reasons of security, assignments, and convenience. A loosely managed auxiliary that was not an integral part of the service was unacceptable. Thoroughly alarmed that Congress would pass a bill without its approval, the Navy worked feverishly to get its ideas accepted. Finally, after presidential intervention, Congress approved having the women’s group in the Navy and not an auxiliary with it.
The Women’s Reserve of the U. S. Naval Reserve was established on 30 June 1942. Women were subject to military discipline, security regulations, and placement, and could serve until six months after the war ended. As in 1918, the main purpose of the female reservists was to release men for duty at sea. Initially projecting an enrollment of 10,000 officers and enlisted women, the new law restricted their highest rank to one lieutenant commander, allowed for 35 lieutenants, and prohibited service outside the continental United States or on board naval vessels and combatant aircraft.
Director McAfee received the rank of lieutenant commander and was sworn in as “an officer and gentleman in the United States Navy.” Quickly sensing the ill-disguised hostility of many toward service women, McAfee jokingly noted the similarity between naval men and the author of the 88th Psalm: “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy Waves.” Moving rapidly to get the Wave program under way, McAfee operated the Women’s Reserve office in the Bureau of Personnel, formerly the Bureau of Navigation. Her five-member staff consisted of an assistant director, a public relations officer, a traveling representative, and two special assistants.
These women and another dozen officers appointed during the summer of 1942 knew little of naval traditions, practices, or even vocabulary. Nevertheless, they planned recruiting procedures, training programs, and possible assignments for Waves. Drawn from the business and professional worlds, the officers personified respectability and competence. This small group was instrumental in shaping the direction of the Women’s Reserve.
To attract more women, the Navy launched effective recruiting and publicity campaigns. Lieutenant Louise Wilde, a public relations officer, diligently worked to stir up patriotism among women and a desire to serve. In addition, regional procurement and recruiting offices used Waves to stimulate more interest in the naval program. Waves gave speeches, posed for pictures, interviewed prospective recruits, marched in parades, and attended ship launchings. Although the publicity emphasized the glamorous aspects of naval service—fashionable uniforms, training on college campuses, unusual work, and opportunities to meet eligible men— Waves rejected tasteless advertising. Cheesecake photos and blatant promises of dates or matrimony would never have convinced prospective Waves, their parents, and certainly not the churches of the careful supervision given the young women.
As a result of the energetic promotion campaign, Waves recruited women from every state in the union and from all socio-economic backgrounds. They were primarily motivated by an intense desire to aid the war effort. Waves had to be at least 20 years old, of high moral character, in good health, and had to meet the Navy’s tough standards by passing rigorous verbal, mathematical, and physical examinations. They had to be high school graduates or have completed two years of secondary schooling and worked for two years. Officer training required a college degree or two years of college with two years of work experience.
Following the advice of the advisory council, the Navy used college campuses for training, both because of the dignity of the academic setting and because of the readily available facilities. Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts, became the site for officer indoctrination. A small group of women underwent a four-week training session in August and September 1942. These officers became administrators and teachers at Women’s Reserve schools. In October, the first regular class reported to the “USS Northampton,” commanded by Captain Herbert W. Underwood, who was recalled from retirement to administer the training program.
Officer candidates made the rapid transition from civilian life to naval routine and discipline. They learned about naval history and organization, ships and aircraft, and communications and law. They shared crowded dormitories, coped with double-decker bunks, and stood in line for meals. And they mastered the new vocabulary; such terms as “ladder,” “bulkhead,” “hold,” “deck,” “mess,” “head,” and “chow” took on new meanings. The women also participated in physical education and close order drill.
When the last class of Waves completed its course in December 1944, more than 1,000 communicators, many trained at nearby Mount Holyoke College, and over 9,000 general duty officers had received commissions in the Naval Reserve. In addition to Waves, officer candidates for Coast Guard Spars and women marines received their indoctrination at Northampton until mid-1943.
Initially, the Navy believed a combination of boot and specialist training would suffice for enlisted Waves. In October 1942, the Women’s Reserve began sending its recruits to Oklahoma A and M at Stillwater for yeoman training, to the University of Indiana at Bloomington for storekeeper instruction, and to the University of Wisconsin at Madison for radio operator training. Several months later, another school for yeomen opened at Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls. By the end of the War, enlisted women received specialized training at 20 colleges, universities, and training stations.
Desiring more thorough indoctrination for enlisted Waves, the Navy took over the entire campus and facilities of Hunter College in the Bronx. In February 1943, the U. S. Naval Training Center (Women’s Reserve), Bronx, was commissioned and promptly dubbed the “USS Hunter.” Under Captain William F. Amsden, a destroyer commander fresh from Pacific convoy duty, the women’s college was quickly transformed into a military establishment. The training center took in 2,000 women every two weeks for the six-week boot training. Because of the growing demand for Waves, the training period soon dropped to four weeks.
At Hunter College, enlisted women learned the fundamentals of Navy life, underwent physical conditioning, and mastered such intricacies as the proper salute. The women’s qualifications, test scores, and preferences helped determine later placement. After completing indoctrination, enlisted Waves went directly to assigned positions or to advanced training schools. By mid-1945, more than 80,000 Waves and 5,000 Spars and women marines had completed boot training at Hunter.
Waves also coped with new housing, dress, and social regulations. Unwilling to assign enlisted women to bases with inadequate housing, the Navy built new barracks or converted old quarters to accommodate females. Renovations included semiprivate cubicles for four women, additional laundry facilities, lounges, and remodeled bathrooms. If government housing wasn’t available, Waves found local quarters and received an additional subsistence allowance. Finding mixed accommodations at any base unfeasible, the Women’s Reserve preferred all enlisted Waves to live either in barracks or in local housing. Regulations for officers, however, were not as strict, and they could choose Navy or civilian quarters.
Early uncertainty about appropriate uniforms generated some bizarre suggestions. Wave director McAfee defeated a proposal for comic-opera stripes and insignia of red, white, and blue. An experimental hat with a perky, turned-up brim filled with water during rainy-day drills. Finally, the well-known couturier, Mainbocher, volunteered to design a stylish dark blue uniform with light blue stripes, adding a white dress uniform for summer. Modifications in clothing took place as the war continued. Women wore slacks or dungarees only when necessary for work or for sports. Stressing neatness and smart appearance, the Women’s Reserve tolerated no sloppily attired members.
Restrictive marriage policies hampered early recruiting efforts. Initially, Waves could marry no one in the armed forces, then new rules permitted marriage to men in services other than the Navy. Finally, Waves after completing training, could marry naval officers or enlisted men.
There were also regulations governing pregnancy. Prohibited by law from having dependent children under the age of 18, pregnant Waves, either married or single, were honorably discharged from the service. A later change in policy permitted women whose pregnancies had ended before their resignations to remain in the Waves. Waves received no allowances for dependent children over 18 years old unless the father was dead or the mother was, in fact, the main source of support. Regardless of their physical conditions, husbands were never counted as dependents. These stringent regulations damaged recruiting efforts and caused some Waves to resign.
Because the Waves were a highly select and volunteer group, disciplinary problems were relatively minor, and the discharge rate remained very low. Few Waves were involuntarily released, and most discharges were for unsuitability or inaptitude rather than for more serious offenses. Location often determined permissible conduct. “Behavior unbecoming a lady,” drunkenness and disturbance of the peace, might pass unnoticed in a large city but could shatter the service’s reputation in a small town.
Initially limited to one lieutenant commander, the Women’s Reserve had difficulty attracting highly qualified and badly needed officers such as physicians. By late 1943, the number of Waves far exceeded original estimates, and Congress promoted the director to captain and removed limitations on lower ranks. As a result, the Waves became an attractive alternative to civilian employment.
Women’s military authority remained restricted to their own group, however. Although Captain McAfee thought Waves should be given command of both men and women, especially at training schools, instant opposition from male officers ended any such idea. Men feared that giving women a little military authority would provide “an opening wedge” that might expand to all situations.
Despite a pressing need for Waves at overseas stations, the original law prohibited their service abroad. The Navy finally overcame the objections of conservative congressmen who maintained that ladies should “stay on their pedestals” rather than fight a war. In late 1944, a change in the law allowed Waves to serve in Hawaii, Alaska, and at Caribbean bases within the American area. Early the next year, the first group of Waves assigned overseas reached Hawaii, with their numbers quickly growing to over 4,000. Eventually, Waves fanned out to replace men sent to sea.
At first. Waves were concentrated in traditionally female tasks. Waves handled vast quantities of paperwork generated by the wartime Navy. In all bureaus, offices, and shore stations, yeomen served as secretaries, stenographers, file clerks, and receptionists. Waves filled administrative, public relations, and personnel billets—other familiar fields for women. A large group of Waves worked as storekeepers. Involved in disbursing and accounting tasks, these reservists paid naval personnel and kept track of complex expenditures. They sent supplies to fleets and advanced bases and distributed everything from shoe polish to engine parts.
Rapidly taking over fleet post offices, Waves became the Navy’s mailmen. They sorted, weighed, stamped, and checked the enormous volume of mail to and from sailors overseas. V-Mail had to be photographed, and Waves handled this chore. Eventually women reservists managed 80% of the mail.
Always associated with the healing arts, women flocked into the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Female doctors, dentists, technicians, and medical illustrators served at naval hospitals, dispensaries, and training stations. The 13,000 enlisted women in the Hospital Corps quickly demonstrated their usefulness. They assisted in wards, operating rooms, laboratories, and offices. They also worked as X- ray technicians and physiotherapists.
As their numbers increased. Waves assumed novel roles. In the Bureau of Personnel, for example, Waves helped to distribute welfare and recreation funds for new ships and stations and settle the myriad of problems from ships lost at sea. Some worked with machines and records in order to keep track of naval statistics.
Waves manned the communications network of the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and stations throughout the country. This highly secret duty, often tedious and monotonous, included long hours of sending and receiving coded radio messages. They checked dispatches and operated teletype machines. An unusual means of communication fell to a few Wave seamen. After learning to handle homing pigeons, these women served at lighter-than-air stations along the coasts. Used in naval blimps on antisubmarine patrol, the trained pigeons carried messages to their handlers at air bases during periods of radio silence. Another select group of Waves, chosen for academic excellence and language aptitude, attended the 14-month Japanese language course at Boulder, Colorado, and eventually monitored Japanese radio broadcasts.
The Bureau of Ordnance, an unlikely place for women, drew mathematicians and technicians. Wave officers attended special schools to learn design, manufacture, and use of the Navy’s guns, torpedoes, mines, and bombs. Some mastered chemical warfare techniques while others became familiar with aviation gunnery. Trained women became gunnery instructors or assisted men who handled ordnance production. Some wrote abstracts of battle reports comparing naval and enemy ordnance, while others prepared pamphlets on ordnance assembly and repair.
Using Waves for still more uncommon tasks, the Bureau of Yards and Docks assigned women to purchase real estate, work with secret war plans, and devise camouflage techniques. Late in the war, a few Wave engineers worked in the bureau. Women assigned to the Bureau of Ships assisted shipbuilding supervisors and machinery inspectors. Some officers oversaw materials procurement for ship construction; others scheduled construction or helped develop optical and sonar systems.
One of the most unusual assignments in the Potomac River Naval Command was testing airplanes in the wind tunnel at the Washington Navy Yard. Waves used intricate machinery to chart and determine stress resistance of new models of aircraft. At the nearby David Taylor Model Basin, they helped test and evaluate ship models and equipment.
Some Waves worked in port directors’ offices and found themselves close to the action of the fighting Navy. They routed ships in the harbors, attended convoy conferences, and checked on vessels that were ready to sail. They assigned anchorages and debriefed naval gun crews from merchant ships.
The Bureau of Aeronautics, the most receptive to women, eagerly took in nearly one-third of all Waves. Its enthusiasm stemmed mainly from Lieutenant Joy Bright Hancock’s initiative. She had been the civilian chief of the editorial and research section of the bureau before the war. As the Women’s Reserve representative to the bureau, she pushed for expanded and innovative use of Waves in the air arm of the service.
The bureau’s enthusiasm spread to the field, and within the air specialty women performed the most Unusual work. About 600 Waves filled the glamorous but demanding tasks of control tower operators. At widely dispersed airfields such as Pensacola, Seattle, and Corpus Christi, Waves kept air traffic moving by directing landings and takeoffs. One thousand Waves taught naval pilots instrument flying in Link trainers, which simulated small cockpits. Parachute rigging—the care and packing of the chutes—occupied other Waves. Realizing that the parachute was a man’s last chance, these women diligently mastered the precise demands of rigging. Aviation machinist’s mates, the grease monkeys of naval air, were often women reservists. They took apart, repaired, reassembled, and calibrated delicate aircraft instruments and overhauled plane engines. Late in the war, a few Waves, trained as navigators, flew in transports in the United States and to Hawaii and the Aleutians.
The multiple tasks performed by women in the Navy represented new directions in the use of female talents. By the end of the war, the demonstrated ability of the Waves, combined with the manpower shortage, opened 38 of the 62 enlisted ratings to women reservists. At peak strength, 86,000 dedicated officers and enlisted Waves filled positions at over 900 shore stations in the United States and at a few locations overseas.
Waves surmounted much opposition to their presence in “this man’s Navy.” Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, chary about the use of women early in the war, later commended the Waves for their competence, energy, and loyalty. Waves’ work, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal noted, had been overwhelmingly successful and in the highest tradition of the naval service. Similarly, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations, praised the Women’s Reserve for its discipline and skill. The best tribute to Waves, he said, was the continuing requests for more of them.
As World War II drew to a close, members of the Women’s Reserve joined the mass exodus from the military. Taking their newly learned skills with them, most Waves returned to civilian life in early 1946. A small nucleus remained as the service began its drive to make the Women’s Reserve a permanent part of the peacetime Navy. In 1948, Congress passed the Women’s Armed Forces Integration Act permitting women to join the regular Navy and the Naval Reserve.
By releasing desk-bound officers and enlisted men for duty afloat, patriotic Waves contributed to American success in World War II. Fortunate in their leadership, they efficiently handled the unusual as well as routine slots open to them and paved the way for women to be a permanent part of the U. S. Navy. With seriousness and dedication, Waves successfully fulfilled their roles as pioneers. Modern women can reflect with pride on the accomplishments of the trailblazers of World War II.