SCHOOL FOR SEAMAN
WEST COAST CENTER IS HELPING TRAIN 150,000 TO 200,000 MEN FOR DUTY WITH AMERICA'S
WARTIME MERCHANT MARINE
The Seattle Sunday Times Rotogravure, February 22, 1942
In an effort to place between 150,000
and 200,000 experienced men in the 18,000,000 tons of new merchant ships,
scheduled to be built in the next two years, the United States Maritime Service
is operating five training stations and five ships to graduate able-bodied
seamen.
The Maritime Service, administered
for the United States Maritime Commission by the Coast Guard, offers men between
18 and 30 years old a seven-month course. Training normally includes three
months at a station and three months at sea.
Enrollees become apprentice seamen
and receive $21 a month until they are graduated. They must agree to serve
at least a year at sea after finishing instruction. Then, as able-bodied seamen,
they are paid a minimum of $72.50 monthly.
Two of the training stations and
one ship are on the Pacific Coast. A school for inexperienced men and the
training ship American Sailor are at Port Hueneme, Calif., where the accompanying
pictures were made. Another station at Alameda, Calif., helps men with sea
experience pass license examinations.
Other training stations and ships
are at St. Petersburg, Fla., Hoffman Island, New York, and Gallups Island,
Boston.
More than 150 Pacific Northwest
residents have been sent to training stations since the war began. Enrollees
must pass physical examinations required of Coast Guard recruits and must
have proof of citizenship.
Prospective enrollees in the Pacific
Northwest should apply in Room 31, Federal Office Building, Seattle; Room
306, Pioneer Postoffice Building, Portland: Room 246, Postoffice Building,
Spokane, or inquire at any office of the United States Employment Service.
