USS Recruit (TDE-1) facts for kids
USS Recruit (TDE-1/TFFG-1) at Liberty Station (Formerly Naval Training Center), San Diego.
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United States |
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| Name | USS Recruit (TDE-1) |
| Builder | USN |
| Commissioned | 1949, 1982 |
| Decommissioned | 1967, 1997 |
| Nickname(s) | USS Neversail |
| Fate | unused |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 225 ft 0 in (68.58 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft 4 in (7.42 m) |
| Draft | 0 ft 0 in (0 m) |
| Propulsion | none |
| Speed | N/A |
| Complement | N/A |
| Armament | unarmed |
The USS Recruit (TDE-1, later TFFG-1) was a special "dummy" training ship for the United States Navy. It was built on land in San Diego, California. This ship was two-thirds the size of a real destroyer escort. The Recruit started its job on July 27, 1949. It was one of the only landlocked ships in the U.S. Navy to be officially "commissioned."
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Meet the USS Recruit
The USS Recruit was not a real ship that sailed on water. It sat on a "sea" of concrete at the Naval Training Center in San Diego. Its main job was to help train new Navy recruits. Over 50,000 new recruits learned important ship skills each year.
What Was the USS Recruit For?
Recruits learned how to use ship equipment. This included things like lifelines and signal flags. They also practiced using searchlights and the ship's steering wheel, called the helm. The Recruit taught them how to do shipboard drills and follow procedures. It was like a classroom, but shaped like a ship!
A Ship That Never Sailed
Because it was on land, the Recruit had no engine or propeller. This is why it got the fun nickname, "USS Neversail." Another landlocked ship, the USS Commodore, also had this nickname. The Recruit was also known as Building 430. This showed it was both a ship and a building.
Its History and Future
The Recruit was officially "decommissioned" in March 1967. This happened because it was hard to list such a unique ship in the Navy's computer system. But it was later fixed up in 1982. It was made to look like a different kind of ship, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate.
The Recruit was used for training from 1949 until 1997. That's when the Navy base closed down. Today, the Recruit is still standing. People hope it will become a museum one day. It is part of the National Register of Historic Places. You can see it near Liberty Station in San Diego. It is believed to be the only "landship" like it still around. Other landlocked ships, like the USS Recruit from 1917 and the USS Bluejacket, were taken apart.
