Existing comment:
Navy Women in World War I
1917-1919
On 19 March 1917, the Secretary of the Navy authorized the enrollment of women into the US Naval Reserve Force (USNRF). Initially, women entered the Navy to perform clerical work, but they were soon working as mechanics, truck drivers, cryptographers, telephone operators, and munitions makers. Women generally served ashore in the United States, freeing men for sea duty. During the war, over 11,000 women served in the Naval Reserve Force, but all were released from active duty after the war and transferred to the inactive reserve, not eligible to re-enlist. Except as nurses, women did not serve in the Navy again until 1942. |