The three other great permanent training stations, Hampton Roads, Va., Newport, R. I., and San Francisco, were animated by the same spirit as Great Lakes. Their officers and men vied with each other in efficient training of recruits. The same was true of the temporary stations along the coast which came into being to give quarters and instruction to youths who enlisted so rapidly that provision had to be made for them at every available point. Approximately 500,000 men and 33,000 officers were in the Navy when hostilities ended, and nearly nine-tenths of them had been trained after war was declared. Naval administration did not wait until hostilities began to increase its force. Recruiting was pressed in the closing months of 1916, immediately after Congress authorized a substantial increase, and 8,000 men were enlisted. In January 1917, enlistments went up to 3,512, and there was a larger increase the next month. In March, when the President signed the order raising the Navy to emergency strength--87,000 regulars, plus 10,000 apprentice seamen, and hospital attendants and others, a total of 97,000--we began a vigorous campaign that covered the entire country. When war was declared there were in the Navy 64,680 enlisted men and 4,376 officers, commissioned and warrant. Some 12,000 reserves had been enrolled, the 10,000 Naval Militia were mustered into service and 590 officers and 3,478 men of the Coast Guard were placed under the Navy. This gave us a total force of approximately 95,000. Within little more than a month after war was declared there were 100,000 regulars, and by June 1st the total force had grown to 170,000. By January 1, 1918, there were 300,000 officers and men on the rolls, including reserves and the Coast Guard. By August we had passed the half-million mark, and when the armistice was signed there was a naval personnel of approximately 533,000. The actual figures of the Bureau of Navigation for November 11, 1918, were 531,198, and for December 1, 532,931. But practically all those shown in the latter report had been enlisted before hostilities had ended. Figures of various branches varied slightly before and after the armistice, but there were in the naval service at its maximum: Officers Men Regulars 10,590 218,251 Reserves 21,618 278,659 Coast Guard 688 6,101 ------ ------- Total 32,896 503,011 It is interesting to compare the above enlistment for the World War with those who served in the Navy in previous wars: War of 1812 20,000 Mexican War 7,500 Civil War 121,000 Spanish-American 23,000