The United States Navy Reserve Midshipmen's School was an expedited auxiliary naval officer training program instituted in June 1940. Its goal was to train a planned 36,000 Naval Reserve officers for commands in the vastly-expanding

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

fleet being built up in preparation for the United States' entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. To achieve this, several new Naval Reserve Midshipmen's Schools were established mainly on college campuses around the country. Between 1940 and 1945 their junior officer candidates, many alumni of the Navy's V-12 training, completed a 30-day indoctrination course before entering the midshipman school's 90-day V-7 Navy College Training Program. After successful completion, graduates were commissioned as

ensigns An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the

U.S. Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

. The majority entered into active duty with the U.S. fleet in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during the war.

History

The first United States Naval Reserve Midshipman's school conducting V-7 training was established on board the converted battleship

USS Illinois (BB-7) USS ''Illinois'' (BB-7) was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the , and was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for Illinois, the 21st state. Her keel was keel laying, laid down i ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the spring of 1940. Others followed at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

. Enrollment closed in August 1945.

V-7 program

The V-7 program of voluntary training for officer candidates was announced on June 26, 1940 by President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Its goal was to rapidly train 36,000 young officers needed to meet the demands of a vastly expanding naval fleet being built up in preparation for U.S. entry into

. By March 1941, eighteen months into the global conflict and nine months before

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, the Navy had only 18,000 officers. Most were stationed in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

, where the U.S.' lack of an Army presence left the Navy to bear the full burden in the event of war. The Navy closed enrollment in the V-7 program on August 25, 1945. The 5,000 midshipmen still in training were permitted to complete their courses at

, Fort Schuyler in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, and the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Schools

During the spring of 1940, U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipman School, ''Prairie State'', was opened on board the converted battleship

with Captain John J. London in command. The first class in the midshipmen program produced 264 new officers during the early days of

before the U.S. was involved, 232 of whom reported for active duty. The second V-7 class at ''Prairie State'' began November 22 after its officer candidates had finished their initial training cruise on the

USS New York (BB-34) USS ''New York'' (BB-34) was a United States Navy battleship, the lead ship of her class. Named for New York State, she was designed as the first ship to carry the /45-caliber gun. Entering service in 1914, she was part of the U.S. Navy forc ...

during the summer of 1940. A total of 480 junior officers from it graduated in February 1941. The V-7 course at Columbia provided the fictional setting for the early chapters of the World War II novel ''

The Caine Mutiny ''The Caine Mutiny'' is a 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard two destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Among its themes, it deals with the moral ...

''.

University of Notre Dame

Starting in April 1942, the

hosted six classes of the 30-day indoctrination school, with each class composed of 1200. In October 1942, the indoctrination school became a full fledged Naval Reserve Midshipman School, with a complete 4-month course. They program was hosted in Morrissey Hall, Lyons Hall, Howard Hall, and

Badin Hall Badin (Sindhi and ur, ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 87th largest city in Pakistan. Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar. Badin D ...

. The Navy also built a drill hall on the campus. Captain H. P. Burnett was the commanding officer of the school. The school terminated in November 1945, after 10 4-month courses and over 10,000 officers trained. Starting in July 1943, Notre Dame would go on to also host a

V-12 Navy College Training Program The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

Cornell University

The Naval Indoctrination School at Camp MacDonough in

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

, opened on March 6, 1944, with a capacity of 2,500 and Commander Chauncey M. Loutrit in command. It conducted the one-month class required prior to attending a midshipman's school.

References

External links

Second World War USN V-7 uniform insignia.

U.S. Navy V-7 program insignia at Columbia and Ft. Schuyler.

{{Authority control History of the United States Navy United States Navy schools and training United States Navy Reserve 1940 establishments in New York City 1945 disestablishments in the United States