Second Regiment, Camp Perry

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Barracks 223.
April 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Barracks 224 another view.
April 1943.
The barracks seen beyond is situated adjacent to the drill field, one of four barracks that paralleled southeastern side of the grinder. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Looking in Fiske Road to Second Regiment Drill Hall arracks 224 is on right.
Construction is nearing April 1943, so urgent was the need for training facilities that recruits commenced training while construction was still taking place.▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: View from Mess Hall 202.
April 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: View from Mess Hall 202.
April 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: View from Mess Hall 202
April 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Mess Hall 202.
April 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Wash House.
April 1943.
A recruit's clothing was washed daily entirely by hand with soap and a brush. Interesting the wash tables in the photo are constructed of wood.
Wash houses were situated where ever convenient to construct and each one generally served 2 or 3 barracks. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: Image of the 25th Battalion sign.
The sign stood out front of Barracks 227.
A partial view of the mess hall is visible in the distance.

Looking out the road as it winds its way around another barracks and up onto 2nd regiment grinder.
Check out the recruit standing watch at the dumpster.▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Second Regiment: As it was in 1978 and as it is today.
The red arrow points to the location of the 25th Battlion sign in the above photo. ▼

Saint Paul's Chapel

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Saint Paul's Chapel photographed in 1964 by Dorothy Montgomery while attending boot camp, probably the nicest image of the chapel ever.
The gold finish on the doors and cross is captured nicely in this photo.
Quite a contrast, gold overlay doors and stark gray Transite concrete asbestos siding.

Many thanks to Dorothy for kindly sharing her beautiful well framed pictures of Bainbridge. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Saint Paul's Chapel Interior View April 28, 1943.
The Chaplain's rectory (not shown) was situated just to the right of the chapel.
The low building visible to the left is the Fiddler's Green Enlisted Men's Club. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Saint Paul's Chapel Interior April 28, 1943 ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Saint Paul's Chapel altar detail April 28, 1943. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Lady's Chapel April 28, 1943.
“Lady’s Chapel” ??? This one has me stumped, similar interior construction but it has to be a completely separate building.
This chapel may have been situated at the very end of Bainbridge Road out near the Ship's Service Mess Hall and warehouse area.▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Bainridge Naval Base Chapel postcard photo, date unknown, no zipcode on back indicates pre-1964.. ▼

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Bainbridge Naval Training Center, Saint Paul's Chapel (1963-64)

Photo by Spanish Naval Petty Officer Manuel Borja ▼

Photos -- First Regiment Camp Rodgers

USNTC Bainbridge -- First Regiment Mess Hall Taken by Dorothy Montgomery while in recruit training in fall of 1963

The aerial photo below shows how the Mess Hall looked in 2005. It's seems somewhat odd the mess hall would have survived demolition.
Just imagine how many meals were served in this one mess hall alone. 5000 recruits x 3 meals/day x 365 days = 5,375,000 meals in one year during WWII. .
The "H" shaped building at the bottom is HUNTER HALL constructed circa 1967 to serve as Wave barracks.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp ▼ A 2010 photo of the mess hall taken from nearly the same spot as Dorothy Montgomery's 1963 photo above.
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USNTC Bainbridge -- Mess Hall Interior April 1943.

The menu sign read "soup de jour" every day, I wasn't having any of it, didn't sound appetizing to me.
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USNTC Bainbridge -- Great image of the First Regiment Grinder Taken by Dorothy Montgomery while in recruit training in fall of 1963.

The F4U-2 Corsair fighter plane on the grinder is an air intercept variant it was modified with a radar pod on the right wing, I recall an episode of the "Black Sheep Squadron" on TV about the radar modification.
In the late 1940's as a young boy I assembled a model of the Corsair. .
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USNTC Bainbridge -- F4U-2 Corsair on 1st Regiment Grinder, Date unkown.
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USNTC Bainbridge -- First Regiment Grinder and Mess Hall Building 102 circa November 1957.

Male recruit training would end at Bainbridge NTC in December 1957, so it is very likely this recruit would have been one of the last recruits to graduate. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- First Regiment Grinder Graduation Day in 1954.

This photo represents the essence of what occurred at Bainbridge, parents proudly and happily turning their son over to the US Navy. Lives changed forever. .
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USNTC Bainbridge -- First Regiment Drill Hall Building 101, circa ????, however a 1940's automobile parked beside the drill indicates the 1040's .

Lower portion of Drill Hall 101. The swimming pool was at this end of the building.

It's apparent the grinder itself had quite a slope to it judging by how fast it is falling in comparison to the level drill hall.
The original grinder was of gravel construction, perhaps the slope to aid in drainage?.
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Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Training -- Building 707

USNTC Bainbridge -- An unknown bldg on the base. Taken by Carol Weir while attending Radioman's School in November 1973.

Carol wrote: "The one building looks impressive-I don't actually remember it. A few of us went horseback riding in November before it got too cold. The stables were on the base". ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- The unknown bldg. on the base is actually the Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Training Building 707 which served both the 1st and 2nd regiments.

Building 707 was situated next to the Ship's Service Headquarters across Bainbridge Ave from 4th Regiment Drill. 1943 Photograph is poor quality, but the black outline behind building 707 across Bainbridge Ave. is the 4th regiment drill hall bldg. 401.

There was another anti-aircraft building serving both the 3rd and 4th regiments located behind the 3rd Regiment Drill Hall and just below the water treatment plant and reservoir (lake). ▼

US Naval Training Station Bainbridge Maryland -- The Fiddler's Green EM Club

USNTC Bainbridge -- Have you found your Fiddler's Green? Fiddler's Green is the happy land imagined by sailors where there is perpetual mirth, a fiddle that never stops playing and dancers that never tire.

Origins are an old English legend, oft put to song: They say an old salt who is tired of going to sea should walk inland with an oar over his shoulder. When he comes to a village deep in the country and the people ask him what he is carrying, he will know that he's found Fiddler's Green. The people give him a seat in the sun outside the Village Inn with a glass of grog that refills itself every time he drains the last drop and a pipe forever smoking with fragrant tobacco. From then onwards he has nothing to do but enjoy his glass and pipe and watch the maidens dancing to the music of a fiddle on Fiddler's Green.

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Wonderful 1964 photo with the Fiddler's Green EM Club in the background.

What gave Bainbridge its character was the simplicity and unpretentiousness of the "temporary" architecture and the rolling terrain -- no granite, no polished marble, no gold plating, very few bricks, no air conditioning, no frills.
Wood, glass, asbestos-cement transite sheet siding, tarpaper/gravel flat roofs, coal by the trainload for heat. Constructed as only a temporary wartime training facility Bainbridge served the United States Navy very well (and inexpensively) for 30+ years.

Check out the red Chevrolet Corvair automobile; Ralph Nader was writing his book "Unsafe At Any Speed" to be published the next year that would unfairly put an end to the Corvair. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Another view of the EM Club, date unknown. Never being off the farm I was initially fascinated by the large rotating mirrored ball that hung from the ceiling. The 1964 photo above shows handrails were added to the entry steps, seems like a very prudent addition considering the condition in which many departed the premises, albeit 3.2% beer was the strongest liquid most had consumed. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Scene from inside of the EM Club circa 1969. Is that a bottle of National Bohemian beer? "Natty Boh", brewed on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Fiddler's Green legend had it that girls who drank Natty Boh, got drunk, squinted one eye and had sex all night ..... or so us teenage 'never seen an ocean' sailors did fantasize. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- 1968 photo of the rock band The Runabout's appearance at the Fiddler's Green. The Runabouts, a local band from Havre de Grace, Maryland played several shows at the EM Club in 1967-1968. Amazingly the rock group still performs today with the original members - http://www.therunabouts.com ▼

4 Nice Photos Fall 1967 + Additional Yeoman's School Pictures

Nice view looking up Bainbridge Avenue from just inside the Main Gate.
Photo taken from between Fiddler's Green Enlisted Men's Club building 602 and St. Paul's Chapel building 632.
The Administration Building 601 is seen to the right and the end of a barracks in the 1st. Regiment on the far left in the distance.
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Mess Hall Building 502, served the Service School Command.
Several barracks for the Service School personnel are seen on the left.

Took many a meal in this mess hall.
While many considered Navy chow less than satisfactory, being of humble background I found the chow abundant and excellent (actually gained 20 lbs in 10 weeks in San Diego boot camp).
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Mess Hass 502 apparently also served the NAPS School students as this 1963 Parent's Day schedule of events indicates. Rather surprising is parents had to purchase their own meals.
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On Bainbridge Avenue looking into the entrance road to Second Regiment Camp Perry Recruit Training Area.
In 1967 when this photo was taken 2nd regiment was not being utilized since the last male recruit company to train at Bainbridge graduated 10 years before in December 1957.
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Yeoman's School in the fall of 1967 looking down Bainbridge Avenue.
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Yeoman's School circa 1956 looking down Bainbridge Avenue.
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Another view from a postcard date unknown. Probably 1963-4 judging by the growth of the trees in comparison to the 1967 photo.
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Yeoman's School as built April 1943, viewed from the opposite direction. Yeoman School was the last service school completed. (Notice the construction stakes out on Bainbridge Avenue)

The Electrical School is the building behind the Yeoman School.
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Yeoman's School under construction in the fall/winter of 1942, while the adjacent Radioman's School to the right appears to be completed.
Snow on the roofs of many buildings and some buildings with snow melted off possibly indicate most buildings were unoccupied and not being heated.
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Building Number 853 Nuclear Power School & Hospital Corps Building.

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Building #853, the Nuclear Power School was originally the Hospital Corps School. The 3th Regiment Camp James mess hall is partially visible in the background. (Did the Nuclear Power School share the mess hall with the Wave recruits?) Camp James was the recruit training facility for Waves in the 1950's and up until February 1967 when the Waves recruits moved to a new brick and concrete building (Hunter Hall) constructed on the grinder of the previously 1st regiment Camp Rodgers recruit training area. Notice in the photo of the Nuclear Power School the window shades are all drawn -- a security precaution? Was the somewhat out of the way remote location chosen for the Nuclear Power School for the same security concerns?

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Building 853, judging by the old 1950's pickup parked behind the adjacent mess hall building 302, this is possibly one of the earliest photos of the Nuclear Power School. The open steam piping is another indication. ▼

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Photograph showing building 853 as built in April of 1943. ▼

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Photograph showing building 853 in 1945 in use as the Hospital Corps School.
The photo caption reads Class #1 (was this the first class to graduate from the school?) ▼

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This photo taken in 1952 indicates building 853 still in use as the Hospital Corps School. ▼

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Orientation Map ▼

USNTC Bainbridge Barracks

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USNTC Bainbridge -- The typical recruit barracks, an excellent view of the fire escape, simply a ladder like structure, men would exit through the windows onto these ladders. In later years, doors and stairs at the end of the building would be added to improve the fire escape system (undoubtedly a concession to peace time building codes). Designed by architectural firm of Eggers and Higgins, (the new design named the B-2) the new barracks design adopted a two story rectangular plan with dimensions of 42 x 150 ft, and were each capable of quartering 250 sailors (232 seamen & 18 petty officers). Three rows of 20 bunks and lockers lined the upper and ground floor open dormitory bays. The long rows of ribbon windows proved to be especially useful for ventilating the barracks in the summer heat and stifling humidity common the Bainbridge geographic area. Observe the recruit mowing the grass with a push type reel mower. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Recruit barracks 418, an excellent view of the typical recruit barracks, 25 barracks situated around each of 4 drill fields were designed to house 20,000 men total, 5000 men in each regiment. Notice the door at the far left front, this door was to the coal fired furnace (boiler) room. Also visible is the coal chute opening on the end of the building where coal would be shoveled or dumped onto/into a chute and slid down into the furnace room. The furnace room was only accessible from the outside and sealed off from the living quarters to keep the coal and ash dust from traveling throughout the barracks. Who fired these boilers, brought the coal and removed the ashes? My guess is roving crews from the base Ship's Service department. What a nasty job that must have been. -- UPDATE -- Stumbled upon a message board post where the poster stated he spent 2 years in the early 1950's at Bainbridge doing just that. "Was stationed at Bainbridge Md. firing boilers for the heat and hot water in the barracks for two years....." ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Recruit Barracks Floor Plan ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Barracks 517, Service School Command Radioman barracks. The service school barracks share the same basic design as the recruit barracks with the exception that dormitories were placed at both ends of the building and the fire escapes were doors and stairs at the building's end walls instead of the trellis ladder type fire escapes on the recruit barracks. The service schools barracks could accommodate nearly 500 persons. I was housed in the barracks just below this one, these barracks were essentially not unlike a big chicken house. About as basic as human habitation as is possible. Spent the winter of 1960-1961 in one of these uninsulated barracks yet have no memories of being uncomfortable, the steam heat system must have been well designed. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Camp Perry Second Regiment just finished Recruit Barracks 224 April 1943. Over the years many of the trees between the barracks would be removed. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge, Maryland -- The actual location on the base of this photograph snapped in 1964 and simply labeled "1964 Bainbridge Autumn Colors" was somewhat difficult to ascertain. This photo was taken from the balcony of the Navy Exchange Cafeteria looking down on three 600 series barracks. Straightforward the distance is buildings in the fire fighting training area, to the left is a partial view of the lowermost part of the hospital wards. To the right (not shown except for a shadow) would be the mess hall Building 602. My assumption is the 13 barracks in the 600 numbered series housed personnel that worked in the record keeping departments stationed at Bainbridge in the 1960's. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge, Maryland -- This photo is representative of some of the best photos of Bainbridge, a real life image capturing an important time in one person's life.

This 1974 photo by Carol Weir looks out Bainbridge Avenue towards the commissary, warehouse and rear gate area.

Straightforward the distance are four recruit barracks of the Fourth Regiment Camp Barney, the furthermost is barracks # 418.
To the left is a barracks housing ship's service personnel.
Of course there is a good view of the prominent base icon, the water tower.
Drill Hall 401 would be just behind Carol's back across Bainbridge Ave. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge, Maryland -- Another nice 1964 fall/winter image on Scott Road in front of Administration and EPDOCONUS Bldg. 601 looking towards the 600 Series barracks where the Waves and PAMI COMUS personnel were billeted.
The brick building is Building 720 where PAMICOMUS computer equipment was installed. ▼

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USNTC Bainbridge -- Recruit Barracks photo from 1954 Compass book. Notice smoke rising from the chimney, it appears each barracks still maintained its own coal fired heating system. Again observe the ladder like "decoration" at the ends of the barracks, these were actually fire escape ladders. Wonder if any recruits can recall fire drills employing these ladders? ▼