A Recruit's First Year, 1910-1911: The J.T. Van Zile Journal

By Katherine Renfrew
HRNM Registrar

Cover of the J.T. Van Zile journal, 1910-1911 (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

Jesse Tate Van Zile, “Musician, 2nd Class, USN”, sent this journal home to his family in Athens, Alabama on March 12, 1911. He had kept a daily, detailed record of his first year of Navy life in Hampton Roads, where he was stationed aboard the receiving (training) ship USS Franklin at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Jesse Tate Van Zile, “Musician, 2nd Class, USN, 1918. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

The journal, along with a scrapbook, photographs, postcards, cap ribbons, and music programs, all part of the Van Zile collection, provides a rare snapshot of what the local area and Navy life for a young recruit was like in 1910. It reflects Van Zile’s day-to-day activities as well as his explorations of the surrounding areas outside the Navy Yard. The first entry begins on June 30, 1910, when Jesse and his brother Leon, “left Athens, friends and loved ones to join the Navy.” They departed Athens via train to the recruiting station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Their intent was to enlist as musicians, but the recruiting officer told them that the Navy was not enlisting that rate. Since the brothers did not have enough money for the train ride back home, they enlisted as Apprentice Seamen, hoping they could change their rating. Several days later, they boarded another train headed to Portsmouth/Norfolk, Virginia, arriving on the evening of July 4th. The journal entry for that day reads, “After we finished eating we were taken back to the ‘Dog Hut’ as the fellows call it and turned in our bunks to spend the night with the mosquitoes.”

Page from the journal discussing the brothers’ transfer to Musician School, July 18, 1910. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

The Van Zile brothers quickly learned how to “sling and lash” their hammocks, “roll and pack” their clothes, stand watch, go to the “grinder” for inspections and drills, “scrub” their “bungalows,” sleep in the “dog hut,” and serve as the “street police.” On July 18, 1910, Jesse and Leon’s hopes to become Navy musicians became a reality when they were transferred to the Musicians School. Jesse wrote, "Have finished my career as an apprentice seaman. Are through carrying a gun and through standing guard for two hours at a stretch."

Band members sailing on Hampton Roads, September 1910. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

Van Zile and his fellow Sailors experienced many “firsts” on and off duty. A few were: a trip to a dentist office, “bathing” in salt water (Chesapeake Bay), seeing a “Wireless Station,” and a “first glimpse of the ocean” (Ocean View). On Labor Day, 1910, he wrote, “Fourteen of us band boys got permission to use a Gov’t. cutter equipped with sail rigging and I took my first trip in a sailboat.” “Moving pictures” at the YMCA, visiting submarines and battleships in port, and attending football games between crew members and local communities were regular past times. On October 22, 1910, he attended a football game in Newport News between crew members and St. Vincent College. Before the game he explored the town and wrote, “It is the prettiest place around here. Far ahead of Portsmouth and Norfolk.”

Page from the journal discussing Aviation Day, November 2, 1910. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

One of the more fascinating entries was the brothers’ visit to the “Aviation Meet” on November 2, 1910. Jesse’s journal entry states, “Leon and I went to Norfolk and took the car to the Exposition Grounds. Curtiss made the first ascension just as we got to the grounds going about three hundred feet high and circling the fields four of five times landed safely….It was my first time to see an airship fly and it was fine.” Leon and his brother wrote their name “with pencil” on the “middle rudder between the planes of Curtiss’ machine.” Afterwards, they walked around the grounds and wrote their names on several of the old buildings, and in the tower at the head of the wharf.

A picture of Van Zile’s family and his “Account with Uncle Sam” is found on the last page and inside cover of the journal. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

It was easy to glean from the journal what was most important to Van Zile—mail, church, and pay day. Mail was mentioned daily. The entry would note when mail was received and from whom, and when mail was sent and to whom. His July 15, 1910, entry reads, “Rec’d my first mail from home today.” If he received no mail for the day, he would always state, “Received no mail.” He attended church services every Sunday morning aboard ship, and Sunday night services at the Methodist Church in Berkley (part of Norfolk). In the back of the book, the last page shows his account with “Uncle Sam,” and a family portrait. Definitely a reminder of home.

USS Utah band members, Philadelphia Navy Yard, April 1911. (Van Zile/HRNM Collection)

The journal ends with the last entry on February 28, 1911. Jesse and Leon are transferred, and leave “…for Hampton Roads to take the Prairie for League Island Navy Yard” (Philadelphia Navy Yard) where they joined the USS Utah band.

"My Home at this Minute:" A View of Norfolk Naval Operating Base in the Early 20th Century

By Katherine A. Renfrew

Hampton Roads Naval Museum Registrar

Dear Gramp,

These are the best views of the camp that I have seen giving the places that I have to stick around in. The streets are all cement and make me wish I had the motor. Am standing by for draft now and am not supposed to be here [,] but am doing this instead of eating chow. The chow is getting bum down here. They don’t give us butter any more [anymore] and the cooking is rotten all the time. They must have released all the good cooks.

I went down to get a registered letter and found that I had two instead of one. That will last me till payday. I should get about $16 this time because I have drawn no clothes this fortnight. Your idea of this vacation and mine do not agree.

I think that they will release us soon [,] but do not know anything about it. Then things will happen won’t they Sports.

HL
Taken from a postcard written by Herbert Austin Lincoln, 1919.

The Blue Jackets Manual, United States Navy 1918 states, “The U.S. Navy offers you a good position for life.”  The message above would indicate that this Sailor was not sold on that notion. Herbert Lincoln's message to his “Gramps” was written while he was undergoing basic training at Naval Station Norfolk, at the time known as U.S. Naval Operating Base (NOB). He was discharged the same year the postcard was written. Lincoln, like many young men assigned to NOB for basic training in the early twentieth century, found life challenging, with constant building construction, long chow lines, and close quarters to name a few.

The U.S. Navy began constructing NOB in the beginning of July 1917. The development of the base grew quickly. Within 30 days, housing for 7,500 men had been finished, followed by the Fifth Naval District Headquarters, piers, aviation facilities, storehouses, facilities for fuel, oil storage, a recruit training station, a submarine base, recreation areas for fleet personnel, and a hospital.

By the end of 1918, the Navy had increased their force from 4,500 officers & 68,000 enlisted men to 15,000 officers and 254,000 enlisted, which consisted of regulars, reserves and national naval volunteers.  In addition, the Navy expanded from 130 stations to 363.  In December 1942, recruit training at NOB was terminated. Officials believed the base was more aptly equipped for advanced training for personnel moving directly to the fleet.

The following images depict construction and facilities of the base in the early part of the twentieth century.

A photograph taken during the construction of the Seaman Guard barracks, taken from corner of Maryland Avenue and Piersey Street, August 28, 1917. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1917_18, RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)

View of the kitchen, block C, looking North from west to east, October 26, 1917. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1917_13 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)

Interior view of Mess Hall No. 1 in Unit C, October 26, 1917. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1917_10 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)



Photograph depicts the aviation barracks and mess hall, March 14, 1918. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1918_01 / RG 71-CA, Box 312, Folder B)



Building No. 11, boat crew barracks located in the Lagoon Unit, looking at north end and east side, May 2, 1922. The clock tower of the Pennsylvania House, which still stands today on Naval Station Norfolk, appears just to the right. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1922_14 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)

Photograph taken looking at west side and south ends of barracks, Building Numbers 8-21 located on the “sub base” area of Naval Operating Base, May 6, 1922. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1922_16 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)

Building No. 22, the base post office where Sailors picked up their packages and mail, Unit N, May 10, 1922. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1922_39 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder B)

Photograph depicts the cleared area where the barracks once stood and construction of new barracks, Unit K. View looking northwest, September 1, 1938. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1938_05 / RG 71-CF, Box1, Folder Virginia-Naval Base, Norfolk)

New barracks almost complete, Unit K, June 6, 1939. View is looking northeast. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1939_09 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder C)

Interior view of the east “dormitory” on the first floor of the newly constructed barracks, Barracks Q, Unit K, November 17, 1939. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1939_13 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder C)

Building I-AA, mess hall and galley, still stands today and is a familiar site on Gilbert Street.  This photograph was taken looking northeast from Gilbert, September 6, 1939. (National Archives and Records Administration, NSNorfolk-1939_06 / RG 71-CA, Box 322, Folder C)

This brief history of buildings serving the naval recruits is the fifth in a series of blog posts illustrating the development of Naval Station Norfolk and its neighboring facilities. Unless otherwise noted, the photographs in this series represent the results of a research project seeking images of Hampton Roads naval installations at the National Archives and Records Administration. This research, performed by Southeastern Archaeological Research, Incorporated (SEARCH) was funded by Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic as part of an ongoing effort to provide information on historic architectural resources at Navy bases in Hampton Roads. The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is pleased to present these images for the benefit of the general public and interested historians. As far as we know, all of these images are in the public domain and none of them have been published before.