Pelham Bay, World War I, and Ensign Arthur L. Friedrich

Arthur was a freshman at Lawrence College when the U.S. began sending troops to Europe in April of 1917. The small number of American volunteers eager to fight the Kaiser was a disappointment to Woodrow Wilson who, in May, made enlistment compulsory through the Selective Service Act. At the same time, he authorized a massive propaganda campaign to drum up support for American involvement in the European war. Whether or not Uncle Sam's stern demands for sacrifice had any effect on Arthur is unknown, but on June 5th, while home on summer break in Beaver Dam, Arthur "Friedrich" (he hadn't yet changed his surname to one that sounded less Hun-like) dutifully registered for the draft, along with every other American male between the ages of 21 and 30.

Notice of the first of three Selective Service registrations conducted in 1917-18.

On the registration card he lists his brother, Elmer, as his employer, and his occupation as "farmhand".

Arthur Friedrich's Selective Service Registration Card, dated June 5, 1917

In the Fall, presumably, he returns to Appleton to continue his undergraduate studies. In the 1917 Lawrence College Yearbook, The Ariel, I found several pictures of Arthur, looking proud and confident under what was then a nearly full head of well-oiled hair.

Arthur Friedrich as a freshman at Lawrence College in Appleton Wisconsin, from its yearbook, The Ariel, 1917

In a notice postmarked March 18, 1918, Arthur is notified that he had been classified and recorded in Class 1, members of which were eligible and liable for military service. Because Arthur was in good health, unmarried and without dependents, his only hope of avoiding forced conscription was to a) commit a felony or other "infamous" crime, b) prove himself "morally unfit", c) enroll in a theological or divinity school, or d) enlist. He may have looked into (c) and perhaps even stopped by Northwestern University on his way to Chicago, which is where, I'm guessing, on May 10th, 1918, he enrolled with the U.S. Naval Reserve Force as a Seaman, 2nd Class.

Arhur Friedrich's dog tag, showing the date of his enlistment with the Naval Auxiliary Reserve (10 May 1918) and his date of birth (12 Nov 1894). 

He may have remained a Seaman, and spent the War doing patrols on Lake Michigan. But the Navy was in desperate need of deck officers for the merchant supply ships that were shuttling troops, munitions, food and construction materials across the Atlantic. The Reserve commanders were told to keep an eye out for promising candidates and to refer them for officer training. Arthur was among those chosen, and in the Fall of 1918 he traveled to New York and reported to the Deck Officers' School at Pelham Bay.

Arthur is in there somewhere among the 520 graduates in Class 15 of the USNRF Deck Officer's School at Pelham Bay, NY. Dec, 1918.

The training consisted of an intensive eight-week program in Navigation supplemented with lectures on Seamanship, Ordnance, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Semaphore and Signalling. This was long before satellites and GPS, and officer training was almost entirely devoted to reading charts and navigating using only a sextant, compass and chronometer.

Week 1	Monday:	The Compass.
	Tuesday:	The Compass continued and Polaris.
	Wednesday:	Uses and descriptions of Parallel Rulers, Dividers, the Lead, Sounding Machine and Log.
	Thursday:	The Chart.
	Friday:	The Sextant.
	Saturday:	Fixes, Angles by Bearings and Sextant.
Week 2	Monday:	Examination.
	Tuesday:	Latitude and Longitude.
	Wednesday:	Dead Reckoning, Plane and Traverse Sailing.
	Thursday:	Middle Latitude Sailing.
	Friday:	Mercator Sailing.
	Saturday:	Great Circle Sailing and the Chronometer.
Week 3	Monday:	Examination.
	Tuesday:	Definitions relating to the Celestial Sphere
	Wednesday:	Time-Solar, Mean and Conversion of.
	Thursday:	Sidereal Time-Right Ascension.
	Friday:	The Nautical Almanac.
	Saturday:	Correction of Observed Altitudes.
Week 4	Monday:	Examination.
	Tuesday:	The Line of Position.
	Wednesday:	Latitude by Meridian Altitude of the Sun.
	Thursday:	Azimuths of the Sun Altitude of the Sun.
	Friday:	Marc St. Hilaire Method by a Sun Sight.
	Saturday:	Marc St. Hilaire Method by a Sun Sight.
Week 5.	Monday:	Examination.
	Tuesday:	Planets and Star Identification.
	Wednesday:	Latitude by Meridian Altitude of a Star. Latitude by Polaris Altitude of a Star.
	Thursday:	Marc St. Hilaire Method by a Star Sight.
	Friday:	Longitude by Chronometer Sight of Sun (Time Sight).
	Saturday:	Longitude by Chronometer Sight of Sun (Time Sight).
Week 6	Monday:	Examination.
	Tuesday:	Longitude by Chronometer Sight of a Star.
	Wednesday:	Examples on Time Sights (Stars and Sun).
	Thursday:	Latitude by Ex-meridian Altitude of the Sun.
	Friday:	Latitude by Ex-meridian Altitude of the Sun).
	Saturday:	Finding Watch Time of Local Apparent Noon.
Week 7	Monday:	Examinations.
	Tuesday:	Compass Error by an Azimuth.
	Wednesday:	Correcting Longitude by a Factor.
	Thursday:	The Navigators' Routine (Day's Work at Sea).
	Friday:	Day's Work.
	Saturday:	Day's Work.
Week 8	Monday:	Day's Work.
	Tuesday:	Day's Work.
	Wednesday:	Day's Work.
	Thursday:	Compass Adjustment.
	Friday:	Final Examination.

Arthur's training began on November 4th, and though I'm sure they all made a show of disappointment when Armistice was declared just a week later, I'm guessing most of the cadets in his class were secretly happy to be denied the opportunity of going to war. Being a Naval deck officer with the Merchant Marine was a dangerous assignment. Statistically, one's chances of dying in a war are higher for mariners than for any other branch of the service, and the merchant mariners suffered more than most in World War 1. Six USARF ships were torpedoed and sunk while Arthur was studying at Pelham, and twelve of his classmates were killed.

Two of Arthur's classmates from the officer's training program at Pelham Bay, cadets William Stillman and Chester Cubberly, who were killed when their ship, the S.S. Frederic R. Kellog, was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918.

Most, if not all the cadets, chose to continue their studies at Pelham. But it must have been hard, working toward a commission now made redundant by the war's end, remaining on base while the city all around them celebrated the victory. They even worked through their Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Armistice must have have taken some of the wind out of their sails.

Arthur completes the program at the end of December and earns rank of Ensign, the Navy's lowest officer rank and the equivalent of 2nd Lieutenant in most other branches of the service. In a letter I have, dated December 31st, 1918 and signed by Lt. Commander George E. Beckwith, Arthur is ordered to report directly to the Supervisor of the Naval Auxiliary Reserve Force at the Municipal Ferry Terminal, South and Whitehall Streets, New York City, "for such duty as he may assign to you." Arthur writes to the supervisor and requests a 10-day leave of absence to settle matters at home.

Lieutenant Commander George E Beckwith who was pulled from retirement to supervise the Naval officer training program at Pelham Bay, New York. His signature appears on the letter granting Arthur Friedrich his commission as Ensign and assigning him to shore duty at the Municipal Ferry Terminal. 

On January 6th, Arthur writes again to his USNRF Supervisor, requesting an additional six days leave to insure his undergraduate studies at Lawrence College won't be interrupted by his duties. The tersely-worded denial of extension is postmarked January 11 and mailed under standard postage to Beaver Dam, so Arthur may very well have been absent without leave for several days before, finally, reporting for duty in New York.

View of New York City's financial district showing the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve Force's headquarters at the Municipal Ferry Terminal where Arthur was assigned between January and March, 1919.

On March 20th, 1919, after only two months at the Naval Auxiliary's Municipal Ferry Terminal headquarters, he's relieved from active duty and ordered "to immediately proceed to [his] home at R.F.D. #5, Beaver Dam Wisconsin," which he does without delay. He arrives home at 5:15 P.M. and wastes no time in requesting the compensation due to officers travelling under orders, of eight cents per mile.

The following summer, the Navy Department's Bureau of Navigation planned for a series of "summer cruises, in order to afford officers an opportunity to qualify for transfer to a Class where they will be eligible for confirmation in rank." Arthur apparently took advantage of the opportunity, because on November 1st, 1921, he was transferred from Class 3 to Class 6 and his rank was confirmed. The confirmation qualified him to receive the Victory Medal and Clasp due to Naval officers serving in World War 1. The application was filed, but the medal and clasp, if he ever received them, were either lost or discarded.

On May 9th, 1922, Arthur is honorably discharged from the U.S. Naval Reserve Force with the rank of Ensign. As far as we know, he was never recalled to active duty.