USS Recruit, 1917, Union Square, NYC
Perhaps no warship is unsinkable, but the several USS Recruits came close, primarily because they were based entirely on land. In 1917, the 200′ USS Recruit, also known as the Landship Recruit, was built in Union Square, in the middle of New York City. USS Recruit was a wooden dreadnought battleship, commissioned as vessel of the U.S. Navy and manned by a crew of trainee sailors. She was used for recruiting and training during World War I. The New York Times reported at the time that the “Landship” helped the U.S. Navy recruit 25,000 men or enough to crew twenty-eight Nevada-class battleships. In 1920, with the end of the war, the ship was dismantled.
Almost 30 years later, a second USS Recruit was built, this time on the West Coast of the United States. The second landbound USS Recruit was built at the Naval Training Center in the Point Loma area of San Diego. Not a dreadnought like her predecessor, she was a two-thirds scale Dealey-class destroyer escort. She was used to train recruits from 1949 until the base was closed in 1997. The Recruit still stands, unused, adjacent to a retail area of Liberty Station, as the redeveloped base is known.
I am very pleased to have been interviewed by George Jepson in the May/June issue of the 
Does Iran have any conceivable case for seizing the Maersk Tigris? The short answer is “no.” The slightly longer answer might be “absolutely not” or “under no circumstances.”
Once again, May 2nd
I am very excited about 
Sailing School Vessel (SSV) 
Yesterday, 
The Marshall Island flagged container ship 
The America’s Cup soap opera continues, with all the twists and turns one might expect and few that are a complete surprise. As in any soap opera, it has its share of betrayals, broken promises, jilted lovers, illicit liaisons and the switching of partners. It remains to be seen whether the soap opera’s plot twists will end up hurting the races.