War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to a special bonus episode of Key Battles of American History.

This is your host, James Early, as always.

And in the next three weeks or so, I'm going to be doing a series of one-off

topical episodes that have been commissioned by members of my support group on Patreon called

Early's Raiders. This week, this episode was commissioned by Colonel Jake Wallach. And the topic

is the Great Lakes Naval Station and the Great Lakes Fleet during World War II.

Very interesting topic that not that many people know a lot about. So without further ado,

let's jump right into it. So we'll talk about the origins, first of all, of the Great Lakes Naval

Station. In the late 19th century, the training of enlisted sailors prior to their

going to sea was a new concept. Since time immemorial, nearly all newly enlisted sailors went

straight onto a ship. There they underwent on-the-job training, learning the tricks and

skills of the trade on the high seas. This began to change, however, at least in the U.S.

Navy, with the opening of the Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island in 1881.

Later, after the Spanish-American War, leaders in the U.S. Navy noticed that many of the Navy's

best sailors came from the Midwestern states. And this led some to propose the building

of a new naval training center in that part of the country. In 1902, a board of naval officers

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