From the More Things Change Department: 'The Navy ain't what it used to be - and never was.'

For the historically minded among you: "The Enlistment, Training, and Organization of Crews for Our New Ships"

A modern ship, being a complicated machine, requires the most intelligent kind of men to handle and fight her effectively. On account of the cramped living space, the number of men on each new ship must be reduced to the lowest margin. Each man being thus a most valuable unit, we must proceed on the theory of picking our men and building up a trained nucleus of American men-of-wars men, capable of meeting the demands that will necessarily be made upon each individual in our organization in case the service is suddenly expanded to meet the exigencies of war. With the improved type of enlisted men now demanded by modern conditions, we need new Watch, Quarter, and Station bills, adapted to modern and improved types of cruisers and battle-ships. To man and fight these ships effectively, we need better methods of recruiting and training.