During WWII, when were guns and gunners first put on U.S. ships?
In the Pacific, long before war was declared, some enterprising ship crews built plywood “guns,” hoping their profile would fool enemy ships. On November 17, 1941 Congress approved arming of merchant ships and set up the Naval Armed Guard. It took many months for guns and crews to get aboard thousands of ships. Many of the initial guns were of World War I vintage. Mariners in the Merchant Marine were trained at U.S. Maritime Service Training Stations, and at gunnery schools in Great Britain, Australia, and elsewhere. And, of course, they received on-the-job training while under attack. Mariners assisted the Naval Armed Guard in passing ammunition, catching cannon hot shells after firing, and many were assigned anti-aircraft gun stations.
