US Naval Reserve

The United States Naval Reserve (USNR) played a major role in the American naval effort during World War II, providing most of the personnel needed for the rapid expansion of the US Navy between 1941 and 1945. Officially created in 1915, the Naval Reserve existed before the conflict as a supplementary force, but its importance became central after the United States entered the war in December 1941.

Before the war, the US Naval Reserve had a limited number of personnel, mainly intended to reinforce the fleet in the event of conflict. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the reserve was massively mobilized. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were drafted, trained, and integrated into the regular navy. During the war, the majority of sailors, naval aviators, junior officers, and technical specialists serving in the US Navy belonged to the Naval Reserve rather than the active navy.

US Naval Reserve personnel were employed in all areas of naval operations. They served aboard battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and auxiliary ships, as well as in naval aviation, amphibious landing units, logistics services, and headquarters. The Reserve also provided a large part of the crews for the Landing Craft used in major amphibious operations, notably in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and the Pacific.

In the European theater, US Navy reservists participated in escorting transatlantic convoys against the threat of German submarines, coastal bombardments, amphibious landings, and naval support for ground forces. In the Pacific, they were engaged in successive campaigns against Japan, serving in aircraft carrier battles, amphibious operations on islands, and naval blockade missions.

The US Naval Reserve also played an important role in training and supervising new recruits, developing naval air forces, and administering the rapidly expanding fleet. Many reserve officers held command positions aboard ships or in air units after undergoing accelerated training during the war.

By the end of the conflict in 1945, the US Naval Reserve had several million men and women who had served temporarily in uniform. After the surrender of Germany and Japan, the majority of reservists were demobilized, while the Naval Reserve was reorganized to become a peacetime reserve force once again. The experience gained during World War II had a lasting influence on the structure and role of the naval reserve in the US military organization for subsequent conflicts.