A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
During the 10-week Celestial Navigation course at NAS Seattle, WAVE instructors got a chance to practice “flights” in the navigator itself. Left to right are: Irena Aide (navigator), Linnea Peterson (instructor), Jane Hall (radio operator), and Elinor Johnson (pilot). The Navy began using Celestial Navigation in 1944.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
In the Link trainer, the instructor sits at a desk while the “pilot” goes into a flight simulator. In this photo from 1944, Hannah Barnes and Elizabeth Ripley practice the new desk techniques when using the new machine for celestial navigation during their 10-week training at NAS Seattle.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES learned all sorts of things during the 10-week course in celestial navigation, which began in 1944. Here, Waneta Miller learns how to handle a sextant, an arced device used to measure distances between objects and altitude in navigation.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
In 1944, the Navy began a new specialty: celestial navigation for Link trainer instructors. The 10-week course was held at the NAS Seattle, Washington.
In this photo, Ruthe Ingerslew, Patricia Baldwin, and Sally King study the earth’s rotation to, as the Navy put it, “the celestial sphere” (aka the stars).
It comes from the National Archives.
A salute to end this Fourth of July weekend from WAVE Ruth Meyer.
The c. 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES on liberty from boot camp in the Bronx, New York, visit the statue of liberty, c. 1943. It seemed an appropriate photo this Fourth of July weekend. Hope your holiday is fabulous!
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVE Mary Elizabeth Ways strikes a patriotic post in the 1943 photograph.
We we you and yours a happy and safe holiday!
Each month training facilities published their own newsletters. This is the July 1943 verision of Iowave, the base newsletter for the yeoman training facility at Iowa State Teachers College Cedar Falls.
It comes from the archives at the University of Northern Iowa.
The July, 1943 edition of the WAVES Newsletter honors the WAVES 1-year anniversary.
The July, 1944 edition of the WAVES Newsletter features WAVE commander Mildred McAfee on the cover.
Hinges of History 