Gee!! I wish I were a man, I’d join the Navy
Gee!! I wish I were a man, I’d join the Navy
Vintage World War I Navy Recruiting Advertisement Poster
“Gee!! I Wish I Were A Man, I’d Join the Navy” World War I Navy Recruiting poster advertising by artist Howard Chandler Christy, issued in 1917. This vintage illustration patriotic WWI military propaganda poster features a smiling woman wearing a naval uniform with a sailor hat.
About the Artist
Howard Chandler Christy (1873 – 1952), was one of America’s most beloved 20th century illustrators. He was known almost exclusively for 6,000 images of his iconic Christy Girl, a beautiful, independent woman who was featured in numerous national magazines, books, calendars and United States patriotic posters. Christy was originally a Spanish-American War battlefront illustrator. When he returned home after the war he began painting socialites, actors and presidents, he was so prolific that he completed an amazing 30 portraits in one year alone.
United States Naval operations during World War I began on April 6, 1917, after the formal declaration of war on the German Empire. The American navy focused on countering enemy U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, while convoying men and supplies to France and Italy. Because of United States’ late entry into the war, her capital ships never engaged the German fleet, and few decisive submarine actions occurred.
US Naval Operations during WWI
Historians have often neglected the role of the United States Navy during the First World War. This is understandable given that many more men served in the Army or Marine Corps on the Western Front than in the Navy. For years the activity of the United States Navy during World War I tended to be summarized in either general histories of the United States Navy or in multinational naval histories of the war. The other major sources for this topic were memoirs, including the memoirs of the commander of U.S. Forces in European Waters and the commander of the Sixth Battle Squadron that served with the Grand Fleet, the major British force in home waters. However, there are now serious studies of the American role at sea in the war. By far the most exhaustive is by William Still. Others include studies of the effects of German submarine operations on American shipping and the role of U.S. Naval aviation.
