The New WAVES

On July 30, 1942, Congress authorized the creation of the WAVES as a war-time division of the U.S. Navy. The WAVES consisted entirely of women.  WAVES was an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service."  The "emergency" was world war.  The WAVES was an official part of the U.S. Navy. WAVES members held the same ranks and ratings, and received the same pay as their male counterparts. This was an astounding concept in the 1940s!! Within its first year, the WAVES had 27,000 members. The WAVES could not serve in combat and were mostly restricted to duty in the continental United States. Most WAVES did clerical work, but some took positions in the naval aviation community.