“If it’s not prohibited it is permitted” could be considered an unofficial Navy motto. So when Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) Josephus Daniels read the Navy Act of 1916, he concluded that since the act allowed recruiting "all persons who may be capable of performing special useful service for coastal defense," there was no bar to recruiting women. Thus the order went out allowing women to be recruited into the Naval Reserve to serve as "radio operators, stenographers, nurses, messengers, chauffeurs, etc. and in many other capacities in the industrial line." Most were recruited as Yeoman, with the Navy designating them Yeomen (F). I guess the F was needed so people would realize they were female, despite being called Yeoman.
To be sure, women served in the Navy before, typically as nurses. In 1908, Congress established the Navy Nurse Corps, and Esther Voorhees Hasson was named the superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps. Daniels, however, open the door for women to serve in other capacities. Two days after the SecNav issued the order on 19 March, 1917, Loretta Perfectus Walsh become the first woman to enlist. Although technically they were Yeoman (F), the also served in a number of fields, including draftsmen, mechanics, interpreters, truck drivers, cryptographers, telephone operators, and munitions makers.
The Navy went from 300 ships to a thousand, creating a huge demand for sailors to man them. By filling these jobs they freed up men to serve on the front lines, helping to alleviate manpower shortages as the US entered World War I. The Yeoman (F) designation lasted for four years, and the after signing the armistice the Navy began to end the women reserves. Navy and Marine female reservists were placed on inactive duty by the Naval Appropriations Act of 1919. The Navy, however was unwilling to lose their talents and the SecNav authorized hiring them temporarily into civilian positions when their enlistments expired. After their term expired, they could take the civil service exam and be hired as permanent Federal employees, a path many of them took. Although the SecNav ended their enlistments officially on October 24, 1920, it was reported the last one was discharged in March, 1921.
Despite their short terms of service, they left a legacy that is still felt by the Navy today. Women serve as aviators, surface line officers, submariners and in command, all without an (F). You have come a long way, baby.
As side note, Daniels also was the SecNav who made the Navy dry, but that's another story.
Sources:
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/yeoman-f.html
https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=108958
YIMH: Yesterday in Military History
