On a bright morning, trainees poured into the gates of the Sheepshead Bay Merchant Marine Training Station. It was September of 1942, and President FDR established the U.S. Maritime Services to provide the Navy overseas with gasoline, vehicles, food, medicine, ammunition, bombs, and military personnel. Occupying an area of Brooklyn larger than many American towns, this training station was open for business.

According to Captain John L. Beebe of the US Navy Reserves, for many of the young trainees, "the waters that surrounds the station on three sides is the first saltwater they have ever seen."

At its opening, newcomers were met with a mire of muddy paths and partially completed buildings. The facility saw its first graduates in December. Annually, 35,000 Merchant Marines graduated from the Sheepshead Bay training station.

Training included many cold-weather drills. One of the most daunting tests was to jump from a 15-foot tower into water that had been set ablaze.

Jack Lawrence, a songwriter, wrote the Merchant Marine's theme, "Heave Ho! My Lads, Heave Ho!" while leading the band at Sheepshead Bay. The station was closed in February of 1954.