The Ships at RTC

The Ship number refers to the building that houses the recruit's barracks. Each ship is named for a famous Naval vessel, but in reality there are few people that refer to them by that name. The names are worth knowing as they tell a rich and famous history of the US Navy. In reality,  the division number is the most important identification that will help you find your sailor at PIR. Your sailor will march with their division and will graduate from Boot Camp as part of that division. The ship number is important in that it is part of the official address you must use to send mail to your future sailor while he/she is at Great Lakes.

There are 14 different "ships" (barracks) at Recruit Training Center Great Lakes. Depending on size there are 12 or 16 divisions in each ship, and each has a different address.  Each of the compartments within the ship can house up to 88 recruits or more. Each ship can hold over 1000 recruits. There are four compartments on each floor or deck of the ship. You should be realizing now that the recruits are living with and using the terms they will use when in the fleet.

The compartments are designated A through H (using the military alphabet Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel). Each also has a 01 or 02 after that- hence A-01, B-02, etc.. When there are integrated divisions (those formed with both males and female recruits), the males of the 2 brother divisions will share a compartment and the females of the 2 brother divisions share another. 

This is what a typical open sleeping compartment looks like:

Seldom are more than 14 divisions ever seen within a ship at one time.  A typical ship layout is as follows:

A recruiter may give parents an address that has a building number instead of or in addition to a ship number such as "Ship 06 (Bldg. 7101) USS Constitution".  You do not need to include the building number in the address, but you do need to include the Ship number in your address when sending mail to your recruit.