USS Commodore (401B), also known as R.T.S. Commodore, was a landlocked "dummy" training ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Built to resemble a small escort ship, she was built at the United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. She was equipped with operational guns and equipment, except for an engine, to allow for the training of sailors in shipboard operations in a reasonably safe environment during the Second World War and the early Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 era.

Commodore was equipped with most of the facilities found on a real ship, including deck guns, a pilot house, davit

Davit

A davit is a structure, usually made of steel, which is used to lower things over an edge of a long drop off such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching a lifeboat over the side of a ship....

s with whaleboat

Whaleboat

A whaleboat is a type of open boat that is relatively narrow and pointed at both ends, enabling it to move either forwards or backwards equally well. It was originally developed for whaling, and later became popular for work along beaches, since it does not need to be turned around for beaching or...

s, and mooring lines fastened to earth-bound bollard

Bollard

A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally it meant a post used on a ship or a quay, principally for mooring. The word now also describes a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic, such as posts arranged in a line to obstruct the passage of motor vehicles...

s, so that recruits could even learn the proper casting off of hawser

Hawser

Hawser is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse....

s and other lines connecting the ship to its dock.

Her name "Commodore" referred to the namesake of the base, Commodore William Bainbridge

William Bainbridge

William Bainbridge was a Commodore in the United States Navy, notable for his victory over HMS Java during the War of 1812.-Early life:...

. Due to her landlocked condition, Commodore was referred to by the cadets who trained aboard her as "The Never-Sail". (The same nickname, "USS Neversail," was also given to the landlocked training "ship" USS Recruit

USS Recruit (TDE-1)

USS Recruit was a landlocked "dummy" training ship of the United States Navy, located at the Naval Training Center in the Point Loma area of San Diego, California. She was built to scale, two-thirds the size of a destroyer escort, and was commissioned on July 27, 1949...

 at Naval Training Center San Diego

Naval Training Center San Diego

Naval Training Center San Diego is a former United States Navy base located at the north end of San Diego Bay. The Naval Training Center site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the individual structures are designated as historic by the city of San Diego.The base...

.)

Commodore was dismantled when the base was closed in the 1970s.