Recruits with their mattresses tied to them to serve as life preservers. United States Navy operations during World War I began on April 6, 1917, after the formal declaration of war on Germany. The American navy focused on countering enemy U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea while convoying men and supplies to front lines in France and Italy. Because of United States' late entry into the war her capital ships never engaged the Germans and few decisive submarine actions occurred. Photo taken at Newport Naval Training Station, Rhode Island. Dated April, 1917.