After the closure of the Naval Training Center, she sat empty for the better part of 20 years, finally being opened to the public as a museum ship in 2023.

[7] During World War II, there was a minesweeper named USS Recruit (AM-285), which was in commissioned in 1943, decommissioned in 1946, and was ultimately transferred to the Mexican Navy.

[10][11] "Sailing" on a sea of concrete at the Naval Training Center, she assisted with the training of over 50,000 new recruits per year, providing an education in the fundamentals of shipboard drills and procedures, using standard deck and bridge gear like that found on all naval vessels, including lifelines, accommodation ladders, signal halyards, searchlights, the engine order telegraph and the helm.

[6] Redevelopment of the base began in the early 2000s and continues to this day, with the remodeling of a historic building into a new Performing Arts Center scheduled to open in 2024.

[28] The USS Commodore, located at the United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge in Maryland, was dismantled when the base closed in the 1970s.

[29] The USS Bluejacket, located at Naval Training Center Orlando in Florida, was also dismantled when this base closed March 31, 1995.

[30] The longtime hope to make the Recruit into a museum ship finally began to bear fruit in 2018, as plans took shape to commemorate the base's hundredth anniversary in 2023.

[3] The USS Recruit is featured in the opening credits of the 1976 television sitcom CPO Sharkey which takes place in San Diego.