Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club (United States Navy nickname)

“Uncle Sam’s canoe club” is a nickname for the United States Navy. “Uncle Sam’s canoe club (pardon, navy)” was cited in print in 1950.
 
   
Wiktionary: Glossary of military slang
Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club
(U.S.) The United States Navy.
 
11 February 1950, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Knock It Off, Mac,” pg. 6, col. 1:
Those who did a stint in Uncle Sam’s canoe club (pardon, navy) during the late war will find it hard to realize that the swab jockeys (sailors) of the postwar fleet will no longer be able to refer to each other as “snipes” (engine room personnel), “deck apes” (top side maintenance force) and “radio girls” (the dot and dash men).
 
,a href=“http://books.google.com/books?id=U_G52f06wEEC&pg=PA14&dq=%22uncle+sam’s+canoe+club%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gy2tUrHmC-irsATA5oHABQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22uncle%20sam’s%20canoe%20club%22&f=false”>Google Books
Barracuda and Challenger
By Paul Zazarine
Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing
1991
Pg. 14:
As time passed I bought my own car, got discharged from Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club and moved back home.
 
Google Books
Who’s Got the Right Time?
By Russ Barkhimer
Xlibris Corporation (Xlibris.com)
1998
Pp. 40-41:
So Ted was sworn into Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club the day after he was graduated from high school and as there was a war going on, or rather, a police action as all the political bigwigs liked to call it, he felt that Naval service would be the lesser of four evils.
 
Google Books
A Civilian’s Guide to the U.S. Military:
A Comprehensive Reference to the Customs, Language & structure of the Armed Forces
By Barbara Schading and Richard Schadin
Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, Inc.
2007
Pg. 274:
Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club: The U. S. Naval Academy (“Canoe U”) or more broadly, the U. S. Navy.
 
Twitter
Forbes
‏@Forbes
Courtesy of Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club - A Century of Military Breakthroughs http://onforb.es/nLbO73
6:30 AM - 18 Aug 11
 
Twitter
RdubHall
‏@RdubHall
To all my ‘Frigate Brothers’ who were members of the Tin Can Navy in Uncle Sam’s Canoe Club, this one is for you…. http://fb.me/1JGLhTZgt
3:29 PM - 2 Nov 13