After thriving for several decades, the Jacob Tome Institute fell into difficult financial straits during the Great Depression of the 1930s and closed in 1941. The following year, just after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved the acquisition by condemnation of the property and land from 70 surrounding farms for use by the United States Navy as a training center. The institute's buildings were renovated for use by the Naval Academy Preparatory School to prepare future midshipmen for the U.S. Naval Academy further south at Annapolis, Maryland. USNTC Bainbridge was activated on October 1, 1942, and operated throughout World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War, and the Cold War era. It closed as a military facility on March 31, 1976. During 34 years of operation, USNTC Bainbridge, (named for early 19th century naval hero William Bainbridge) graduated over 500,000 recruits.