United States Merchant Marine Academy - Midships Yearbook (Kings Point, NY)

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A NEW P-.DAD In 1936, the passage of the Merchant Marine Act brought order out of chaos. The nation finally adopted a permanent, long-range maritime pro- gram. Included in the Act were construction and operating subsidies. Under this Act, a crack liner, the America, was built for United States Lines. New types of cargo ships were built. These were classified hy length, and the combination of letters and numerals be- came the name of the group. C-l's, C-2's, and C-39s were constructed for many companies. It appeared that the United States was destined to have a well-ordered Merchant Marine after all. Wise planning had given the country a foundation for a great Merchant Marine. u lv uhm. i v Q I 'K I Ill' Ks x I g 3 11N 1, Es -XJ, .90 ., ,,

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xg!- -U ul Q i iff , It t , . A , , .. 7:1-A if r h J. 'i lag I . I il A ' k , 1, i X5 I, k X Q ,JL 1 ss At the close of the war the United States had the greatest surplus of ship tonnage it had ever known. The immediate tie up of a great part of the war-built tonnage THE PUSTWAR WHITE ELEPHANT struck many Americans as tragic. The early armistice found the country with an excess of ships, with more on the ways, and still others paid for and not yet started. At the end of the war the world was burdened with thirty-three per cent more tonnage and twenty per cent less cargo. Hundreds of vessels were laid up, to rot and decay. Billions of dollars rusted away. The post-war cargo-less industry suffered falling freight rates, idleness, and wide-spread distress. Bank- ruptcy resulted for many companies. The sight of a great fleet of wooden ships gradually de- teriorating in one of the Hud- son coves was depressing to the taxpayer.

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Tlw l,ih1'rIj ship was thc' rvlllvr of llu' first phase' of thv :rar f'llH'l'g1'lll'-Y vjfuri Thvu' i '0f?' Ship. lrhivh ramp into prndurlion lata in 19-13. was slightly .Iargvr than Ihr' Libvrly ship, possvssvd finvr Iuws. and made better spvr-fl. S33 Q 1 F l l l 3 1 i V 1 i l i . 'nd' 9-s.,. , L ' I' I' 1 v 1 .4 .. - . I r I i I I l l i Thousands of Merchant Marine officers and men like Cadet-Midshipman Zito performed acts of courage and valor in the war. J ang -L.. V N -,,,,, an V . When war struck again, thc nation was oncc more understocked with ships. However, this time a foun- dation had hecn laid. Tlifr acccllcratcd construction Stimulated hy British war orflvrs and thc Merchant 'Nlarinfe Act of l936 served to raise the national potential. President Hoosvvvlt asked for 23,000 Ions of dead- weight carrying cfaparity hy the and of I94-3. This aw-nlml an impossihlv joh, but in little over two years, 40.000 tone had he-cn flvlivvrc-d. This miracle was afwfomplif-lwfal in no small part through prcfulwifzatioxi mffthods learn:-d in World War l. For the most part, the slow, rvlizihlv Lilwrlly-type ship was huilt. lfa-:A of rrunalructtion prrrmitlcd 11 huild- ing tinu- of a mvra' forty-omf days. liatur. thc- longer, fat-tvr Yivtory war 1-orlatriivla-el, with an qv to the pos-t-vsar futurv. V hon thu- war vndd-d. all purtim wnlizmffl that viv- tury would haw- hi-vn impuhsihla- wi-rv it not for llllf niiruflo' nf 4UllFlTllf'llUIl wrought hy Ihr' f-lliphuildi-rs of Aim-ril 11. 20 -Q-A -fm -tw 'l1T ' it - ANUTHER WORLD CRISIS tg!