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

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 ✓ Here is one of Kings Point’s first titles and one of the Cadet Corps first uniforms. An instructor and class in the living room of the Chrysler Mansion. bet Engineering class in session outside the Chrysler greenhouse which served as the first engineering building. A Home at Last. . . Kings Point Established-1942 With the entry of the United States into World War II, the Maritime Commission accelerated its shipbuilding program by launching 500 ships in 1942 alone. The new ships created a need for thousands of officers and provided berths for a thousand Cadets. The already crowded Cadet Schools could not be ex- panded, so the Maritime Commission purchased the Walter P. Chrysler Estate at Kings Point with the intention of creating an Academy which could train 850 men a year in wartime and 300 men a year in peacetime. Cadet Basic Schools were also started in Pass Christian, Louisiana, and San Mateo, California. 9

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Cadet Corps Established-1938 i ! ! e ■ R X After the passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which provided for the construction of 500 vessels over a period of ten years, it became evident that a Federal system for training officers for the new vessels was necessary. On March 15, 1938, Congress passed a law providing for the establishment of the Cadet Corps. IlgiTMtllf r A formal Saturday morning review at the Algiers School in 1941 8 The first of the Cadet Training Programs was a four year course of study in which the first, second, and fourth years were to be spent at sea, while the third year was to be spent at one of the Cadet Schools. These Schools were located at the Algiers Navy Yard in New Orleans, the Naval Air Station on Treasure Island, Cali- fornia, and at the New York State Maritime School at Fort Schuyler. Men who entered the Cadet Corps spent eight weeks in basic training | at these schools before being assigned to their first ships. In order to check the progress of Cadets at sea, Officer-Inspectors at the Cadet Schools visited their ships whenever they arrived in United States ports. Because of the outbreak of the war in Europe, Naval facilities being used by the Cadet Corps had to be returned to the Navy, and the Cali- fornia Cadet School was faced with the loss of its facilities. The upsurge of demand for neutral American ships, caused by the war, led to an expansion of the Cadet Corps. As more men entered the program, the accommodations at Fort Schuyler and at the Algiers School became increasingly inadequate.

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The Cadet Corps of the youngest Federal Academy did not have to wait long to see action. On November 8, 1941, two Cadets on board the CITY OF RAYVILLE were rescued after their ves- sel was sunk by a floating mine. Merchant vessels ven- tured out on the seas un- armed, singly and in convoy, and maintained the lifeline to the Allies. The sea lanes to Britain and Murmansk are littered with those ships which lost in the war against the U-boats. Two-hundred and eleven Cadets and graduates, on ships such as these, lost their lives during the war. WAR Industry, government, and the will of the American people combined to launch thousands of bigger, better, and faster ships; ships to carry the tools of war from the “Arsenal of Democracy” to the hands of the fight- ing man, ships to carry food and clothing to the Allies, ships to keep the hope of victory alive. New construction methods mass-produced ships faster than the U-boats could sink them. Shipbuliding time was cut from three months to a few weeks. One vessel, the Liberty Ship ROBERT E. PEARY, was launched only 4 days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes after her keel was laid. 10