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

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KINGS POINT HALVED TO A TWO YEAR PROGRAM

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GULF AND WEST COAST SCHOOLS SPRING FROM WAR PRESSURE A n June of 1939 the Maritime Com- mission and Congress responded to the need for ashore training before shipping out by providing independent federal training at the state maritime schools in New York and California, and again in 1940 at the Naval Air Sta- tion in Biloxi, Mississippi. The pro- grams carried out at these facilities were subject to a lot of interruptions and irregularities, mostly because they were being conducted on borrowed space and in conflict with the state pro- grams, and also because the nation was starting to feel the pressure of the war atmosphere, expanding its military training, and reclaiming needed sites for those functions. At this point, it was hoped that Cadets would receive a full year of pre-sailing instruction and then finish with their training at sea. OPPOSITE: Proverbial Fid Aids Cadet in Eye Splice. ABOVE LEFT: Armaments Class Behind O’Hara Hall. April 1948. ABOVE CENTER: Equator Crossing. August 1944. ABOVE RIGHT: Pistol Packin’ Cadet Don Blanc. 44’. in New Guinea. 1943. LEFT: T V EMERY RICE Under Full Sail.

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i! In mid-1941, a decision was made to alter the program of training to an ini- tial year of training ashore at a Cadet school in either New York or California, followed by a year at sea. and finally two years at a then non-existent Merchant Marine Academy. But before this scheme could be fully activated. Pearl Harbor was history and the country was soon at war in both theaters. On the last day of 1941, the Maritime Commission responded to the challenge of the war effort with a decision to halve the four year course and to waive competitive scholastic examinations for appoint- ment. Commodore McNulty directed a board of officers from the Cadet Corps to compile eligible lists based on a scru- tiny of scholastic records and other qual- ifications of applicants. The Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation altered its requirements and agreed to accept Cadet Corps graduates for Third Officer and Third Assistant Engineer licenses despite the greatly reduced course. President Roosevelt’s war message to Congress on 6 January 1942 included, among other urgent measures, a fifty per cent increase in the shipbuilding program of the Maritime Commission. Admiral Emory S. Land, Chairman of the Com- mission, announced that the 1400 ships to be built by the end of 1943 would require ten thousand officers to operate them. The officers who were engaged in cadet training and held commissions in the Mer- chant Marine Naval Reserve were ordered to active duty during January, 1942, and were assigned by the Navy Department to continue their duties with its Division of Training. During the same period. Commodore McNulty was directing the search for a permanent facility for a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy somewhere along the Atlantic coast between Maine and Vir- ginia. In locating a site for an Academy for third year men returning from sea, Groton and Mystic, Connecticut, and New Bedford. Massachusetts were among the finalists before the Chrysler estate at Kings Point was selected. In January of 1942, Commodore Telfair Knight, USMS. Director of the Division of Training, secured consent of the own- ers for immediate occupancy of the property on a six month option, pending final Congressional approval for pur- chase. Before the end of January, 103 Cadets had come to Kings Point from Fort Schuyler; by the first of March there were more than 220; by the end of April, 500; and a year and a half later there were more than 2400 men at Kings Point. In March of 1942, Congress approved purchase of the Chrysler estate for approximately $100,000, and a per- manent academy for training officers for the Merchant Marine of the United States was a reality. Shortly thereafter, the official designa- tion of the Academy was changed from “U.S. Maritime Commission Academy” to “U.S. Merchant Marine Academy” and the section of cadet training was thereafter known as the United States Merchant Marine Cadet Corps. LEFT: Generator Described in Steam Lab. 1947. LOWER LEFT: Dedication Day Ceremony. O'Hara Hall. 30 September 1943. LEFT, MIDDLE: Cadet Quarters on a C-2, 1944. TOP, LEFT: Pulling the Gooseneck. June 1945. TOP. RIGHT: Lecture on Cargo Gear in Cargo Lab. 1952.