United States Maritime Service

Common card · No. 389645

The United States Maritime Service (USMS) was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 as voluntary training organization to train individuals to become officers and crew members on merchant ships that form the United States Merchant Marine per 46 U.S.C. § 51701. Heavily utilized during World War II, the USMS was largely dissolved in 1954, and its resources were absorbed into other federal departments. However, while the service is no longer structurally organized, remnants of the service still exist today and the service still actively commissions officers to fill the ranks of the U.S. Navy Strategic Sealift Officer corps and to function as administrators and instructors at the United States Merchant Marine Academy and the state maritime academies.

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