FDR sits at swearing in of Joseph Kennedy as ambassador to England 1938/02/18, photo from FDRL
"In 1938, when a second World War was imminent, President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized that winning the war would require many ships to carry war supplies to the fronts. He ordered mass-production of Liberty ships and established the U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) to train the men needed to operate these ships. Joseph P. Kennedy, (father of President John F. Kennedy) was appointed as the first Chairman of the new Federal Maritime Commission in 1937 during which he laid the groundwork for the U.S. Merchant Marine. Kennedy became the United States Ambassador to Great Britain in 1938. Retired Admiral Emory Scott Land, USN, succeeded Kennedy as Chairman, and who also headed the War Shipping Administration. Admiral Land is the genius who put together the ship production, training of the men in the USMS, and operation of the vast fleet. The USMS was first established under the Coast Guard and later supervised by U.S. Navy officers. Many of its first recruits in 1938 were from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Men, caught up in the patriotic fervor of the time, came forward to serve in the fledgling U.S. Maritime Service. There were 37 Official U.S. Government Recruiting Offices set up around the country. Radio and newspaper ads brought in the thousands of young patriotic men, as young as 16 years of age, from every State who answered their country's call to serve. Some Offices were located next to Navy and Coast Guard Offices. Many men were sent to the USMS by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard recruiters who said, "That's where your service is needed."ĘThe USMS was the only racially integrated service of the time. African-Americans
Thousands of active and retired mariners, Navy, and Coast Guardsmen were pressed into duty to serve as administrators and instructors in the U.S. Maritime Service. They believed then, and still believe today, they joined a uniformed, armed service! Many of these were cheated out of service and retirement time. [They are still seeking veteran status from the Air Force Secretary. The USMS was an official U.S. Government organization, while the WASPs and most of the other groups who received veteran status were either under contract to the Government or unofficial organizations. WASP instructors and women who failed the training program received veteran status.]
The USMS took over 250,000 raw recruits and turned them into fighting mariners. They taught them operation of anti-aircraft guns and cannon. They taught navigation, engine operation and maintenance, and deck operations aboard training vessels that operated in hazardous waters subject to mines and attack by German and Japanese submarines. The United States Maritime Service trained men for the U.S. Merchant Marine, and U.S. Army Transport Service to transport supplies and personnel in the largest fleet of freighters, tankers, and transports in history to bases all over the world for U.S. and Allied forces. Men at the fronts depend on this important service for bombs, gasoline, shells, ammunition, food, guns, vehicles, planes, medicine, and other materials for warfare. The ships of the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Army Transport Service were on the frontline as soon as they left their docks and harbors. The enemy mined some harbors, and submarines and raiders waited for their prey outside of the harbors, especially on the East and Gulf coasts of the United States."
