This is the March 1946 issue of Polaris, the magazine of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. On the contents page it states, “A publication for and by the United States Merchant Marine Cadet Corps.”

The colors on the front cover are primarily green, gray and white. There is a photograph of the Statue of Liberty from the water. It is a great, haunting photo.

The magazine contains numerous articles, black and white photos, as well as quite a few vintage ads from the period (include a color ad on the back cover). It measures approximately 9 x 12 inches and contains 56 pages.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy (also known as USMMA or Kings Point), one of the five United States service academies, is located in Kings Point, New York. It is charged with training officers for the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the military, and the transportation industry. Midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) are trained in marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.

Between 1874 and 1936, diverse federal legislation supported maritime training through school ships, internships at sea and other methods. A disastrous fire in 1934 aboard the passenger ship SS Morro Castle, in which 134 lives were lost, convinced the U.S. Congress that direct federal involvement in efficient and standardized training was needed.

Originally – and in cooperation with the State of New York (which donated the land) – the U.S. government planned to establish a large-scale Merchant Marine Academy at Fort Schuyler, New York; however, nothing came of these plans.

Congress passed the landmark Merchant Marine Act in 1936, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps was established in 1938. In that year, the USTS Nantucket (ex-USS Ranger) was transferred from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to Kings Point and renamed the USTS Emory Rice. The first training was given at temporary facilities until the academy's permanent site in Kings Point, New York was acquired in early 1942. The Kings Point campus was originally Walter Chrysler's 12-acre waterfront estate. Construction of the academy began immediately, and 15 months later the task was virtually completed. The academy was dedicated on September 30, 1943, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who noted "the Academy serves the Merchant Marine as West Point serves the Army and Annapolis the Navy."