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."