[4] Heavily utilized during World War II, the USMS was largely dissolved in 1954, and its resources were absorbed into other federal departments.

By law, the U.S. Maritime Service's rank structure must be the same as that of the U.S. Coast Guard,[6] but uniforms worn are those of the U.S. Navy with distinctive USMS insignia and devices.

Merchant Marine Academy are required to report annually to the Maritime Administration to comply with their service obligations.

At the request of Congress, the chairman of the Maritime Commission, VADM Emory S. Land worked with ADM Russell R. Waesche, Commandant of the Coast Guard, to formulate a training program for merchant-marine personnel.

It used a combination of civilian Maritime Commission and uniformed Coast Guard instructors to advance the professional training of merchant mariners.

As with the other military services, the entry of the United States into the Second World War necessitated the immediate growth of the merchant marine and the Coast Guard.

The Maritime Service was later transferred to another agency, while marine inspection and licensing continued to be Coast Guard missions.

When World War II loomed, the Maritime Commission began a crash shipbuilding program utilizing every available resource.

It was written by Lieutenant Jack Lawrence (a co-writer of "All or Nothing at All" and English language lyricist of "Beyond the Sea" who ultimately served as the president of ASCAP) while he was assigned as the bandleader of the Sheepshead Bay Maritime Service Training Station in Brooklyn, New York.

Pay was based on the person's highest certified position in merchant service, and new students received cadet wages.

Thousands of the sailors who crewed the new American merchant fleet trained under the watchful eyes of the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard only continued the administration of the Maritime Service for ten months after the United States entered the war.

The transfer allowed the Coast Guard to take a more active role in the war and concentrated government administration of the merchant marine in one agency.

For the Maritime Service, the device shows an eagle perched on a silver shield of different design bearing a gold anchor.