on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. On several occasions in the postwar years ships in the reserve fleets were activated for both military and humanitarian aid missions. The last major mobilization of the NDRF came during the Vietnam War. Since then, a smaller fleet of ships called the Ready Reserve Force has been mobilized to support both humanitarian and military missions. SS United States The last major shipbuilding project undertaken by the Commission was to oversee the design and construction of the super passenger liner , which was intended to be both a symbol of American technological might and maritime predominance but also could be quickly converted into the world's fastest naval troop transport. Abolition The Maritime Commission was abolished on 24 May 1950, and its functions were divided between the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission which was responsible for regulating shipping trades and trade routes and the United States Maritime Administration, which was responsible for administering the construction and operating subsidy programs, maintaining NDRF, and operating the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy which had been built and opened during World War II and which continues to be funded and operated today as one of the five Federal Service Academies. Timeline 1936: Merchant Marine Act abolishes Shipping Board and establishes Maritime Commission. 1937: Joseph P. Kennedy appointed by President Roosevelt as the first head of the Maritime Commission 1938: Maritime Commission authorizes large merchant fleet 1940: Maritime Commission agrees to build 60 Ocean class merchant ships for the British Ministry of War Transportation. 1941 Beginning of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program 1942: The War Shipping Administration was established 1942: The United States Coast Guard takes over Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation 1942: United States Merchant Marine Academy opens at Kings Point, Long Island, New York 1942: Maine Merchant Marine Academy, later named Maine Maritime Academy, opens in Castine, Maine 1950: Functions of Maritime Commission transferred to Department of Commerce and MARAD, United States Maritime Administration See also Responsibility for U.S. merchant shipping has been held by many agencies since 1917. For a history, see: United States Shipping Board United States Merchant Marine U.S. Merchant Marine Academy War Shipping Administration United States Maritime Administration World War II United States Merchant Navy References Ships for Victory: A History of Shipbuilding under the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II, by Frederic C. Lane. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1950. External links History of the