The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was established by the United States Shipping Board, sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board, on 16 April 1917 pursuant to the Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729) to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant ships to meet national defense, foreign and domestic commerce during World War I. The Shipping Board had been established while the United States was at peace, with the intent to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. That changed with war. In the words of Edward N. Hurley, Chairman of the Board: When the United States declared war against Germany the whole purpose and policy of the Shipping Board and the Fleet Corporation suffered a radical change overnight. From a body established to restore the American Merchant Marine to its old glory, the Shipping Board was transformed into a military agency to bridge the ocean with ships and to maintain the line of communication between America and Europe. Conceived as an instrumentality of peace, the Board became an instrumentality of war. Unlike other military agencies—the Army and Navy—it began with nothing—no ships, no officers, no crews, no organizations. Ten days after the declaration of war the Emergency Fleet Corporation was established in response to those wartime requirements. The EFC was renamed the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation in February 1927, then abolished entirely in October 1936. Its functions were transferred to the United States Maritime Commission. Origin On 2 April 1917 President Woodrow Wilson cited Germany's refusal to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean in his request for a declaration of war on Germany, and Congress concurred on 2 April 1917. In that April 1,250,000 deadweight tons were sunk, with 122 ocean-going ships sunk in the first two weeks after that declaration of war. British losses in that period equaled an average round-trip voyage loss of 25%. Allied losses before U.S. entry had already been that heavy that construction in yards outside the U.S. was unable to sustain current losses. Congress had rejected previous attempts to create a shipping board to manage U.S. maritime affairs, beginning with bills introduced as early in the war as 4 September 1914. President Wilson repeatedly requested enactment of a shipping act until Representative Joshua W. Alexander introduced House Bill 15455 that became law as the Shipping Act of 1916 (39 Stat. L. 728). That act established the United States Shipping Board