usmc-cc 1938-1941

u.s. maritime commission cadet corps 1938-1941

The United States Maritime Commission Cadet Corps was established on 14 July 1938 with initial input planned from two groups: cadet officers and cadets. The former were State Nautical School graduates who were to join the Cadet Corps for supplemental training in the trade; the latter was to be mainly candidates from states that lacked nautical schools and wished for a career at sea. Upon the dissolution of the “Mail Cadet” program, enrollees had the option of applying for a cadetship as a cadet officer.

At the Cadet Corps’ inception, there were nine (9) cadet officers and no cadets. After a nationwide call, April 1939 saw 659 individuals apply for a cadetship; of those, 450 were qualified to sit for exams, and by October 196 cadets enrolled. At the same time, there were 105 cadet officers accepted into the Cadet Officer program, bringing cadet officers to 118.

The insignia of the United States Maritime Commission Cadet Corps (USMC-CC) before 1942 loosely followed the rubric set out by New York State Merchant Marine Academy: shoulder boards with an institutional symbol derived from the Academy’s cap badge and a program identifier; a cap badge derived the state seal; and, class indicators denoted by strips of oblique braid. In the Cadet Corps’ case, they used the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) shield – a central element of their parent Federal agency’s visual identity – on shoulder boards; yet, cadet officers wore a cap badge with an eagle and the USMC shield (as did training cadre) – this is detailed in u.s. merchant marine cadet corps 1942-1943. As for continuity with its predecessor, the U.S. Department of Commerce cadet badge was abandoned on the cap but was retained “in the spirit” in the form of program identifiers found on cadet service coat lapels.

Descriptions of insignia and guidance for their wear is included in Regulations for the Training of Cadet Officers and Cadets as cited in Cadetships in the Merchant Marine of the United States, a publication of the USMC from 1939. This key resource is missing from the public record.

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1938-1940

Caps & Cap Devices

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Deck and Engineering cadets wore a combination cap with a woven anchor as a cap badge. The anchor on the cadet cap badge is an element taken from the Cadet Corps training cadre’s cap badge; the same anchor was abstracted as a program identifier as indicated below.

Cadet officers do not appear to have a specific cap badge during this period; a single photograph shows a cadet officer wearing a steamship company cap.

Aviation Cadet or Garrison Cap

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Photographs from 1940 indicate cadets wore aviation cadet-style caps – (which came to be called garrison caps in later years). This cap came in two styles: piping only on the left side of the cap or all around the edges . The caps bore no insignia. The context of the piping is unknown; it could represent preliminary and advanced cadets – although this is purely speculative.

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Cadet Program Identifiers

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Program identifiers of a fouled anchor and three-bladed screw propeller were the symbols of Deck and Engineering cadets, respectively. From 1939-1940, they were worn as collar dogs on service coat lapels, and unlike New York Maritime Academy, they were not present on shoulder boards. Cadet officers did not wear program identifiers. For a brief period, program identifiers came as stamped-metal devices, but this format was abandoned for woven badges – probably due to issues with verdigris staining wool.

Shoulder Boards

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Photographs and artifacts attest to both cadets and cadet officers wearing shoulder boards with a gold 7/8″ United States Maritime Commission shield; cadet officers had an additional gold braid of 1/4″. It is worth noting that an image from 1939 shows both a cadet and cadet officer messing together, with their shoulder boards had stars in the place of the USMC shield.

The photograph above was taken aboard the Moore-McCormack Lines operated American Republics Line “Good Neighbor Fleet” SS Uruguay in 1939. A later photograph from 1940 shows a cadet from New York Merchant Marine Academy assigned to the same ship wearing his school’s insignia – taken with the photograph above, this suggests that USMC-CC cadets at one time wore shoulder boards with stars, and were not given them by the steamship company.

Uniform Coat

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In the 1939 regulations, all uniforms were of U.S. Navy (and U.S. Naval Academy) cut. This is evident in that the service coat had six, as opposed eight buttons worn by nautical school cadets; Naval midshipmen service coats became six-button in 1939 or thereabouts. USMC-CC cadets wear of six-button coats may have been a practical measure as cadets were to:

Meaning, it would be far more expedient to procure standard uniforms than attempt to get a uniform worn by only a few.

Regulations also specified cadets purchase khaki coats, although, I have only come across a couple of photographs with the entire complement of the training staff wearing them with cadets shown mostly in khaki shirts; an obscured view of the khaki coats is here. Since Cadet Officers were only attached to Cadet Schools between orders, it is conceivable they wore khaki coats, but I have not seen evidence either supporting or to the contrary of them wearing the coat. The cut remained the same throughout the pre and during the war years – U.S. Navy with bellows pockets (illustrated is a United States Maritime Service CPO coat). As in U.S. Navy style, cadets wore shoulder boards with the coat.

Collar Devices & Pins

Insignia on an officer’s shirt collars was a novel innovation for the U.S. Navy. Previously, officers relied solely upon caps and epaulets to mark their rank as well as with subtle differentiation in uniform; the new devices enabled an officer to be identified as such while they were working in ship compartments alongside their reports without a cap or coat. The Cadet Corps readily adopted this novel means of identification.

In the context of collar devices and pins, the Cadet Corps wore them only on their khaki shirts – it is possible these pins were worn on dungaree shirts; however photograph evidence is lacking.

A photograph shows U.S.M.C. badges being worn on both collar tips of the khaki shirt.

Badges

Thus far, there is no evidence USMC-CC cadets wore or were authorized to wear breast badges on their uniforms from 1938-1940; some did wear scholastic ribbons.

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Summer 1941 – January 1942

The concept of three classes of cadets is noted in a period publication and the visual record in mid-1941. This was reflected by subtle changes in Cadet Corps insignia until its renovation the following year. Unfortunately, I am unable to certify cadet officer uniforms and insignia; it is assumed cadet officer configuration remained unchanged since its organization was relatively apart from cadets as their training occurred afloat.

Complete cap and cap devices as well as program identifiers remained unchanged between 1939 and 1941. All cadets wore the same insigne on their khaki shirts. A major innovation was program identifiers appearing on cadet shoulder boards, insignia placement on garrison caps, and the introduction of the U.S.N.R. badge for non-preliminary cadets.

Aviation Cadet or Garrison Cap

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In 1941, cadets wore three variations of the garrison cap; each had piping all around – presumably dark blue:

• USMC shield on a dark medallion with a light border (left side of cap)
• USMC initials; the same pin as worn on the collar (left side of cap)
• Cap with no additional adornments

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The insigne with a USMC shield is positively identified as being worn by an “advanced” cadet – that is an individual who is no longer in the “preliminary” stage; conditions for passage from one to the other are unknown. The status of a cadet wearing a cap with no adornments is thus far unknown.

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Shoulder Boards

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USMC-CC placed program identifiers on shoulder boards during the summer of 1941. The Cadet (and not the Cadet Officer) program abandoned the USMC shield on shoulder boards; the shield moved to the cuff.

Uniform Coats

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A minor change on the blue service coat is the addition of a gold 7/8″ United States Maritime Commission shield underneath the class stripe on the right sleeve; prior to 1941, the cuff was bare. The left sleeve remained unadorned. Those cadets who undertook weapons and Naval Science courses wore the U.S.N.R. badge on uniforms.

Badges

Cadets de facto wore the U.S.N.R. badge by virtue of their training, but not by the de jure status of being members of the Merchant Marine Reserve; this status was defined in October 1942.

The badge had the eagle facing the viewer’s right up until May 1941. It came in two formats: stamped metal pin and embroidered badge. The pin was worn only on the khaki and white uniform; the embroidered badge could be worn on all three: blue service, khaki coat, and white. The collection of insignia below hints at cadets wearing the badge well before May 1941.

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Artifacts

Cap Device

Shoulder Boards

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This collection of shoulder boards offers an interesting story in terms of USMC-CC insignia’s timeline. The USMC-CC cadet boards from 1941 have left-facing eagles – this change in eagle configuration was mandated in May 1941 – meaning the USMC shield shoulder board was worn as late as summer 1941.

Insignia

The above illustrates the full complement of insignia worn by a Cadet in the USMC-CC and later as a Cadet-Midshipman under the jurisdiction of the War Shipping Administration. The style of the U.S.N.R. badge indicates it was issued prior to May 1941; USMC-CC had no written provision for its wear until January 1942. For a brief period in 1941, section numbers appeared on the collar and cap. Altogether, all hint to the owner being a member of the Cadet Corps from early 1941.

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Collection Entries

Collection, United States Maritime Commission Cadet Corps Cadet, 1941