Jack Kammerer, MPA, MMAS

Executive Director Maritime Administration/MARAD  U.S. Department of Transportation      Mr. Gregory “Jack” Kammerer, a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), is the Executive Director of the Maritime Administration (MARAD). As the senior career, SES...

USS CHANDELEUR

U.S. Maritime Commission type C3-S1-B1

One of the many variations on the standard C3 design, USS Chandeleur (AV-10), was a seaplane tender, the only vessel of its type. Several earlier seaplane tenders had been constructed from converted C3 hulls, but only Chandeleur...

SS PRESIDENT WILSON

U.S. Maritime Commission type P2-SE2-R3

The most efficient means to transport large groups of people, even into the 1970s, was the troop transport ships, which were a key part of the U.S. Maritime Commission’s shipbuilding program.  The commission built transport-oriented subtypes...

SS UNITED STATES

U.S. Maritime Commission/Maritime Administration type P6-S4-DS1

In June 1952, SS United States became the final U.S. Maritime Commission vessel to be delivered, nearly two years after the agency ceased to exist.  Operated by U.S. Lines, United States had a 17-...

Ocean-going tug

U.S. Maritime Commission type V4-M-A1

The Maritime Commission’s V4 tug, with a length of 194 feet, displacement of 1,613 tons, and capable of a speed of 14 knots (6 knots towing), were among the largest and most powerful tugs in the world when they were built. Two diesel engines...

Coastal Tanker

U.S. Maritime Commission type T1-M-A1

The T1 was a small “coastal” gasoline tanker designed to be used either by the military (mostly sub-type A2) or transferred to the British Ministry of War Transport as part of the Lend-Lease program (mostly sub-type A1). The two sub-types were very...

Escort Carrier

U.S. Maritime Commission type S4-S2-BB3

Before the United States even entered World War II, the U.S. Maritime Commission participated in the Allies’ desperate chase for aircraft carrier superiority. Planners were learning that military air cover was a crucial component of convoy...

USS CIMARRON (AO-22)

U.S. Maritime Commission type T3-S2-A1

From 1934-1942 the U.S. Maritime Commission focused on mainly building dry cargo carriers to replace the aging and slow World War I-era vessels that made up the majority of the U.S. cargo fleet. The commission refrained from constructing tankers...

Victory Ship

U.S. Maritime Commission design type VC2-S-AP2

The Victory ship was 445 feet long with a capacity of 10,850 deadweight tons, slightly more than its forerunner the Liberty ship. Most importantly, the vessel was capable of a speed of just over 15 knots, which put it in the same class as...

N3-S-A1 Type

The Maritime Commission designed this coastal cargo ship to be used by the British Ministry of War Transport and all 36 built were transferred to that country as part of the Lend-Lease program. The vessels were among the smallest self-propelled cargo ships produced by the U.S. Maritime...