In 1938, when a second World War was imminent, President Roosevelt realized that winning the war would require many ships to carry war supplies to the fronts. He ordered mass-production of Liberty ships and established the U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) to train the men needed to operate these ships. USMS web site has lots of info, all of the schools and more. I got my basic training at Avalon. Bill http://www.usmm.org/usms.html In the Bay Area Liberty ships were built at Richmond and tankers at Marin ship, north of Sausalito. A tanker from there was my first ship.