2012 US Code
Title 50 - War and National Defense
Appendix (§§ 1 - 2420)
SALE OF SURPLUS WAR-BUILT VESSELS (§§ 1735 - 1746)
ACT MAR. 8, 1946, CH. 82, 60 STAT. 41 (§§ 1735 - 1746)
Section 1735 - Declaration of policy

(a) It is necessary for the national security and development and maintenance of the domestic and the export and import foreign commerce of the United States that the United States have an efficient and adequate American-owned merchant marine (1) sufficient to carry its domestic water-borne commerce and a substantial portion of its water-borne export and import foreign commerce and to provide shipping service on all routes essential for maintaining the flow of such domestic and foreign water-borne commerce at all times; (2) capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency; (3) owned and operated under the United States flag by citizens of the United States; (4) composed of the best-equipped, safest, and most suitable types of vessels, constructed in the United States and manned with a trained and efficient citizen personnel; and (5) supplemented by efficient American-owned facilities for shipbuilding and ship repair, marine insurance, and other auxiliary services.

(b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act [sections 1735 to 1746 of this Appendix] to foster the development and encourage the maintenance of such a merchant marine.

(Mar. 8, 1946, ch. 82, §2, 60 Stat. 41.)

Act Mar. 8, 1946, ch. 82, §1, 60 Stat. 41, provided that: “This Act [enacting this section and sections 1736 to 1746 of this Appendix] may be cited as the ‘Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946’.”

Act Mar. 8, 1946, ch. 82, §14, 60 Stat. 50, as amended June 28, 1947, ch. 161, §1, 61 Stat. 190; Feb. 27, 1948, ch. 78, §1(a), 62 Stat. 38; Feb. 28, 1949, ch. 12, 63 Stat. 9; June 29, 1949, ch. 281, §1, 63 Stat. 349; June 30, 1950, ch. 427, §1, 64 Stat. 308; Aug. 17, 1950, ch. 725, 64 Stat. 452, provided that: “No contract of sale shall be made under this Act [sections 1735 to 1746 of this Appendix] after January 15, 1951, and no contract of charter shall be made under this Act [sections 1735 to 1746 of this Appendix] after June 30, 1950, except as provided for charter under subsections (e) and (f) of section 5 hereof, as amended [section 1738(e), (f) of this Appendix].”

Act Sept. 28, 1950, ch. 1093, §3, 64 Stat. 1078, provided: “Contracts for the sale of vessels for exclusive use on the Great Lakes, including the Saint Lawrence River and Gulf and their connecting waterways, may be made until December 31, 1950. Such contracts shall require that transfer to the Great Lakes of such vessels by the buyers shall be completed by December 31, 1951.”