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50th Anniversary
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MSC: 50 Years Strong  
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MSC 50th Anniversary

This page is dedicated to providing information about Military Sealift Command's 50th anniversary celebrations. It will include items of interest, historical data and photos, schedules of upcoming events and other information related to MSC's 50th anniversary.

Historical Beginnings Military Sea Transportation Service

Military Sealift Command began in 1949 as the Military Sea Transportation Service. Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson issued a directive on August 2, 1949, establishing the organization "in order to provide, under one authority, control, operation and administration of ocean transportation . . . for all agencies or departments of the National Military Establishment (later to become the Department of Defense).

The command stood on October 1, 1949, with about 225 ships transferred from the U.S. Army (35 of them owned by the U.S. Maritime Commission) and about 95 ships transferred from the Navy Transportation Service (about 37 of them commissioned Navy ships).

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