ABSTRACT
The main outlines of US maritime policy during World War I were shaped by two critical factors: the policies and perceptions developed over the years prior to the war and the programs brought about by the war experience itself. The maritime enterprises decried the administration's impetuosity and argued the need for patient and planned growth. While America's World War I shipping program appeared on a downward beat in 1921, the maritime accomplishments of the Woodrow Wilson administration generated much pride. In 1917-1918, the Shipping Board had put together a monstrous wartime fleet which transported men and equipment to the European front and carried on critical global trades for the materials required to conduct the war. The Shipping Act also exempted American shipping companies from corporate income and excess profits taxes, provided that the money saved was invested in the construction of new vessels in American shipyards.
