The United States Merchant Marine Academy (also known as USMMA or Kings Point) is one of the five United States Service academies. It is charged with training officers for the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the military, or the transportation industry. Midshipmen (as students at the Academy are called) are trained in marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship. Between 1874 and 1936, diverse federal legislation supported maritime training through schoolships, internships at sea and other methods. A disastrous fire in 1934 aboard the passenger ship SS Morro Castle, in which 134 lives were lost, convinced the U.S. Congress that direct federal involvement in efficient and standardized training was needed. Originally in co-operation with the State of New York (which donated the land) the US government was going to establish on a large scale a Merchant Marine Academy at Fort Schuyler New York, but nothing came of these plans. Congress passed the landmark Merchant Marine Act in 1936, and two years later, the U.S.