The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War I efforts. The program ended on March 2, 1934.

The United States had a maritime position that had been eroding for decades with some congressional concern. Some remedies actually worsened the situation since European shipping companies dominated overseas trade, and just over 10% of the value of trade carried in American-owned ships. The 1916 Act was the result of congressional efforts to create a board to address the problem dating from 1914. The legislation was not then a part of any war effort with specific intent, as stated in the act:

A board of five commissioners was to be appointed by the US president with confirmation by the US Senate as the United States Shipping Board (USSB) to acquire and construct suitable vessels and to create corporations under its control to execute the programs. In essence, the board was given "complete control over American ships and shipping."

US President Woodrow Wilson made public his nominations for the board on December 22, 1916, with some dissatisfaction in the shipping industry about particular nominees and the board's power to set ocean freight rates raising particular concern and skepticism. The initial nominees were:

The members of the board gathered in Washington in the first week of January 1917 to plan and organize while they awaited confirmation, which came in late January. The board's formal organization was on January 30.

US vessels had suffered a disadvantage, and the laws passed by Congress had in some cases had the effect of giving advantage to European shipping, instead of the desired effect of making the country no longer heavily dependent on foreign shipping. With the outbreak of war in Europe, the national fleets of the warring countries became involved in those countries' wartime efforts and were withdrawn from commercial trade, which was vital to US commerce. One initial step was granting authority to the president to allow registration of foreign-built ships owned by US companies to enter the US registry and operate under the US flag and to repeal certain penalties for those using foreign-built vessels. The net effect was negligible as shipbuilding in the United States declined almost equally with the benefits gained.

The US entered the war just over two months after the board had begun its work, which completely changed its focus from generally strengthening the nation's maritime position to a massive wartime program. Though it was sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board, the official title remained the United States Shipping Board.

The board was to address the shortage of shipping through acquisition of existing hulls and, with the declaration of war by the United States on Germany on 6 April 1917, a construction program through its Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was created 16 April. The precedent for using such a corporation had been set during the construction of the Panama Canal during which the Panama Railway Company was charged with much of the construction and had its stock entirely owned by the US Secretary of War. The Shipping Act had explicitly empowered the board to found such a company, which was done with issuance of $50,000,000 in stock all initially held by the board; the majority portion had to be retained, and another provision required the trustees of the EFC to hold stock. During the war, Congress granted the president extraordinary wartime powers, which were used by means of Executive Orders to expand the board's authority and its corporation. The board, as a regulatory and policy body, executed its programs largely through the EFC, a separate entity that was fully under the policy control of the majority stockholder, the board. The Chairman of the USSB was initially the head of the EFC, but the General Manager had all real authority except the power to sign contracts.