The Republic of Korea Navy was established as the Marine Defense Group on November 11, 1945. After Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan on August 15, 1945, Sohn Won-yil, a former merchant mariner and son of the Methodist minister and independence activist Sohn Jung-do, organized the Marine Defense Group in Seoul. The Group formed the Korean Coast Guard and Coast Guard Academy at Jinhae, and the Korean Coast Guard acquired 36 patrol boats (mainly ex-IJN and USN minecraft) through the United States Army Military Government in Korea. After the South Korean government government was established on August 15, 1948, the Korean Coast Guard became the Republic of Korea Navy, and Sohn was appointed as the first Chief of Naval Operations of the ROK Navy. On April 15, 1949, the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) was founded at Jinhae.