Bow123 Posted 31 December , 2008 Share Posted 31 December , 2008 Hello, does anyone know what the strength of the Merchant Navy was during WWI? Many thanks Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 31 December , 2008 Share Posted 31 December , 2008 Hi Roger, How are you defining 'strength'? Of course, it would vary somewhat over the course of the war, especially during periods of unrestricted submarine warfare, etc. What info do you need? -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharley Posted 31 December , 2008 Share Posted 31 December , 2008 I can tell you offhand that some 5,000 Merchant Navy ships were sunk and 15,000 merchant mariners killed during the war. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ionia Posted 31 December , 2008 Share Posted 31 December , 2008 Hello, does anyone know what the strength of the Merchant Navy was during WWI? Without knowing exactly what you require, the Gross Steam and Motor tonnage of the British Empire at the outbreak of war was 21,045,000 tons (representing about 48% of World tonnage) . New construction, captures, purchases and transfers during the war totalled 6,679,000 tons. War losses and transfers were 9,763,000 tons. At the time of the Armistice the tonnage was 17,961,000. (Source: Fayle "Seaborne Trade"). At the beginning of the war there were some 170,000 men of British birth employed in the Mercantile Marine and 100,000 men employed in fishing around the coast of the UK. (Source: Hurd "The Merchant Navy"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow123 Posted 1 January , 2009 Author Share Posted 1 January , 2009 Hello, thanks for the replies.I am interested in how many men served in the merchant navy actually during the war, for example how many were serving in 1915 and then later in the war in say 1917?Also,was the merchant navy a combination of the mercantile navy and the fishing fleet, or did the latter join the Royal navy? Thanks for any more info. Regards Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 1 January , 2009 Share Posted 1 January , 2009 A simplistic explanation is that the Mercantile Marine (the description usually used at the time) was a combination of all sea going personnel and vessels not part of the Royal Navy. During the war both merchant shipping and fishing vessels were hired into the RN and many were taken into the RN the Royal Naval Reserve, Mercantile Marine Reserve and other services. How many of those do you want to exclude? In 1914 the fishing fleet was part of the Mercantile Marine, but in 1917 the remainder were taken into the RNR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow123 Posted 1 January , 2009 Author Share Posted 1 January , 2009 Hello, thanks for the replies.I am basically trying to establish how many men would have served with the merchant navy only during the war i.e they did not get absorbed into the Royal Navy!? Cheers Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharley Posted 1 January , 2009 Share Posted 1 January , 2009 One can't quite make a distinction between either Royal Navy or Merchant Navy because there would have been a large number of officers and men in the Merchant service who were members of the Royal Naval Reserve as well. I will do as Ionia has done and have a look in Fayle and Hurd. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 1 January , 2009 Share Posted 1 January , 2009 Unfortunately the registration records for merchant seamen have not survived pre 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 2 January , 2009 Share Posted 2 January , 2009 A total of 133,135 'Mercantile Marine' medals were awarded for service during WW1. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 6 January , 2009 Share Posted 6 January , 2009 Thanks Charles, that's a good starting point however; as it was one of the few WWI medals that needed to be claimed rather than was issued, not all men of the Mercantile Marine applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 6 January , 2009 Share Posted 6 January , 2009 And I don't suppose there is a list of those that didn't claim............so would only be a guess then? Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmania Posted 6 January , 2009 Share Posted 6 January , 2009 According to the Abstract of Labour Statistics, in 1913 there were 212,570 British born seamen employed on British ships in the Home (including Fishing) and Foreign Trades and there were a further 32,639 foreign born seamen. I'm not sure if figures are available for the number that remained in the MN during the war years as opposed to those who were RNR etc. Aled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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