Merchant Navy - A Brief History
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:55 pm
The title "Merchant Navy" was granted by King George V after the First World War, in recognition of the great contribution made by merchant sailors in support of the war effort.
Being and island, Britain relied heavily on merchant ships for bringing food and materials to these shores. Between both World Wars, the British Merchant Fleet was the largest in the world, the ships being crewed by over 200,000 sailors, many of whom came from all corners of the British Empire.
During both World Wars, the casualty list of merchant ships was enormous, with over 3,000 in the First and nearly 5,000 in the Second World Wars. Crews suffered badly too, with some 15,000 and 32,000 souls being lost in the respective wars.
During both wars, merchant ships were armed and were referred to as DAMS (Defensively Armed Merchant Ships) in the First World War and DEMS (Defensively Equiped Merchant Ships) in the Second World War. In the First World War it was initially stated that British merchant vessels were never armed for purposes of attack, but solely for defense, and they consequently never fired unless first fired upon. Guidance was later reviewed that "If a submarine is obviously pursuing a ship by day and it is evident to the master that she has hostile intentions, the ship pursued should open fire in self-defense, notwithstanding the submarine may not have committed a definite hostile act such as firing a gun or torpedo."
During the Second World War, many of the old naval guns kept in storage since 1918 were mounted on merchant ships. Most were low angle guns, which could be used against submarines. The merchant ships crews were supplemented by some 24,000 Royal Navy gunners and 14,000 soldiers from the Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment.
Post war, the size of the Merchant Navy has greatly reduced, with the decline of the British Empire, the rise of Flags of Convenience and increased foreign competition.
The Merchant Navy ship Milford Fisher arriving at Sunderland
Being and island, Britain relied heavily on merchant ships for bringing food and materials to these shores. Between both World Wars, the British Merchant Fleet was the largest in the world, the ships being crewed by over 200,000 sailors, many of whom came from all corners of the British Empire.
During both World Wars, the casualty list of merchant ships was enormous, with over 3,000 in the First and nearly 5,000 in the Second World Wars. Crews suffered badly too, with some 15,000 and 32,000 souls being lost in the respective wars.
During both wars, merchant ships were armed and were referred to as DAMS (Defensively Armed Merchant Ships) in the First World War and DEMS (Defensively Equiped Merchant Ships) in the Second World War. In the First World War it was initially stated that British merchant vessels were never armed for purposes of attack, but solely for defense, and they consequently never fired unless first fired upon. Guidance was later reviewed that "If a submarine is obviously pursuing a ship by day and it is evident to the master that she has hostile intentions, the ship pursued should open fire in self-defense, notwithstanding the submarine may not have committed a definite hostile act such as firing a gun or torpedo."
During the Second World War, many of the old naval guns kept in storage since 1918 were mounted on merchant ships. Most were low angle guns, which could be used against submarines. The merchant ships crews were supplemented by some 24,000 Royal Navy gunners and 14,000 soldiers from the Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment.
Post war, the size of the Merchant Navy has greatly reduced, with the decline of the British Empire, the rise of Flags of Convenience and increased foreign competition.
The Merchant Navy ship Milford Fisher arriving at Sunderland