History
The Merchant Navy has been in existence for a significant period in British history, owing much of its growth to British imperial expansion. As an entity in itself it can be dated back to the 17th century, where an attempt was made to register all seafarers as a source of labour for the Royal Navy during times of conflict. That registration of merchant seafarers failed, and it was not successfully implemented until 1835. The merchant fleet grew over successive years to become the world's foremost merchant fleet, benefiting considerably from trade with British possessions in India and the Far East. The lucrative trade in sugar, spices and tea (carried by ships such as the Cutty Sark) helped to solidify this dominance in the 19th century.
During the First and Second World Wars, the Merchant Service suffered heavy losses from German U-boat attacks. A policy of unrestricted warfare meant that merchant seafarers were also at risk of attack from enemy ships. The tonnage lost to U-boats during the First World War was around 7,759,090 tons, and around 14,661 merchant seafarers lost their lives. In honour of the sacrifice made by merchant seafarers during the First World War, King George V granted the title "Merchant Navy" to the service. The Prince of Wales was made the Master of the Merchant Navy.
In the Second World War, German U-boats sank nearly 14.7 million tons of allied shipping, which amounts to 2,828 ships (around two thirds of the total allied tonnage lost). The United Kingdom alone suffered the loss of 11.7 million tons, which is 54% of the total Merchant Navy fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War. 32,000 merchant seafarers were killed aboard convoy vessels during the war, but along with the Royal Navy, the convoys successfully imported enough supplies to allow an Allied victory.
In honour of the sacrifices made during the two World Wars, the Merchant Navy lays wreaths of remembrance alongside the armed forces during the annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November. Following many years of lobbying to bring about official recognition of the sacrifices made by merchant seafarers in two world wars and since, Merchant Navy Day became an official day of remembrance on 3 September 2000.
Despite maintaining its dominant position for considerable time, the decline of the British Empire in the mid-20th century inevitably led to the decline of the merchant fleet. This is shown in the following table, comparing certain vessel types in 1957 and 2008:
| Ship Type | 1957 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger vessels | 322 | 37 (including ROROs) |
| General cargo ships | 1,145 | 55 |
| Tankers | 575 | 88 |
| Total | 2042 | 180 |
As of 2005, the Merchant Navy consists of 429 ships of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over; a total of 9,181,284 GRT. This amounts to 9,566,275 metric tons deadweight (DWT). These vessels can be categorised as follows:
- 18 bulk carriers
- 55 general cargo ships
- 48 chemical tankers
- 134 container ships,
- 11 liquefied gas carriers
- 12 passenger ships
- 64 combination passenger/cargo ships
- 40 petroleum tankers
- 19 refrigerated cargo ships
- 25 roll-on/roll-off ships
- 3 vehicle carriers.
In addition, UK interests own 446 ships registered in other countries, and 202 foreign-owned ships are registered in the UK.
Read more about this topic: British Merchant Navy
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