12 - The Second World War

Summary

The Effect of the War on British Shipping

With the outbreak of war in September 1939, British shipping became subject to progressive degrees of control. This was essential in order to safeguard the nation's supplies of food and raw materials and, unlike the situation during the First World War, the imposition of control was a very rapid process. Very briefly, the government immediately requisitioned those ships it required for specific purposes as soon as hostilities began. Then in November 1939 it created the Ships Licensing Committee for Overseas Voyages. This body had the task of licensing ships for particular trades, but it only operated for a few weeks, because in December an order was made for the general requisitioning of all British ships. The government then possessed complete authority over the allocation of shipping space, but the particular conditions of each trade were not overlooked and varying degrees of freedom were given to shipping lines to organise their resources in accordance with the peculiar requirements of their own services.

Within the framework of overall control, therefore, the British shipping firms were instructed to act in concert with the other companies that normally operated on the same route. Thus, subject to the exigencies of war, shipping lines were encouraged to maintain their former services, and because of the special knowledge and experience which each firm had in the conduct of its own trade, this proved to be very much in the national interest.

It was fortunate that such an efficient system was adopted at the beginning of hostilities, for the Second World War proved to be an even more testing period for the British mercantile marine than the First World War. During the years from 1939 to 1945 the Merchant Navy lost over 33,000 men. This was more than double the number of seamen killed and missing in the Great War. Losses of British and Commonwealth vessels also increased and rose from less than eight to nearly twelve million gross tons.