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THE SHIPPING PROBLEM
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Has Germany sufficient tonnage of her own to carry six Army Corps and their equipment across the North Sea? That is the second question to which we must find an answer. Her total ocean tonnage is 2,300,000 gross,[1] one-third of which is estimated to be in foreign ports, one-third on the sea, and the remaining 766,666 tons in home waters; but, practically, none of this third would be ready for use; many vessels would be loading or unloading; some just arriving, some ready to weigh anchor, some in dock being overhauled, a few even stripped and undergoing a thorough examination of their boilers and machinery.[2] Of course there are always
- ↑ L. G. Chiozza Money, M.P.
- ↑ "A liner arriving at her home port is forthwith taken in hand in preparation for her next trip, which involves much labour. Her machinery is all opened out for examination and adjustment, her boilers are emptied and overhauled, her tubes swept, her coal-bunkers replenished, her bottom surfaces cleansed and coated with composition in dry dock. In the majority of cases her crew are discharged while she is in port, and do not sign on again till she is ready for sea."—" Invasion from the Nautical Standpoint," by "Master Mariner," Contemporary Review for March 191 1, p. 280.
