ping industry at a time when freights were still high, and so substantial prices were bid. A very different situation existed when the ex-German ships allotted to this country were offered to British shipowners, again through the medium of Lord Inchcape. Severe depression had, by then, fallen on the shipping industry, and the absorption of the ships, many of which were not of attractive type to British owners, was a very slow matter.
Replying to a question in the House of Commons on May 24 1921, Sir Robert Horne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stated that 202 ex-enemy ships allotted to the British Empire for final ownership had been sold, and that 85 merchant ships and 22 trawlers remained unsold. The gross amount realized was £14,523,074. From this gross total there fell to be deducted expenses of repair, delivery, etc., and a considerable part of the purchase money was payable in instalments over a period of years. The net cash then passing was £6,500,000.
War Services of the Mercantile Marine.—All the classes of British ships which form a great mercantile marine rendered services of immense value to the Allies during the war. Merchant vessels, in comparison with warships, were once described as being mere cockleshells, yet their crews faced the hidden dangers of mine and torpedo without flinching. The persistent reduction of the British mercantile marine which proceeded was a matter of extreme gravity to the Allies. Experience showed that the losses of the large and fast liners were, in every way, more formidable than those of the ordinary cargo vessels. When at last the United Kingdom, enthusiastically supported by the United States, bent energies on the construction of merchant vessels, it was the simple cargo steamers that were built. In both countries the plan of building simple vessels of standard type was adopted. Everything that was complicated was ruled out. Straight lines were substituted for curves, and parts were produced in great numbers, so that identical ships could be built rapidly. In the United States the principle of standard construction was carried further than in England. There, steel works, which had never undertaken shipbuilding work before, produced shapes and angles for ships, and the assembling of the parts was carried out by bridge builders and other steel workers who had had no previous experience of shipbuilding. In England fabrication on somewhat similar lines was planned in connexion with the new shipyards on the river Wye, of which control was assumed by the Government, but these plans did not begin to show their full effect until the conclusion of the war made such methods no longer necessary. While, in a case of emergency, a good case could be established for building cargo vessels in mass production, like Ford motor-cars, there was no similar way of building the large liners. In the height of the crisis and, indeed, throughout the war, the building of such vessels yielded place to the need for carriers of food and munitions. Yet the duties devolving on the liners steadily increased. At first a comparatively small number were requisitioned to serve as merchant cruisers, patrol vessels, hospital ships, and transports. The Dardanelles campaign made heavy demands on this type of vessel, and, later, the Salonika expedition. The climax was reached when, in the spring, summer and autumn of 1918 every possible ship that could be provided was needed to transport American troops. Liners were withdrawn from every British service and vessels never intended for such work were put into the N. Atlantic route. It was indeed fortunate for the nation that a large mercantile marine was in existence at the outbreak of war, and the magnificent services of some of the greatest ships will be always remembered.
Of all the crimes committed by Germany at sea, the destruction of the “Lusitania” on May 7 1915 remains the outstanding example. The liner was torpedoed near the Old Head of Kinsale, when 1,195 persons were drowned, including 291 women and 9 children. Represented in tonnage alone this loss was exceeded by the “Britannic,” sunk in the Aegean Sea on Nov. 21 1916, by submarine or mine, while employed as a hospital ship. The “Britannic,” uncompleted on the outbreak of war, was of 48,158 tons and was the largest White Star liner. The “Lusitania,” built in 1907, was of 31,550 tons.
Splendid service was performed by the sister ship “Mauretania.” At first she was employed in the ordinary trans-Atlantic service, where her speed was of great importance in view of possible attacks by German cruisers. In June 1915 she flew the White Ensign, conveying troops to Mudros for the Gallipoli campaign. Four months later she became a hospital ship. In Dec. 1916 she again became a troopship and brought Canadian troops to this country. Early in 1918 she became an armed cruiser, but was soon engaged in bringing American troops to Europe. She also carried many distinguished passengers whose urgent duties made it necessary for them to cross the Atlantic. Fine service was also rendered by the Cunard liner “Aquitania,” of 45,600 tons. Only three round voyages between Liverpool and New York had been made by this great ship before the war. At once she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and was commissioned as a merchant cruiser, leaving Liverpool in this capacity four days after the outbreak of war. She became a transport later and carried 30,000 troops to the Dardanelles; then she became a hospital ship and as such carried 25,000 men. Early in 1918 she was refitted as a transport, and in nine voyages carried 60,000 American troops. The liner was extremely useful in repatriating troops after the Armistice, and in the spring of 1921, in the middle of the shipping depression, had the reputation of being the only ship afloat that was earning any money. Besides carrying large numbers of saloon passengers, she was eminently fitted for the transport of emigrants, of whom she carried enormous numbers from the Continent.
The “Carmania,” well known as a Cunard liner before the war, distinguished herself by sinking the German merchant cruiser “Cap Trafalgar” in a duel. The “Laconia,” another Cunard liner, shared in the operations in the Rufiji river, East Africa, when the German cruiser “Königsberg” was sunk. Besides the “Lusitania,” the Cunard Co. lost the following vessels:—the “Caria,” “Veria” (1915), “Franconia,” “Alaunia” (1916), “Ivernia,” “Lycia,” “Folia,” “Trachia,” “Feltria,” “Ultonia,” “Volodia,” “Vinovia” (1917), “Andania,” “Valeria,” “Aurania,” “Ansonia,” “Vandalia,” “Carpathia,” “Flavia” and “Ascania” (1918). These represented extremely serious losses, and after the Armistice the company put in hand an extensive programme of construction. Unfortunately the cost of building was then on a very high level.
Losses of the White Star Line were also serious and included, besides the “Britannic,” the “Oceanic,” “Arabic,” “Laurentic,” “Cymric,” “Afric,” “Georgic,” “Cedric” and “Delphic.” Shortly after the outbreak of war, the “Oceanic,” “Teutonic,” “Cedric,” “Celtic” and “Laurentic” were commissioned as armed cruisers. The “Laurentic” was sunk by submarine off the coast of Ireland in Jan. 1917, while carrying gold, of which a substantial proportion was recovered in salvage operations after the Armistice. The “Teutonic,” built in 1889, and one of the most famous of the White Star liners, was subsequently acquired by the Government and was later publicly offered for sale. Services of immense value were rendered by the “Olympic” of 46,439 tons. She was employed in carrying troops to Gallipoli and in bringing, first, Canadian troops, then Chinese labour battalions, and, finally, American troops to Europe. Her war record included that of transporting more than 200,000 persons during the period, including the wives and families of Canadian soldiers returning to Canada after the war. Among her special services were the rescue of the company of the super-dreadnought battleship “Audacious,” sunk by a mine off the N. coast of Ireland, and the ramming of a large German submarine in the English Channel in May 1918.
Several of the ships of the allied company, the Atlantic Transport Co., were employed in the transport of troops. These included the liners “Minneapolis,” “Minnesota,” “Minnewaska,” “Minnetonka,” “Marquette,” “Manitou,” “Menominee,” “Missouri” and “Maryland.” Besides carrying troops, the vessels of the Atlantic Transport Co. carried large numbers of horses and mules, for which service the vessels were especially suitable. The losses of the line, representing 24,100 tons, or 43% of the fleet, included all the regular passenger liners which were most favourably known in the trade between London and New York.
