ABSTRACT
An important, but often ignored, issue in Anglo-American maritime relations in the 1930s was each nation's attitude towards the other's merchant marine. As competing economic and commercial rivals, both countries looked at their merchant marines as a vital element in their overall effort to win such a contest. Laden with powerful historical precedents that permeated the very fabric of each nation's identity, and, dealing with the financial concerns of powerful contemporary special interest groups (shipowners, shipbuilders, labour, and organizations such as the Navy League), the comparative strength of each nation's merchant marine was a contentious issue that had to be overcome if better relations between the two were to be constructed.1 At the very least, Britain and the United States would have to agree to disagree on merchant marine matters lest those differences create ill-will that would complicate more significant matters.
