ABSTRACT
Whether from a neutral or warring nation, the world’s merchant fleets found themselves involved in the war from the beginning. No nation could support its war effort with only its own merchant shipping, and even Britain, with the largest fleet in the world, was forced to see a quarter of its vital imports arriving in neutral ships. Subsequently, warring nations could ill afford to let neutral shipping work for the enemy; hence all vessels eventually became targets. The longest-serving merchant marine was that of Britain. The British merchant seaman was going to be at war for six full years, from nine hours after the start of hostilities in Europe, with the sinking of the liner Athenia, to the day of the Japanese surrender in the Pacific.
