President
Benjamin Harrison, Annual Message to Congress, 1892
The United States has been paying an enormous annual tribute to foreign
countries in the shape of freight and passage money. The balance of trade
as shown by the books of our custom houses has been largely reduced, and
in many years altogether extinguished by this constant drain. I have felt,
and have before expressed the feeling, that this condition of things was
both intolerable and disgraceful.
President Benjamin Harrison,
Annual Message to Congress, 1889
There is nothing more justly humiliating to the national pride and nothing
more hurtful to the national prosperity than the inferiority of our merchant
marine compared with that of other nations whose general resources, wealth
and seacoast lines do not suggest any reason for their supremacy upon
the sea. That the great steamship lines sailing under the flags of England,
France, Germany, Spain and Italy, were promoted and have since been and
now are liberally aided by grants of public money is generally known.
I am an advocate of economy in our national expenditure, but it is a misuse
of terms to make this word describe a policy that withholds an expenditure
for the purpose of extending our foreign commerce. The enlarged participation
of our people in the carrying trade, the new and increased markets that
will be opened for the products of our farms and factories, and the fuller
and better employment of our mechanics which will result from a liberal
promotion of our foreign commerce, insure the widest possible diffusion
of benefit to all the states and to all our people.
President Grover Cleveland, Annual Message
to Congress, 1894
The millions now paid to foreigners for carrying American passengers and
products across the sea should be turned into American hands.
President William McKinley, Annual Message to
Congress, 1899
Our national development will be one-sided and unsatisfactory so long as
the remarkable growth of our inland industries remains un-accompanied by
progress upon the seas. There is no lack of constitutional authority for
legislation which shall give to this country maritime strength commensurate
with its industrial achievements and with its rank among the nations of
the earth.
President William McKinley,
speech at the Pan-American Exposition, September 5, 1901, Buffalo, New York
[his last public speech]
Our capacity to produce has developed so enormously, and our products have
so multiplied, that the problem of more markets requires our urgent and
immediate attention. By sensible trade arrangements, which will not interrupt
our home production, we shall extend the outlets for our ever increasing
surplus.
What we produce beyond our
domestic consumption must have vent abroad. The expansion of our trade
and commerce is the pressing problem. Next in advantage to having the
thing to sell is to have the conveyance to carry it to the buyer.
We must encourage our merchant
marine. We must have more ships. They must be under the American flag,
built and manned and owned by Americans. They will not only be profitable
in a commercial sense; they will be messengers of peace and amity wherever
they go. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times.
President William Howard Taft, Annual
Message to Congress, 1911
All the great commercial nations pay heavy subsidies to their merchant marine,
so that it is obvious that without some wise aid from Congress the United
States must lag behind in the matter of a merchant marine.
President William Howard
Taft, Inaugural address, March 4, 1909
People run away from the name subsidy. It is a subsidy. I am not afraid
to call it so. It is paid for the purpose of giving a merchant marine
to the whole country so that the trade of the whole country will be benefited
thereby, and the men running the ships will of course make a reasonable
profit. . . . Unless we have a merchant marine, our navy if called upon
for offensive or defensive work is going to be most defective.
President William Howard
Taft, Speech at Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, September
29, 1909
I need not tell you of the inadequacy of the American shipping marine
on the Pacific Coast. . . . For this reason it seems to me that there
is no subject to which Congress can better devote its attention in the
coming session than the passage of a bill which shall encourage our merchant
marine in such a way as to establish American lines directly between New
York and the eastern ports and South American ports, and both our Pacific
Coast ports and the Orient and the Philippines.
President Warren G. Harding
Our shipping will strengthen American genius and determination, because
carrying is second only to production in establishing and maintaining the
flow of commerce to which we rightfully aspire.
I do not for one moment believe
in government ownership as a permanent policy but I prefer that hazardous
venture to the surrender of our hopes for a merchant marine.
So we mean to maintain the
flag on the sea until such a future day as when Congress may rise above
the obstructionist when the reflective sentiment of all the country will
sense the great necessity and compel the legislation required to turn
to the national way of triumph on the seas.
President Warren G. Harding,
Message to Congress Nov. 21, 1922
If "Government Aid" is a fair term -- and I think it is
-- to apply to authorizations aggregating $75,000,000 to promote good
roads for market highways, it is equally fit to be applied to the establishment
and maintenance of American market highways on the seas. If government
aid is the proper designation for fifteen to forty millions annually expended
to improve and maintain inland waterways in aid of commerce, it is a proper
designation for a needed assistance to establish and maintain ocean highways
where there is actual commerce to be carried. . . . We have aided industry
through our tariffs; we have aided railway transportation in land grants
and loans, we have aided the construction of market roads and improvement
of inland waterways. We have aided reclamation and irrigation and the
development of waterpower, and we have loaned seed grains in anticipation
of harvest. We expended millions in investigation and experimentation
to promote a common benefit, though a limited few are the direct beneficiaries.
We have loaned hundreds of millions to promote the marketing of American
goods. It has all been commendable and highly worthwhile.
President Herbert Hoover, Message read
at the launching of the SS Santa Rosa in 1932
The efforts put forth in the rehabilitation of the American merchant marine
have proved beneficial to the country at large. During the past ten years,
as compared with the pre-war decade, the proportion of our foreign trade
carried by ships under the American flag has substantially increased.
It has notably grown in trades where no American flag services previously
were provided.
Harry S Truman
During the black years of War, the men of the Merchant Marine did their
job with boldness and daring. Six thousand were killed or missing in carrying
out their duties. In memory of those men, and in the interest of our Nation,
the United States must carry out the bold and daring plan of Franklin D.
Roosevelt for a Merchant Marine of the best designed and equipped passenger
and cargo ships, manned by the best trained men in the world.
Harry S Truman, Praises Merchant
Marine Ships in the Korean War
A "WELL DONE" has
been signaled by President Truman to the American Merchant Marine
for its outstanding support of the United Nations forces in Korea, while
at the same time continuing to perform its normal task of moving the nation's
commerce, Hugh Gallagher, National President of the Propeller Club of
the United States, disclosed.
Mr. Gallagher said the President,
in a letter saluting the club's silver jubilee convention and the eighteenth
annual Merchant Marine Conference, asserted that all segments of maritime
labor and management could well be proud of the accomplishments of the
nation's merchant fleet, both in its defense and normal pursuits.
President Truman declared that
the American Merchant Marine has played an important role in the maintenance
of the American way of life and also in bulwarking the anti-Communist
defenses of freedom-loving nations everywhere. He pointed out that support
for the Allied forces in Korea had not interfered with the movement of
mountains of foreign aid goods to friendly nations in other parts of the
world, nor with the merchant fleet's year-round task of transporting the
export products of our farms and industries.
In his letter to Mr. Gallagher
the President termed this year's theme, which was "The American Merchant
Marine --- Indispensable to Our Freedom," particularly fitting in
view of pressures being exerted against our freedom. He also expressed
hope that the conference would deal with ways whereby we can preserve
this freedom.
MAST Magazine, U.S.
Maritime Service, November, 1951
President Lyndon B. Johnson
All through our Nation's history the prosperity of our people -- as well
as the safety of our people -- has been tied very closely to the role
that we play on the seas of the world. And that is a role that we can
never wisely or never safely neglect.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
The complex task of creating and maintaining a merchant marine adequate
to our needs for peacetime commerce, and sufficient for defense purposes,
requires the efforts of government, management and labor and the support
of all Americans.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Throughout American history, the Merchant Marine has been indispensable
to our security and prosperity. Today, our merchant fleet binds us in
peaceful commerce with the increasingly interdependent nations of the
world.
President Richard M. Nixon, October
23, 1969
I am announcing today a new maritime program for this Nation, one which
will replace the drift and neglect of recent years and restore this country
to a proud position in the shipping lanes of the world.
Our program is one of challenge
and opportunity. We will challenge the American shipbuilding industry
to show that it can rebuild our Merchant Marine at reasonable expense.
We will challenge American ship operators and seamen to move toward less
dependence on government subsidy. And, through a substantially revised
and better administered government program, we will create the opportunity
to meet that challenge.
President
Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Message, January 25, 1979
I will propose overdue changes in the Nation's maritime policies. We must
improve the ability of our Merchant Marine to win a fair share of our cargo.
President Jimmy Carter,
letter to Congressman John M. Murphy, July 20, 1979
We must not allow this unhealthy trend [in U.S. flag shipping] to continue.
Steps must be taken to reverse the decline and begin to improve the strength
of this essential industry.
Quotes about American Merchant
Marine by Military Leaders
Dwight
D. Eisenhower, General of the Army
Every man in this Allied command is quick to express his admiration for
the loyalty, courage, and fortitude of the officers and men of the Merchant
Marine. We count upon their efficiency and their utter devotion to duty
as we do our own; they have never failed us yet and in all the struggles
yet to come we know that they will never be deterred by any danger, hardship,
or privation. When final victory is ours there is no organization that
will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, General
of the Army
Maximum safety of these lines of communication is a 'must" in our military
effort, no matter what else we attempt to do. . . . Shipping. . . will remain
the bottleneck of our effective effort.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief
of Army Plans [Early 1942]
Ships! Ships! All we need is ships! What a headache!
Hitler's U-boat War:
The Hunters 1939-1942 by Clay Blair
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
General of the Army, Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces in North Africa,
September 27,1943
This headquarters has just heard the glorious news that American shipyards
have produced more than 2,100 merchant vessels in the past two years. This
remarkable record, unequaled in history, will bring confidence and encouragement
to every soldier, sailor and airman in the Allied Forces, for they are most
keenly aware that their ability to carry on the fight, indeed their ability
to survive, is completely dependent on ships.
Unprecedented distances separate
our fighting forces from our home bases in this war. The vast bulk of
our reinforcements in men and material are seaborne. Ship construction,
therefore, contributes as never before to victory.
Ahead of us are the most severe
and decisive months of the war. Help is needed more than ever. Ships,
still more ships, and ever more ships will help smash the enemy until
unconditional surrender is achieved.
War Shipping Administration
Press Release 1583
Dwight D. Eisenhower, General
of the Army Cable to War Shipping Administration, June 28, 1944:
In behalf of the men in my command, I thank the men of the Merchant Marine
for their pledge of full cooperation in our common effort to destroy the
forces of tyranny and darkness. The huge quantities of supplies that have
been brought across the Atlantic are a testimonial to the job that has
already been done.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, General
of the Army, Tribute on V-E Day, May 8, 1945 after Germany surrendered:
The truly heroic man of this war is GI Joe and his counterpart of the
Air, Navy, and Merchant Marine.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, General
of the Army 1945
The officers and men of the merchant marine, by their devotion to duty
in the face of enemy action, as well as the natural dangers of the sea,
have brought us the tools to finish the job. Their contribution to final
victory will be long remembered.
Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army
I wish to commend to you the valor of the merchant seamen participating
with us in the liberation of the Philippines. With us they have shared the
heaviest enemy fire. On this island I have ordered them off their ships
and into fox holes when their ships became untenable targets of attack.
At our side they have suffered in bloodshed and in death. The caliber of
efficiency and the courage they displayed in their part of the invasion
of the Philippines marked their conduct throughout the entire campaign in
the southwest Pacific area. They have contributed tremendously to our success.
I hold no branch in higher esteem than the Merchant Marine.
Douglas MacArthur, General of
the Army
They have brought us our lifeblood and they had paid for it with some of
their own. I saw them bombed off the Philippines and in New Guinea ports.
When it was humanly possible, when their ships were not blown out from under
them by bombs or torpedoes, they have delivered their cargoes to us who
needed them so badly. In war it is performance that counts.
Press Release/Odlin
- Maritime 62: PR 2404 (W) WAR SHIPPING ADMINISTRATION Washington, Advance
Release, Sunday Papers, October 14, 1945
Jonathan Wainwright, General
Wainwright Praises Men Who 'Deliver the Goods': General Jonathan Wainwright,
after inspecting his son's ship, the Lakeland Victory in San Francisco harbor,
said: "I am proud that my son, Commander Wainwright of the U. S. Maritime
Service, is part of this great American Merchant Marine. The youth of the
nation and the training they are given now for service in the Merchant Marine
will greatly effect the post-war economy of the United States. The winning
of the war depended upon the amount of supplies that were delivered by this
great fleet to every Pacific base and beachhead." Commander Jonathan
Wainwright V, holder of the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal
for heroic action at Salerno, is captain of the Lakeland Victory, recently
commissioned in San Francisco harbor.
[NEPTUNE newsletter, U. S. Maritime Officer's Training School,
Alameda, California. September 1945]
George C. Marshall, General, U.S. Army Chief of Staff
The men and women who build the ships, the men who sail them, are making
it possible to transport fighting men and supplies wherever they are needed
to defeat the enemy. The Army is deeply indebted to these men and women
for their unceasing effort to do everything in their power to hasten the
day of Victory.
George C. Marshall, General, U.S. Army Chief of Staff
From War Shipping Administration Press Release, May 18, 1945:
America's Merchant Marine has carried out its war mission with great distinction,
and has demonstrated its ability to meet the challenge of redeploying our
full power to the Pacific.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief
of Naval Operations
Not one of us who fought in the late war can forget --- nor should any citizen
be allowed to forget --- that the national resource which enabled us to
carry the war to the enemy and fight in his territory and not our own was
our Merchant Marine. The fighting fleets and Marines of our Navy, the ground
forces of our Army, and the aircraft of both would have been helpless to
pound the enemy into defeat overseas, had it not been for the steady stream
of personnel, equipment and supplies of every character brought into the
rear of the combat areas, and often directly into those areas, by the ships
of our own Merchant Marine and those of our allies.... It is well to remember
that a professional Army and Navy are merely nuclei of the armed forces
needed to wage war.... there is a natural tendency to forget the vital relationship
which the Merchant Marine bears to our individual and collective welfare,
in peace as well as war.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
I particularly desire to acknowledge the services of the commercial
tankers engaged in transporting fuels to the Fleet. Our requirements were
numbered in millions of barrels to be transported thousands of miles to
the scene of Fleet operations. The volume involved demanded the utmost in
operations management to assure a rate of delivery keeping with our needs.
Our success in keeping the Fleet properly fueled was dependent upon the
deliveries by these commercial ships. Not once did they fail.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
The sea lanes of the Pacific, extended westward more than 4,000 miles
in the last year, are crowded with merchant ships supporting our offensive
against Japan. Without these ships wholly devoted to winning the war, our
substantial progress would not have been possible. This war has fully confirmed
the necessity for a strong and sound merchant marine in time of peace so
that it may be employed as an auxiliary of the Army and Navy in time of
war. The convincing way in which this fundamental fact has been demonstrated
in the Pacific is a tribute to the ability and patriotism of the American
Merchant Marine and augers well for the future.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
War Shipping Administration Press Release PR 1839, April 23,
1944
The Merchant Marine Service has repeatedly proved its right to be considered
as an integral part of our fighting team. Its efforts have contributed in
great part to our success. Well done.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz,
U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
The United States Merchant Marine played an important part in the achievement
of victory in Europe, and it is destined to play an even more important
role in helping to finish off the Japanese. To move great quantities of
war materials from principal sources of supply across 6,000 miles of ocean
to battlefronts in the Far East is the formidable task now confronting our
merchant fleet. We are confident it will be done quickly and efficiently
in keeping with the high standards of accomplishment set by the Merchant
Marine in every war in our history.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Commander in Chief Pacific
Fleet
Letter to Admiral Land, November 3 ,1944
During these weeks of continued successes by our Navy in the Western Pacific
it seems timely and proper that full acknowledgment be made of the indispensable
role of War Shipping Administration ships in making these successes possible.
Never before has any comparable fighting force been supplied with the materials
of offensive warfare over such vast ocean distances as those now being transported
to the Fleet by the commercial ships operating under your jurisdiction.
During our operations we have
had all types of commercial ships working aid, by side with similar ships
of the Navy. While the two groups of ships were under separate administrative
control their ultimate objective was a common one.
I particularly desire to acknowledge
the services of the commercial tankers engaged in transporting fuels to
the Fleet. Our requirements were numbered in millions of barrels to be
transported thousands of miles to the scene of Fleet operations. The volume
involved demanded the utmost in operational management to assure a rate
of delivery in keeping with our needs. Our success in keeping the Fleet
properly fueled was dependent upon the deliveries by these commercial
ships. Not once did they fail.
For these performances of the
War Shipping Administration, ashore and afloat. I send a hearty "WELL
DONE."
Fleet Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations
Excerpt from Address to Joint Session of Congress October 5, 1945
[New York Times, Oct 6, 1945]
Our operations would not have been possible without the strong support
of our Merchant Marine. These gallant officers and men maintained a bridge
of ships across the Pacific, and bore their share of the Japanese attacks
while unloading on distant islands where the struggle was still intense
and the issue not yet decided.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz,
U.S. Navy, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet
A Bridge of a Ships is the short line to Tokyo.
Fleet
Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief, U. S. Navy
During the past 3 1/2 years, the Navy has been dependent upon the Merchant
Marine to supply our far-flung fleet and bases. Without this support, the
Navy could not have accomplished its mission. Consequently, it is fitting
that the Merchant Marine share in our success as it shared in our trials.
The Merchant Marine is a strong bulwark of national defense in peace and
war, and a buttress to a sound national economy. A large Merchant Marine
is not only an important national resource; it is, in being, an integral
part of the country's armed might during time of crisis. During World War
II, this precept has been proven.
The Armed Forces, with the
help of the Merchant Marine, have pushed the fighting 5,000 miles west.
Together, they'll go the rest of the way.
Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King,
Commander in Chief, U. S. Navy
Because the Navy shares life and death, attack and victory, with the men
of the United States Merchant Marine, we are fully aware of their contribution
to the victory which must come.
Lt. General Alexander A. Vandegrift, U. S.
Marine Corps Commandant
The men and ships of the Merchant Marine have participated in every landing
operation by the United States Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima
-- and we know they will be at hand with supplies and equipment when American
amphibious forces hit the beaches of Japan itself.
Lt. General Alexander A. Vandegrift, U. S. Marine Corps Commandant
Tribute to the war record of merchant seamen was paid by General A. A. Vandegrift,
U.S.M.C., Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, who commanded the
First Marine Division on Guadalcanal, in a letter marking National Maritime
Day 1946. The letter was addressed to Captain Granville Conway, Administrator,
War Shipping Administration.
On those distant Pacific Islands where the Marines fought, the men and ships
of the merchant fleet constituted a vital link in the chain of supply...
on National Maritime Day we of the Marine Corps take pleasure in congratulating
your organization on a job well done.
Admiral T. C. Kinkaid, USN Commander, Eastern
Sea Frontier
We have had ample demonstration in the recent war of the fact that a large
and efficient Merchant Marine is not only a great asset in the effective
conduct of war but it is a vital necessity. . .
The relationship between the
Navy and the Merchant Marine is no longer one-sided. Because of the great
distances to be covered and because of the vastly increased logistic support
required by the land, sea and air forces, the Merchant Marine is just
as necessary to the Navy and other armed forces as the Navy is to the
Merchant Marine . . . this country requires . . . a large reserve of merchant
ships laid up in a state of preservation which will permit of their quick
activation in time of emergency.
And last but not least our
Merchant Marine must be officered by men of intelligence and character.
I am glad to say that we have taken steps to provide such officers for
our ships.
The young men of the U. S.
Maritime Service and the Federal and State Maritime Academies represent
the Merchant Marine officers of the future and, also, our ambassadors
of good will to all parts of the world. They will be the backbone and
foundation of a Merchant Marine which I believe to be vital to the interests
of our country.
General Sir Bernard Montgomery (British)
Our fighting men could not have successfully carried out the task of clearing
the desert if merchant seamen had not been determined to defy all conditions
of air and sea attack to see that we got the stuff, and the air attacks
on the Mediterranean convoys were extremely heavy.
During the Tripoli campaign,
I went down to the waterfront and personally thanked the men and skippers
of the merchant ships for getting through with the stuff to the various
ports which were opened up by the Eighth Army as we pushed westward along
the shores of the Mediterranean.
Allied seamen reacted excellently
under heavy fire during the taking of Sicily and their conduct in action
was a potent factor in the opening of the back door to Europe.
Their contribution was just
as important as that of the troops.
Captain Edward Macauley, USN, Deputy Administrator
War Shipping Administration
And the men who man that line -- the Merchant Seamen who, long before Pearl
Harbor, enlisted against Fascism -- will hold it until both the war and
the peace are won and the free word is once again a fact....
Americans trust and love their Navy. They know it will always come through.
Americans have only recently awakened to the fact that the Navy's civilian
sister, the Merchant Marine, always comes through too.
Admiral Harold R. Stark, Commander of U. S.
Naval Forces in Europe
Yours was the first front on every ocean and without you no army and
navy can survive. When the final record of the war is written, one of the
vital teams participating will be recognized as the merchant seamen in dungarees.
When the war is over, we of the Navy will salute you with a final 'Well
Done'.
Rear
Admiral Howard L. Vickery, Vice-Chairman of the Maritime Commission and
Deputy Administrator of the War Shipping Administration
Even before Pearl Harbor, American seamen were under hostile fire from
air and sea. Ever since then, the Merchant Marine as a whole has been
constantly in action, meeting the enemy, day in and day out, from the
Arctic to the South Pacific. There is no more heroic saga in the annals
of man than the story of the courage and stamina of our Merchant Seamen,
without whom we could not hope to be victorious.
In an address made the following
comment on the rate of shipbuilding since the war began: "Helen of
Troy has long been known, among other things, as the girl with the face
that launched a thousand ships. Now, anyone would think that the faces
of Hitler and Tojo would only he good for stopping clocks, but as matters
stand today the ships they have caused to be launched make Helen look
like a piker."
"actual construction of
the world's greatest Merchant Marine has been the handiwork of farmers,
shopkeepers, and housewives, workers recruited from every walk of life
to learn and carry out one of the most difficult jobs in industry. The
extent of their contribution toward victory may be visualized by imagining
the ships they have built since December 7, 1941, steaming in a column
and spaced at mile intervals. An unbroken line would be formed extending
from Maine to Scotland, or, if you like, from Dutch Harbor to Tokyo."
MAST Magazine,
February 1944
Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Pilot of the Enola
Gay
You guys put your ass on the line everyday! Those of us old timers know
and appreciate what you did!
General Colin Powell, Persian Gulf War
Since I became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I have come to appreciate
first-hand why our Merchant Marine has long been called our Nation's fourth
arm of defense. The American seafarer provides an essential service to the
well-being of the Nation as was demonstrated so clearly during Operation
Desert Shield and Desert Storm.... We are a maritime nation. We must be
able to project power across the seas. This means that not only do we need
a strong Navy, but a strong maritime industry as well.
General John M. Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff
Address to USMMA cadets, approx. 1998
Today, after two centuries, our merchant marine is every bit as important
and every bit as vital to the commerce and defense of our nation as it ever
has been.
We simply cannot overstate
the vital contributions of our U.S. merchant marine. Our national security
depends on its vitality.
General Henry H. Shelton, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Address to USMMA cadets, 2001 during Battle Standard Dinner
Quite simply stated, our national security strategy depends on a vital merchant
marine, and the Joint Chiefs and I know it and so do our leaders in Washington.
Ask any officer from any of
the services who has had the opportunity to serve on a joint task force
in the myriad of hot spots around the globe -- just ask any of them if
the U.S. merchant marine is important to their operations. You will not
only get a 'yes,' but a resounding 'yes-and-can-we-have-more!
Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov
We sincerely honor the memory of the killed British and American seamen
who despite the dangerous situation at sea, despite the fact that they faced
death every mile of the way, supplied us [USSR] with some of the materials
under the Lend-Lease agreement.
Admiral
B. H. Ramsay, Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force,
sent to all masters of merchant vessels taking part in the European liberation
operations following message:
"We are about to embark
on the most critical operation of the war, the invasion of German occupied
France, for which we have been waiting and pre-paring since the British
Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk.
"The invasion is being
undertaken by all Allied forces in which all arms and the merchant navies
will play their part.
"The ships that you command
are amongst those selected for this vital task and the manner in which
each is conducted will have a direct bearing on the campaign ahead. The
gaining of a bridgehead by the Allied Expeditionary Force requires the
strongest available support from the Allied Navies and Air Forces; the
subsequent reinforcement and maintenance of the expeditionary force necessitates
the regular arrival and quick turnaround of a vast quantity of merchant
shipping of all types. Unless the volume of reinforcements and supplies
can be kept up as planned, support for our armies will not be able to
match that of the enemy, and our position on the continent, let alone
our ability to advance, may well be imperiled.
"This operation must by
its nature be a set piece but there will be plenty of opportunities for
initiative on the part of masters and crews of which I am confident you
will take full advantage. There will also be difficulties and dangers
calling for the highest qualities of leadership and determination, which
I am equally sure will be forthcoming, remembering as you will that our
armies and air forces are at the same time facing even greater perils.
"I know that all will
be proud to be associated with this great enterprise, which is the climax
of the European War, and I wish you all Godspeed."
Admiral
Royal E. Ingersoll, USN, Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, Poster
236, WWII-14, Date unknown
The Battle of the Atlantic is still a round the clock fight.
General
John J. Pershing, Sixth National Conference on the Merchant Marine,
held under the auspices of the United States Shipping Board, January 5,
1933
The knowledge of the woeful lack of American shipping for the transportation
of our armies abroad in 1917 and 1918 should make an indelible impression
upon the mind of every American and drive him to the conclusion that we
must provide an adequate merchant marine under our flag. Our bitter experience
during those crucial years of the nation's history should never be forgotten,
and I pray that the American people will never again permit themselves
to be placed in such a position with its vast and extremely dangerous
possibilities. . . .
Every vessel floating the American
flag is not only of possible use as a military transport, but each such
vessel adds just so much to the strength of our national defense system
as an auxiliary to our Navy. By all means let us continue the fixed policy
of building up a strong merchant marine."
Our Navy's Greatest
Need: An Adequate Merchant Marine. Middle West Trade Commission, Cincinnati,
Ohio, 1933
Admiral
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Let each nation [the U. S. and Britain] be educated to realize the length
and breadth of its own interest in the sea; when that is done, the identity
of these interests will become apparent. This identity cannot be established
firmly in men's minds antecedent to the great teacher, Experience; and
experience cannot be had before that further development of the facts
which will follow the not far distant day, when the United States people
must again betake themselves to the sea and to external action....
Merchant Marine:
Bottoms for Britain. Time. March 31, 1941
Quotes about American Merchant
Marine by World and National Leaders
Winston
S. Churchill, "The Second World War, Volume III, The Grand Alliance,"
1950
All was ruled by that harsh
and despotic factor, shipping.
Winston S. Churchill
Shipping was at once the stranglehold
and the sole foundation of our war strategy.
Hitler's U-boat War:
The Hunters 1939-1942 by Clay Blair
Winston S. Churchill
The only thing that ever really
frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.
Churchill, Winston.
The Second World War. 2 Volumes. New York: Time Incorporated.
1959
Winston S. Churchill
Enemy submarines are to be
called U-boats. The term "submarine" is to be reserved for Allied
underwater vessels. U-boats are those dastardly villains who sink our
ships, while submarines are those gallant and noble craft which sink theirs.
Gannon, Michael.
Black May. New York: Harper Collins, 1998
Winston S. Churchill, "Closing
the Ring."
"The Battle of the Atlantic
was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could
we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, in the
air, depended ultimately on its outcome... Many gallant actions and incredible
feats of endurance are recorded, but the deeds of those who perished will
never be known. Our merchant seamen displayed their highest qualities
and the brotherhood of the sea was never more strikingly shown than in
their determination to defeat the U-boat."
Senator Rufus King of New York, Minister
to Great Britain 1796-1803
Agriculture, manufactures and foreign commerce are the true sources of
wealth and power of nations. . . . but without shipping and seamen, the
surpluses of agriculture and manufactures would depreciate on our hands;
the cotton, tobacco, breadstuffs, provisions and manufactures would turn
out to be of little worth, unless we have ships and mariners to carry
them abroad, and to distribute them in foreign markets.
Secretary
of State Cordell Hull
No phase of economic rehabilitation is more vital than a restoration and
expansion of foreign trade through a reestablishment of fair and friendly
and cooperative trade relations among the nations.
Eleanor
Roosevelt, on her visit to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on May
5, 1944 as reported in the June 1944 issue of Polaris Magazine (originally
appeared in New York World Telegram, May 8, 1944)
If people had visited the places
I have seen, they would realize the effects of total war. The armed forces,
including the Merchant Marine, are really serving their country.
Eleanor Roosevelt,
syndicated column, "MY DAY," as it appeared in newspapers
throughout the nation on May 8, 1944
Some day they hope to erect a memorial to the members of the group who
have died at sea during the war. Already 124 have died and some are missing,
for the Merchant Marine is a dangerous service. There are some fine stories
of heroism on which to begin building the traditions of the Cadet-Midshipmen
of the Merchant Marine Academy. Like all other military establishments
the barracks are beautifully neat. I lunched with Cadet-Midshipmen and
enjoyed very much the opportunity of seeing this very fine group of young
men. As they marched past us in review I was greatly impressed by them.
Eleanor Roosevelt, June
1942
In some cases they [the men who man merchant ships] run even greater risks
than the boys in the regular army and navy. When we realize that over
and over again they land from one torpedoed ship and as soon as they recover
from wounds or exposure they start on another trip; we can hardly fail
to pay homage for supreme courage.
Vice
Admiral Emery S. Land, USN (Ret.), Chairman, United States Maritime
Commission and War Shipping Administrator
The record of achievement and that brought our merchant fleet to its present
proportions is a proud one, and reviewing and briefly might serve to demonstrate
that while the task ahead is a difficult one, it can be overcome. This
is how America and did that job: The Merchant Marine Act, creating the
Maritime Commission, was passed by Congress in 1936. In 1939, the first
of a modern fleet of cargo ships was delivered. At the end of 1940, 46
of these were at work. By the time of Pearl Harbor, 50 more had been added,
and shortly thereafter the first Liberty ship, the Patrick Henry, was
delivered for service.
The Commission was directed by President Roosevelt in 1942 to build a
8 million tons of shipping. The goal was succeeded. Sixteen million tons
was the mark set for 1943. More than 19 million tons were delivered. By
the time we were back in the Philippines more than 4,000 cargo ships built
in the wartime in U.S. shipyards were at work for the United Nations.
Officers and men of the Merchant Marine numbered about 55,000 in 1941.
In December 1944 there were 200,000 men sailing our ships.
Quotes about American Merchant
Marine from Newspapers
New
York Times, June 9, 1944
LONDON. June 9 -- D-day would not have been possible without the Merchant
Marine. Now that the long-awaited day is history and great Allied forces
have been landed in France, it is permitted to indicate the part played
by these intrepid civilians, whose deeds for the most part have gone unsung.
It is not generally realized that the Merchant Marine has the largest
ratio of casualties of any branch of the services, and many of the names
on the list are not classified "wounded" or "missing."
They were those of the men whose grave is the sea.
Working side-by-side with the
British Merchant Navy and the Allied fleets, the American Merchant Marine
has reached a new peak of glory, and into this latest venture it has brought
all the hard-earned experience of such historic episodes as the African
landings and the bitterly-fought Arctic runs to Russia. For weeks before
D-day hundreds of merchant ships which had been diverted from their regular
runs for the invasion service roamed the waters near the British Isles
without a port to come to. They were kept outside so the enemy would not
see any great ship concentration at any principal port.
At the prearranged time they
rendezvoused, picked up their priceless cargo and sailed for France. Undaunted
by the threat of air attacks, sea mines, surface fire, submarines or coastal
batteries they fulfilled their mission according to schedule and returned
to Britain's shores to start a shuttle service that will not end before
Germany's unconditional surrender. At their sides are a thousand or more
British merchant ships with 50,000 seamen, many of whom have old scores
to settle -- scores that started at Dunkerque and were aggravated at Crete.
The ships that went to France were of every conceivable type of transport.
Some were former luxury liners that even confirmed 'round-the-world travelers
would no longer recognize. Others were no larger than good-sized barges
or sea-going tugs. But most were new, the internationally-known Liberty
ships, designed to meet the needs of war.
Quotes about the American
Merchant Marine by Famous People
Bob
Hope's Christmas 1944 Broadcast to the U.S. Merchant Marine Everywhere
They're Z-men. Did you ever
hear of Z-men? Sounds like a gag, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Z-men are
the guys without whom General "Ike's" army and Admiral Nimitz'
navy couldn't live. Five thousand seven hundred of them have died from
enemy torpedoes, mines, bombs or bullets since our zero hour at Pearl
Harbor.
Z-men are the men of the Merchant
Marine. They carry a big wad of identification papers in a book called
a Z book, so they call them Z-men... Listen, it takes nerve to go to work
in a hot engine room, never knowing when a torpedo might smash the hull
above you and send thousands of tons of sea water in to snuff out your
life. It takes courage to sail into the waters of an enemy barbaric enough
to tie your hands and feet and submerge you so you can drown, like a rat,
without a fight. It takes courage to man an ammunition ship after you
heard how Nazi bombers blew up 17 shiploads of ammunition at Bari and
not a man was ever found of the crews. I was there about that time. I'll
never forget it...
Complete
text of Bob Hope's Christmas Broadcast
United
We Stand by Carole Landis (MAST Magazine, November 1944)
Hitler wasn't guessing when he incorporated into his psychological warfare
the strategy of "divide and conquer." It worked in Norway and
it worked in France, and because there is no immunity to Fascism, it's
trying hard right here in the United States. There is one antidote.
We've got to remember that
we're all in this together. British, Russians, Chinese. And French-Polish-Yugoslav-Jewish-Irish-Mexican-English
or what-have-you-Americans. Indians, whites, and Negroes. Soldiers, Sailors,
Marines, Coast Guardsmen, boys in the AAF or Merchant Marine. And civilians.
Yes, civilians.
All the names from Pearl Harbor
onwards are written on our memories and on our hearts and in your steel
and your blood and your courage. The exploits at home aren't of this kind.
But believe me, boys, they do exist.
In two and a half short years,
the country has rolled up its sleeves, and our production record can be
heard in the planes that roar over Germany; our War Bond record is built
into every tank and destroyer, and the blood banks of the Red Cross are
only one of the "musts" on the daily lists of the men and women
on the home front.
None of us here can give as
much as you. We all know it. That's why there is such a determination
to give all we can, in time, spirit, money, work. We believe in you. We
know you're good. But you've got to believe in us, too, because the home
front is also a fighting front. And because this belief, this unity, brings
the day of Victory right up there in plain sight. Unity is the one thing
Hitler and his cohorts cannot cope with.
Ernie Pyle, War Correspondent
Pyle many times honored the men of the United States Merchant Marine
for the vital, and often heroic, part they have taken in the war effort.
Millions of Pyle's GI's have crossed the oceans to the fighting fronts on
ships manned by his friends in the Merchant Marine... After helping to successfully
establish initial landings, the merchant seamen have continued to bring
in the supplies and men that made our advances against the enemy possible.
In referring to the Anzio campaign,
Pyle said:
Perhaps the real drama of the
Anzio beachhead campaign was the supply system. The supplying of the Fifth
Army beachhead was one of the superlative chapters of our Mediterranean
war... The beachhead was really like a little island. Everything had to
come by water. Without a steady flow of food and ammunition, the beachhead
would have perished... Our supplies were unloaded in many ways. Some few
ships could go right up to a dock. Others went to nearby beaches. The
bigger freight ships had to lie off the harbor and be unloaded into smaller
boats, which in turn unloaded onto the docks and beaches. Many branches
of the service deserve credit for the supply miracle -- the Navy, the
Merchant Marine, the Combat Engineers, the Quartermaster Corps...
The crews of those big freighters
were members of the Merchant Marine.
The greatest apprehension I've
found in the Anzio-Nettuno area is not among the men ashore... but among
the crews of ships that sit out in the Mediterranean, unloading... they
are subject to shelling from land and air raids from the sky. their situation,
I'll admit, is not an enviable one.
[The name of ERNIE
PYLE was assigned to C-4 military-type cargo ship, the United States
Maritime Commission announced on Friday, April 27, 1945. The C-4 is a
522-foot ship of 14,600 deadweight tons, cruising radius of 14,000 miles
and 9,000 horsepower, one of the Commission's largest ships. Press
Release 2247]
Merchant
Marine in World War II
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt - one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's last public statements on the U.S. Merchant Marine on September 19, 1944