Inaugural Australian Merchant Navy Day

Hugh · Sep 4, 2008

The inaugural Merchant Navy day was celebrated in Australia yesterday, with representatives honoured during services in Sydney, Port Adelaide, Fremantle and the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

Many people have worked very hard behind the scenes to make this happen. You may like to see the following attachments. The Red Duster was given pride of place.

Regards
Hugh

spidge · Sep 4, 2008

Another good result by recognising the people who gave more lives on average than any other of the allied forces.

Antipodean Andy · Sep 7, 2008

I was unable to get to the Shrine on Wednesday. Consequently, I missed the Battle for Australia commemoration as well.

Antipodean Andy · Sep 7, 2008

Service marks merchant navy contribution - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

There has been official recognition of the merchant navy's wartime contribution, at a service held at Port Adelaide.

Marchers have gone from Queen's Wharf to the Port Corporation Building and laid wreaths in the water to remember those who have died at sea.

The service was part of Australia's first national Merchant Navy Day.

Organiser of the Adelaide commemoration, John Williams, says the merchant navy had long campaigned for the Federal Government to grant official recognition.

"It means a lot to all of the veterans who are marching who've been in the Pacific campaign in World War II," he said.

"I went to sea when I was 17, I was in a couple of war zones and I look back on my time in the merchant navy with fondness, also a little bit of trepidation for some of the situations I found myself in."
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spidge · Sep 8, 2008

Australian Merchant Navy or Merchant Marine

From the Australian War Memorial Site:

The Merchant Navy, or Merchant Marine, was often said to be the 'unseen' or 'silent' service. Thousands of Australians served as merchant mariners, shipping troops and supplies around the world and sometimes directly supporting military operations.

Merchant seamen generally signed on to a merchant ship, rather than being posted to one. Australians could serve on ships of virtually any nationality serving the Allied cause. Thus, although most served on vessels belonging to Australian shipping lines, many were on British or even Norwegian vessels, and a few on American and other ships.

Men who served in the Atlantic convoys sailing between North America and Britain faced some of the highest casualty rates of the war, as German U-boats (submarines) waged a campaign against merchant shipping that reached its peak in 1942-43. Most dangerous were the Arctic convoys taking supplies to Russian ports, as crewmen of any ship sunk had little chance of survival unless picked up quickly from the freezing North Atlantic waters. Merchant seamen also suffered heavy losses against enemy aircraft while running supplies to the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean, and off Greece and Crete.

Many ships had anti-aircraft and anti-submarine guns fitted, thus turning them into Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DEMS), with naval ratings posted aboard to provide gun crews, but in practice these guns were little defence against determined enemy attacks.

Merchant seamen were among the first Australians captured by enemy forces during the war. In 1940, several men were captured by German raiders operating in the Indian Ocean. Merchant ships in this area often sailed unescorted unless they were carrying troops or could accompany a troop convoy, and so they proved to be easy prey. Some men were taken as prisoners of war to Italian Somaliland, but were released when British forces occupied the territory in 1941, while others went to Germany and a few to Italy. In late 1941 and early 1942, several Australian merchant seamen were killed or taken prisoner by Japanese raiders in the Indian Ocean or when their ships were sunk in air or sea attacks in Malayan, Netherlands East Indies or New Guinea waters.

From 1942, many merchant seamen sailed in the regular supply runs around the Australian coastline and to Papua New Guinea, servicing Australian, American and Dutch forces. Many of the merchant ships were Dutch or American, but Australian shipping lines such as Burns Philp, Australian United Steam Navigation and Huddart Parker played a vital role in supporting military operations in this theatre. Several merchant ships were sunk by Japanese submarines or mines, mostly off Australia's east coast, or attacked by enemy aircraft in operational areas, but generally shipping losses were light.

Australian merchant seamen continued serving in every theatre of war. Australia was a significant primary producer, sending bulk agricultural products to Britain and India (along with military supplies), while also requiring military and commercial supplies to be brought from Britain, North America and elsewhere. Shipping lanes, particularly those in the Atlantic, remained dangerous, though not so bad as the worst years for merchant shipping losses of 1940-43. At war's end, it was recognised that merchant seaman had risked their lives playing a vital role in the war effort and they qualified for service medals.
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