Merchant Navy Day, a Time to Remember

September 3rd is Merchant Navy Day. Celebrated annually around the world, it is a day to remember merchant seafarers who died in war. 

During World War II, Australian merchant navy ships were at just as much risk as Royal Australian Navy warships as they delivered critical supplies. Hospital ships were also crewed by merchant seamen.

Contrary to popular belief, merchant seamen were not well-paid, did not have comfortable working hours, and their living conditions were often very poor, says Don Fraser in “Men of a service’ : Australian merchant seamen”. 

Figures published by the Seaman’s Union of Australia (SUA) in 1972 indicate that 386 members of the union lost their lives during the Second World War. Given the union’s claim of a total membership of 4,500 at the beginning of the war, the overall fatality rate among seamen members of the SUA during the Second World War was 8.5 percent, a rate higher than that sustained by Australia’s fighting services.

Across the Tasman Sea, several thousand New Zealanders served in the merchant navy during the war. These civilian volunteers sailed the ships that delivered troops, military equipment, food and fuel. This work earned them respect as the fourth service alongside the army, navy and air force, says New Zealand History.

No other group of New Zealand civilians faced such risks. Many ships were torpedoed or bombed; survivors sometimes spent days or weeks in lifeboats before being rescued. Over 130 lost their lives, and around 140 were taken prisoner. 

U.S. mariners suffered the highest rate of casualties of any service in World War II, but the recorded number of deaths varies as the U.S. Merchant Marine had no official historians. The U.S. Coast Guard of 1950 estimates that 5,662 mariners died as a direct result of enemy action or as prisoners of war on American flag ships. Another reference cites 9,521, a rate of 1 in 26 compared to 1 in 114 for the navy.
 
In honor of the sacrifices made in the two World Wars, the merchant navy lays wreaths of remembrance alongside the armed forces in the annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November. Following many years of lobbying to bring about official recognition of the sacrifices made by merchant seafarers in two world wars and since, Merchant Navy Day became an official day of remembrance on 3 September 2000.