On the sunny Hudson, outside the battered, noisy hiring hall of the National Maritime Union, rusty freighters rode at anchor waiting for convoy assignments. Inside the hall 200 seamen lounged, smoking, talking and waiting for new jobs taking cargoes through submarine-infested waters to the world's fighting fronts. Business went on as usual, unaffected by the fact that the U.S. Navy had just announced its first merchant-marine casualty list: 2.301 up to Aug. 1. Of these, 410 were known to be dead. The rest were missing, a few perhaps alive in remote spots, most probably lost at sea.
Unofficial estimates indicated...
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