White House orders for a 2,000,000-ton shipping pool for aid to Britain last week (see p. 15) caught U.S. ship lines in the midst of their busiest, most harassed period in history. On all the seven seas except the North Atlantic, U.S. shipping has tried to take over from the flagging British the great task of moving the bulk of the world's freight. Before war began the U.S. overseas fleet (then 1,749,689 active tons, 87% over age) often ran almost empty on its Government subsidies, carried only around 30% of the nation's foreign trade. But by last week almost all of Britain's big merchant marine had been withdrawn for war duty, and the U.S. fleet was puffing and panting with the hopeless task of carrying as many as possible of the cargoes the British used to move.
Exclusive of coasters in China and India, Britain still has about 60 vessels of 600,000 tons outside of war duty, but even these 60 are being used only to transport essential foodstuffs and goods from one part of the Empire to another, or occasionally a load of food to England. For all practical purposes, the British merchant marine is no longer a competitor for the world's seaborne freight. Gone from their normal trade routes are the ten British ships formerly operated between North and South America, the 25 operated from the U.S. Atlantic Coast to the Far East, countless others. Most of the Free Dutch and Norwegian ships are also in war service in the North Atlantic.
Where British vessels have been withdrawn, U.S. ships have moved in. Vessels withdrawn from European and Mediterranean trade under the Neutrality Act of 1939 are being used to up tonnage on other routes 50% to 700%, and old ships have been called back into service. In March of 1939 only 17 U.S. ships sailed to Africa; now there are 51. Ships going to the Far East have increased in number from twelve to 82, to India from twelve to 25 (see chart). Sailing totals have increased even more. Examples: Robin Line and American South African have upped sailings to Africa from 24 to 100 a year; American Export has 54 sailings to India against nine; American President Lines has increased round-the-world sailings from 26 to 39.
Not since before the Civil War has the U.S. been such a factor on the world's ocean trade routes. Thanks to Hog Island's mass production of freighters, the U.S. hoped to become a seafaring nation after World War I, but lost standing quickly in the 1920s to nations whose young men took to sea as naturally as young Americans took to automobiles: England, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands. Despite subsidies totaling $3,500,000,000 in the last quarter century, U.S. ship lines—with wages and operating costs higher than their foreign competitors—rarely made money.