At Last BBC Acknowledges Merchant Navy’s Contribution During Ceremony of Remembrance

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society welcomes the BBC’s acknowledgement of the Merchant Navy’s contribution during its coverage of yesterday’s Ceremony of Remembrance.

Source: BBC

The acknowledgement comes during the year of the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the convoy system during WW1.

By the beginning of May 1917, Britain had lost over a thousand merchant ships and 6,000 lives. It had only six weeks’ supply of food left and was facing the prospect of starvation as well as losses of goods and raw materials that could not be sustained and risked us losing the war.

The introduction of the convoy system was crucial in ensuring the war came to a successful conclusion and that the country did not starve.