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The British Red Ensign.

The Merchant Navy memorial (1939-1945) at the Pier Head, Liverpool.

The British Merchant Navy conotes British merchant ships and their crews, transporting cargo and people during time of peace and war.

For long periods of the last millennium, the Merchant Navy had the largest merchant fleet in the world, but it has slipped down the rankings. Today, there are 429 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, making a total of 9,181,284 GRT (9,566,275 DWT). These are split into the following types: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48, container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 3. There are also 446 ships registered in other countries, and 202 foreign-owned ships registered in the UK. (2005 CIA estimate)

Due to the United Kingdom's island nature, before the Channel Tunnel and the advent of air travel the only way to enter or leave the country was on water, except at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Map of the UK showing its Exclusive Economic Zone and applicable jurisdictions; the territorial sea extends to no more than twelve nautical miles (22 km) from land.

For the United Kingdom, prior to the end of the First World War when she sailed more than half of the world's tonnage, it was known as the Merchant Service, and became the Merchant Navy by a Royal Proclamation of King George V, in recognition of the fact that the service sailed valiantly alongside the Royal Navy's fighting ships. British ships fly the Red Ensign, more familiarly known as the "Red Duster", at the stern.

A person hoping to one day become a Captain, or Master, prior to about 1973, had five choices. To attend one of the three elite naval schools from the age of 12, the fixed-base HMS Conway and HMS Worcester or Pangbourne Nautical College, which would automatically lead to an apprenticeship as a sea-going cadet officer; apply to one of several training programmes elsewhere, or go to sea immediately by applying directly to a merchant shipping company at perhaps the age of 17 (with poor prospects of being accepted without some nautical school or other similar prior education.) Then there would be three years (with prior training or four years without) of seagoing experience aboard ship, in work-clothes and as mates with the deck crew, under the direction of the bo'sun cleaning bilges, chipping paint, polishing brass, cement washing freshwater tanks, and holystoning teak decks, and studying navigation and seamanship on the bridge in uniform, under the direction of an officer, before taking exams to become a second mate. With luck, one could become an "uncertificated" 2nd mate in the last year. The modern route to becoming a Deck Officer comprises a total of 3 1/2 years (notably longer than Royal Navy training at Sandhurst and Dartmouth), of which at least 1 is spent at sea and the remainder at a sea college. This training still encompasses all of the traditional trades such as celestial navigation, ship stability, general cargo and seamanship, but now includes training in business, legislation, law, and computerisation and other highly technical aspects of a modern ship.

Another essential seagoing career was that of the radio officer (or R/O, but usually "sparks"), often, though not exclusively, employed and placed by the Marconi Company or one of a number of similar radio company employers. After the inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the nearby SS Californian which did not render assistance due to their radio being down for the night, it was ordered that round-the-clock watch had to be maintained on all ships over 1600 GT. Most vessels only carried one radio officer, and during the hours he was off-duty, an automatic alarm device monitored the distress frequency. Today, Marconi no longer supplies radio officers to ships at sea, because they are no longer required, due to the development of satellites. Deck officers are now dual trained as GMDSS officers, thereby being able to operate all of the ship's onboard communication systems.

Comsat launched their first commercial satellite in 1976 and by the mid 1980s satellite communication domes had become a familiar sight at sea. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS was introduced and by 1 February 1999, all ships had to be fitted, thus bringing to an end the position of radio officer. This has led to a new career path, the recently introduced Electro-Technical Officer (ETO), who is a trained engineer with qualifications to assist the mechanical engineer to maintain vital electronic equipment such as radios and RADARs. ETOs are marine engineers given extra training. Although ETOs are relatively new, many companies are beginning to employ them, (although mechanical engineers are still employed).

Ship crews are of course made up of others, working under the eyes of the officers; the deck crew and bo'sun, responsible for general maintenance, sailing "before the mast", (which, due to exaggerated pitching motion in bad weather, is the least comfortable part of the ship). Other duties aboard ship are performed by the ship's carpenter, the cooks, the stewards, the quartermaster who steers the ship, and the below-decks crew, often referred to as "greasers". Ocean-going vessels with more than 12 passengers are required to have a doctor aboard. For ships of the British Merchant Navy on foreign service, interestingly, it used to be that each of these departments were peopled with ethnically based workers. The deck crew would often be Malay, the quartermasters Filipino, the greasers and stewards Indian, the cooks Indian but from Goa where, being Christian, they could prepare Western style food, and the ship's carpenter ("chippy") would often be Chinese. The officers would be British or Commonwealth, headed by the Captain (or Master, but more often referred to as "the old man"). The Purser was in charge of the ship's stores. Nowadays, ships have turnaround times of less than twenty-four hours instead of several days, due to containerisation, requiring a much smaller crew. The passenger liners that once transported people now ply the oceans for pleasure seekers, cargo ships have switched to containers using efficient shoreside cranes instead of the ship's derricks, and tankers have become monsters.

Sailing on the high seas has a long history, with embedded traditions largely inherited from the days of sail. Because of the ever-present concerns of safety for crew and passengers, the layers of authority are rigid, discipline strict, and mutiny almost unknown. The romantic lure for those "going down to the sea in ships" is less than it was.

Merchant mariners are held in high esteem as a result of their extraordinary losses in times of war. The ships were often "sitting ducks" lined up in the sights of enemy combatants, as some of the following links will help illustrate.

The following equivalent ratings were the official ones recognised by the National Maritime Board for ocean-going cargo vessels and cargo liners carrying up to six passengers.

Further information: List of notable mariners

Merchant seamen have gone on to make their mark on the world in a number of interesting ways. For example, Arthur Phillip joined the Merchant Navy in 1751 and 37 years later founded the city of Sydney, Australia.

Merchant Navy member Ken Russell later directed films such as Tommy, Altered States, and The Lair of the White Worm. Irish Merchant Navy member Kevin McClory spent 14 days in a lifeboat and later went on to write the James Bond movies Never Say Never Again and Thunderball. Alun Owen later wrote the screenplay for A Hard Day's Night.

Merchant Navy steward Freddie Lennon had a surprise when he returned home to find he had a newborn son. That son would later found the musical group The Beatles.

Members of the British Merchant Navy have won the Distinguished Service Cross, and have had careers taking them from 'Deck Boy Peter' to Air Marshal Sir Beresford Peter Torrington Horsley KCB, CBE, LVO, AFC. Canadian merchant seamen have won the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honor.

Merchant sailors have also made a splash in the world of sport, including England's footballer Fred Blackburn and founder of Yoshinkan UK, Edwin Stratton.

Since World War II, a number of merchant seamen have become notorious criminals. For example, Great Britan's Duncan Scott-Ford was hanged for treachery in World War II.

Nautical Portal

• The Marine Society
• List of merchant marine capacity by country
• List of maritime colleges
• List of notable mariners
• Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea
• Marlag und Milag Nord
• Silver Line: History of the fortunes of a typical British shipping company
• Deep Sea Scouts
• Ship transport
• Merchant ship
• Category:Shipping companies of the United Kingdom
• Category:Ships of the United Kingdom
• Transportation in the United Kingdom
• Category:Transport in the United Kingdom
• Category:British sailors
• Category:British Merchant Navy personnel

Nautical Portal

• Blackmore, Edward (1897). The British Mercantile Marine. London: Charles Griffin and Company, Limited. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. 
• Encyclopædia Britannica (1911). "Shipping". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition) 24. Ed. Chisholm, Hugh. Retrieved on 2007-04-17. 
• Hope, Ronald (2001). Poor Jack: The Perilous History of the Merchant Seaman. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1861761619. 
• Mission to Seafarers. Mission to Seafarers Timeline Alongside World Events. Mission to Seafarers. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

British Merchant Navy

• British Merchant Navy Association

• Photos of the Merchant Marine Memorials in London
• Tramp Steamers and Liberty Gallery

• The Marine Society College of the Sea
• The Merchant Navy Training Board