WAR DEMANDS CREATE NEED FOR ELASTICITY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23968, 8 June 1943, Page 4

WAR DEMANDS CREATE NEED FOR ELASTICITY

SHIPPING

The shipping resources of Great Britain at this time depend on two essential factors —the rates of destruction by attacks of the enertiy and also through the normal perils of the sea. and the extent to which losses are being replaced by construction. Bound figures are published from time to time of present and respective outputs abroad, chiefly in the United States, and deductions in general terms can be drawn from the public speeches of authorities respecting building in Great Britain. Insufficient information is available, however, for a profit and loss account to be prepared at any moment. Even were losses and replacements to be published periodically these would be only some of the relevant facts. Types, sizes, and speeds of individual units are also material to the assessment of the situation. A third factor in the grim battle of the oceans about which there is no need to maintain secrecy is the purpose to which the resources in shipping of the allied nations are applied. This depends entirely on the Allied nations themselves; and on the control exercised must largely depend the ability of this country to conduct great oversea campaigns many thousands of miles from the home bases and its power to support a large population at home with the necessaries of me while the enemy is attempting to lay siege to these islands, i ... This control is practised by civil servants and experienced shipping men working in the closest co-opera-Uon at the Ministry of War Transport under the leadership of Lord Leathers. These men are constantly planning, y-t the results of their labours are liable to be disturbed at any time, not only by what the enemy may do but also! and probably to a greater extent by what the Allied nations may wish to do The foundation on which the utmost use of shipping is made m war is long-term planning, subject always to the need for extreme outstanding example of interference with original plans wai the prepara tion for the North African campaign. Arrangements had to be made secretly for allotting some hundreds of merchant ships to expedition and this diversion from other work extended over several months. Zero Hour The large allocation of shipping required naturally cut right across the detailed arrangements previously made for meeting the requirementsofgov ernment departments and other bodies. Many things were done, the reasons f r Which could not be given. Some ot them may well have appeared to have involved waste of ships’ time, inai conclusion was unavoidable while ships were kept waiting for zero hour. Incidentally, a mistaken impression still widely prevails that there was one vast armada of hundreds of merchant ships sailing south escorted by warships There were, in fact, many convoys which sailed at different times from various ports for the appointed points. This need to dispatch the ships in many convoys existed, if only because of the varying types and speeds. Fast troopships, vessels carrying au kinds of supplies, colliers with coal for depots and railways, oil tankers, and coasting vessels for local distribution were among those whose dispatch had to be organised weeks, or even months, in advance. ... Even when the original long-term plans are being made the departments are asked, in effect, not “What do you want?” but “What will happen if you don’t get what you say are your minimum wants?” Then, perhaps long after agreement has been reached, demands which then seemed to be the leasjt that could be satisfied have again to be curtailed. When tonnage originally allotted to particular uses has to be diverted to other purposes the first step is to consult the Government departments and other organisations whose import programmes are involved. The occasion for sacrifice is recognised and usually an “accommodation” is arrived at round the conference table. Only rarely do such questions have to be referred to a com. mittee of Ministers.

A large mercantile marine includes many types of ships ranging from North Atlantic passenger liners through the ranks of ordinary cargo vessels and oil tankers to paddle pleasure steamers. All have their uses in war. The employment of nearly all merchant ships is now directed by the Ministry of War Transport. The daily management of the vessels remains with owners, who continue to be responsible for manning them and supplying them

[By the Shipping Correspondent of "The Times."]

(Published by Arrangement.)

with fuel and stores. The need for elasticity of control is indicated again by the way in which the work of the different divisions of the Ministry is dovetailed; clear-cut divisions between types of ships in peace" time cannot be maintained in war. So the tramp of to-day becomes the liner of to-morrow. She may not have the speed usually associated with a liner; and her holds may not be (4% vided up like those of a liner dT: signed for carrying innumerable d£ scriptions of goods, many of them ih small packages, instead of cargoes of commodities in bulk, such as grain or coal, for which the tramp was built As many British liners have been withdrawn from their regular services for other purposes, vessels of liner class belonging to Allied nations are employed to replace them in their trades, and also many ordinary British cargo vessels. Pooling of Resources The pooling of shipping resources j$ exemplified in the arrangements made between this country and the United States. These ensure that if one country is unable to meet the needs of a particular programme it can arrange to draw on the tonnage of the other. These and other adjustments are made, as required, by the Combined Shipping Adjustment Boards sitting in London and Washington, The principle is carried a stage farther in the work of the Combined Production and Resources Board concerned with the planning of the production of the two countries in such a way that the utmost economy is secured in the use of shipping. A notable example of the diversion of ships from one specialised service to another is the employment of British and Norwegian vessels specially built to bring fruit from southern ports in conditions which meant feat in relation to the actual weight of the fruit the cubic capacity was extraordinarily high. During the war these ships have been used instead to carry heavy dead-weight cargo, together with lighter and more bulky goods., Some of them, small in comparison with the giants, have withstood' heavy weather remarkably well. The need to economise in tonnage often results in a ship sailing in one capacity for part of the "voyage and on another performing quite different service. A vessel may carry a cargo from North America, including aircraft or vehicles, and may return to this country with a mixed cargo of oil-seeds, copper, and pig-iron. Liners which have transported troops and, military stores to the Middle East have been directed to load refrigerated meat on the return voyage. Advance planning of this kind would be Impracticable if the work were to be attempted in watertight compartments. Hard-worked Ships '

Part of the planning to use the available tonnage most effectively includes: arrangements for fuelling ships rapidly at depots throughout the worldr dis- ; charging and loading vessels quickly in port, salving lame ducks, andrepairing those that become casualties, It is imperative that ships should M turned round in port in the shortest ' possible time in order that maximiim use may be made of their carrying capacity. This matter is the constant concern of the Ministry, whose Shipping (Operation) Control is specifically charged with its supervision. Vessels are worked hard nowadays. Gone are the days of comfortable stays in port ; while machinery was almost leisurely overhauled; and Inevitably the ships i feel the strain of the present rush. Re- 1 pairs other than those essential for § safety ,are frequently deferred till’op,- S portunities can be made for the work %. to be done. ■ ' When hostilities cease the, travellings j public will miss many fine ships, and-• I some that remain will bear war scarsin one shape or another. Work like the transport of heavy tanks and the equipment for landing them at -small ports often leaves its marks on structures, Accommodation which has been torn out of vessels will need to be.reinstated, engines will want extensive repairs and worn-out parts will have to be replaced. The places of many ships • planned for special trades and ,no longer afloat have been taken partly by vessels of simple design built mainly to serve the country in time of emergency and with the need for rapid production always in mind. The mercantile marine which survives hostilities will be very different from the fine fleet that was available for the nation at the outbreak.