MERCHANT SHIPPING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 March 1940, Page 5

MERCHANT SHIPPING

0 HIGH PROPORTION LOST BY GERMANY BRITISH LOSSES RELATIVELY MUCH LESS. SLIGHT LOSSES FROM CONVOYS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 28. From the outbreak of the war to last Sunday the Germans lost by capture or scuttling 53 merchant ships. This represents 6 per cent of the total German mercantile tonnage. During the same period Britain lost 159 merchantmen by enemy action, representing 1.6 per cent of her oceangoing tonnage. The actual figures on which these calculations are based are from a return of the world’s merchant shipping dated June, 1938, which is the latest obtainable and in which it is stated that there were 2328 German vessels over 100 tons, which totalled 4,243.835 tons. Britain had 7203 ocean-going ships, totalling 17,780.859 tons, and the Dominions 2476 ships totalling 3.166.961 tons. If the gains by capture and the new ships now available are included, the British proportion is even better than these figures show. The convoy losses remain very small. During the week ended last Sunday, 225 neutral ships were convoyed by the Navy without loss, while the total number of ships so guarded since the war began had reached 1107. These had sustained loss equalling only one-fif-tieth of 1 per cent.