Hi Paul,

Thanks for pointing out something that too often goes unnoticed about the merchant marine – they had no shore jobs. If you joined the merchant marine you were going to go to sea.

The other services had hundreds of thousands of their ranks serving in shore positions far away from any combat. They needed enormous supply, administration and support functions in order to field their fighting forces.

There were no real administrative, supply or support services for merchant mariners that were provided by merchant mariners. The shipping companies paid the men and did almost all of the paperwork with the union doing whatever paperwork was left.

They were not even issued uniforms or work clothes. They walked up the gangplank onto their ship wearing their own clothes and they even had to supply some of their own tools like sextants, pocket knives, carpenter tools, etc. There was a sextant and a pair of binoculars on the bridge that belonged to the ship but most officers supplied their own. Carpenters almost always brought their own tools. They were not even issued cold weather or rain gear. They had to buy that too. If you didn’t already have your own gear you could get an advance on your pay and purchase it from the “slop chest” aboard ship. Of course you had to choose from what they happened to have at the time (perhaps supplied to the shipping company by the lowest bidder) and it may well not be as desirable or fit as well or provide as much protection as something you would buy ashore.

The tools needed by the engineers were owned by the ship but I know my dad generally used to bring some of his own tools aboard though these were generally specialized tools or tools that did the job better than those normally carried on the ships.

At any rate, being in the merchant marine during the war meant going to sea and that generally meant going in harms way. On the east and gulf coasts you were in a war zone as soon as you left port and when you left port on the west coast you were probably headed into a war zone. No matter where you were at sea you never knew if you were going to be attacked though. There weren’t that many completely safe areas at sea during the war.

Additionally, while the exact destinations and cargos of ships going into the hot areas was a military secret if you specifically wanted to go where you might see action you could generally arrange it and that attracted some to the merchant marine. In the military all you could do was volunteer for it and hope that the powers that be would grant your request.

Also as you point out, the merchant marine was the only way many patriotic Americans who didn’t qualify for the other services due to age (too old or too young) or health or other reasons could get into the fray. Almost any male American citizen with a pulse, able to do the work and with the willingness to go into harms way for their country was welcome. Even the racial segregation practiced by the other services was ignored in the merchant marine.

Regards,

Ken Dunn