Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Cecil
it also depended upon the nature of the use and which controller -US, CDN, Australian or British - as to the nature and extent of the coverage.
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Yes I'm aware there were some rather complex arrangements entered into Mike, notably between the British Govt. and the Norwegian merchant fleet, which under exiled Norwegian requisition formed the worlds largest shipping company. Unlike the Danish fleet it wasn't confiscated by the Brits, but as you mention it was some time after the war before accounts were finally settled and vessels returned to their legal owners in fit state.
I find it quite fascinating how war and commerce coexisted in WW2, and I'm reminded of the story of MV San Demetriou, a British merchant tanker which sailed in convoy from Halifax with a load of aviation fuel, and was attacked by a German cruiser in mid-Atlantic. With the vessel ablaze the crew abandoned ship, but after two freezing nights in a lifeboat they spotted it still afloat, and despite being still ablaze they decided to reboard and attempt to resume passage. Amazingly enough they reached Ireland a week later, with most of the aviation fuel still unconsumed by fire, and having received no assistance from another vessel, and the captain having been picked up in the other lifeboat, they were legally entitled to salvage money of several thousand pounds, which they were duly awarded in court!
It was the subject of a movie at the time, titled "San Demetriou, London", which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it before. It crops every now and then on late night TV so you may need to record it like I did!