WW2 Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Transport

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

I didn't realise they were lost in such numbers coming to Australia. I wonder who shouldered the bill for those.

Merchant vessels and their cargoes were insured, just as in peacetime. Premiums varied according to vessel type, shipping route, free running or in convoy, etc. etc. Business is business!

[Mike Cecil]

Tony,

In general terms that's true for unchartered ships carrying mixed cargoes (civilian trade cargo or civilian and military mixed) and for charter ships (ships on govt. charter from private owners), but 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.

Ships from 'enemy' countries taken as a prize of war were used as if they were wholly owned by the Commonwealth (or British government), for example the Danish ships Anglo-Maersk and Astoria, taken over in 1940 (along with their cargoes), or the Italian Remo, seized at gun-point in the open ocean after fleeing an Australian port. The Danish had to go to court at the end of the war to recover their ships by court order.

The Brits also chartered ships such as the Kanimbla from Australian shipping companies for use as Merchant Cruisers early in the war, and later, these were transferred to Australian Govt. Charter and used as Merchant Cruisers, Landing Ships and transports until well after the end of WW2. These ships were on an outright government payment for loss or damage basis at a pre-determined rate. The government also paid for the refurbishment back to a passenger carrying vessel at the time of the cessation of the charter.

Mike C

[Tony Wheeler]

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.

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!