TO
ALGERNON C. F. HENDERSON
AS REPRESENTING A SYMPATHETIC AND UNDERSTANDING
GOVERNANCE IN AN IMPORTANT SECTION
OF THE BRITISH MERCHANTS'
SEA SERVICE

CONTENTS

PART I
PAGE
I THE MERCHANTS' SERVICE
Our Foundation[3]
The Structure[14]
II OUR RELATIONS WITH THE NAVY
Joining Forces[21]
At Sea[26]
Our War Staff[30]
III THE LONGSHORE VIEW[44]
IV CONNECTION WITH THE STATE
Trinity House, our Alma Mater[53]
The Board of Trade[61]
V MANNING[67]

PART II
VI THE COASTAL SERVICES
The Home Trade[77]
Pilots[87]
Lightships[91]
VII 'THE PRICE O' FISH'[97]
VIII THE RATE OF EXCHANGE[103]
IX INDEPENDENT SAILINGS[110]
X BATTLEDORE AND SHUTTLECOCK[116]
XI ON SIGNALS AND WIRELESS[120]
XII TRANSPORT SERVICES[125]
Interlude[132]
'The Man-o'-War's 'er 'usband'[134]
XIII THE SALVAGE SECTION
The Tidemasters[141]
A Day on the Shoals[147]
The Dry Dock[156]
XIV ON CAMOUFLAGE—AND SHIPS' NAMES[163]
XV FLAGS AND BROTHERHOOD OF THE SEA[169]

PART III
XVI THE CONVOY SYSTEM[177]
XVII OUTWARD BOUND[184]
XVIII RENDEZVOUS[190]
XIX CONFERENCE[198]
XX THE SAILING
Fog, and the Turn of the Tide[205]
'In Execution of Previous Orders'[212]
XXI THE NORTH RIVER[217]
XXII HOMEWARDS
The Argonauts[224]
On Ocean Passage[230]
'One Light on all Faces'[236]
XXIII 'DELIVERING THE GOODS'[244]
XXIV CONCLUSION: 'M N'[252]

APPENDIX[255]
INDEX[257]

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
Merchantmen at Gun Practice[Frontispiece]
The Clyde from the Tower of the Clyde Trust Buildings[xi]
Gravesend: A Merchantman Outward Bound[3]
The Bridge of a Merchantman[7]
The Old and the New: The Margaret of Dublin and R.M.S. Tuscania[15]
In a Merchantman—Bomb-Thrower Practice[21]
A British Submarine detailed for Instruction of Merchant Officers[31]
The D.A.M.S. Gunwharf at Glasgow[33]
Instructional Anti-Submarine Course for Merchant Officers at Glasgow[39]
The Loss of a Liner[44]
The Mersey from the Liver Buildings, Liverpool[49]
The Master of the Gull Lightship writing the Log[53]
At Gravesend: Pilots awaiting an Inward-Bound Convoy[59]
Transports leaving Southampton on the Night Passage to France[67]
Liverpool: Merchantmen signing on for Oversea Voyages[69]
The Ruler of Pilots at Deal[77]
A Heavily Armed Coasting Barge[83]
The Lampman of the Gull Lightship[93]
Minesweepers going out[97]
Southampton Water[103]
'Out-Boats' in a Merchantman[105]
Firemen standing by to relieve the Watch[111]
Queen's Dock, Glasgow[116]
The Bridge-Boy repairing Flags[121]
A Transport Embarking Troops for France[125]
Transports in Southampton Docks[129]
The Leviathan docking at Liverpool[135]
Salvage Vessels off Yarmouth, Isle of Wight[141]
In a Salvage Vessel: Overhauling the Insulation of the Power Leads[145]
A Torpedoed Merchantman on the Shoals: Salvage Officers making a Survey[151]
A Torpedoed Ship in Dry Dock[157]
Dazzle[163]
An Apprentice in the Merchants' Service[171]
A Standard Ship at Sea[177]
Building a Standard Ship[179]
The Thames Estuary in War-Time[184]
Dropping the Pilot[187]
Examination Service Patrol boarding an Incoming Steamer[190]
Dawn: Convoy preparing to put to Sea[193]
Evening: Plymouth Hoe[198]
A Convoy Conference[201]
The Old Harbour, Plymouth[205]
Convoy sailing from Plymouth Sound[207]
Inward Bound[217]
A Transport Loading[219]
A Convoy in the Atlantic[224]
The Bows of the Kashmir damaged by Collision[227]
The Mayflower Quay, the Barbican, Plymouth[233]
Evening: The Mersey from the Landing-Stage[241]
The Steersman[243]
The Work of a Torpedo[244]
Transports Discharging in Liverpool Docks[245]
Troop Transports disembarking at the Landing-Stage, Liverpool[249]
'M N'[252]