From August, 1914, to September, 1918, German submarines sank 7,151,088 deadweight tons of shipping in excess of the tonnage turned out in that period by the allied and neutral nations. That total does not represent the depletion of the fleets at the command of the allied and neutral nations, however, as 3,795,000 deadweight tons of enemy ships were seized in the meantime. Actually, the allied and neutral nations on September 1, 1918, had only 3,362,088 less tons of shipping in operation than in August, 1914.
These details of the shipping situation were issued by the United States Shipping Board along with figures to show that, with American and allied yards under full headway, Europe's danger of being starved by the German submarine was apparently at an end. The United States took the lead of all nations in shipbuilding.
In all, the allied and neutral nations lost 21,404,913 deadweight tons of shipping since the beginning of the war, showing that Germany maintained an average destruction of about 445,000 deadweight tons monthly. During the latter months, however, the sinkings fell considerably below the average, and allied construction passed destruction for the first time in May, 1918.
The losses of the allied and neutral shipping in August, 1918, amounted to 327,676 gross tonnage, of which 176,401 was British and 151,275 allied and neutral, as compared with the adjusted figures for July of 323,772, and 182,524 and 141,248, respectively. British losses from all causes during August were 10,887 tons higher than in June, which was the lowest month since the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare.
An official statement of the United States Shipping Board, issued
September 21, 1918, set forth the following facts:
STATUS OF WORLD TONNAGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918
(Germany and Austria excluded)
Deadweight
Tons
Total losses (allied and neutral)
August, 1914-September 1, 1918 21,404,913
Total construction (allied and neutral)
August, 1914-September 1, 1918 14,247,825
Total enemy tonnage captured (to end of 1917) 3,795,000
Excess of losses over gains 3,362,088
Estimated normal increase in world's tonnage if war had not occurred (based on rate of increase, 1905-1914) 14,700,000