Admiralty Summary of Shipping Losses
Record of Three Years
The British Board of Admiralty, with the sanction of the War Cabinet and the concurrence of the Allies, on March 21 published a memorandum revealing the world's total shipping losses from the beginning of the war to Jan. 1, 1918. The essential portions are as follows:
In the Spring of 1917 the full menace of the submarine campaign was first disclosed. Since that date we have steadily increased our knowledge and our material resources for this novel warfare. Three statements are attached, showing for the United Kingdom and for the world, for the period August, 1914, to December, 1917:
1. Losses by enemy action and marine risk.
2. Mercantile shipbuilding output.
3. Enemy vessels captured and brought into service.
Diagrams showing in graphic form the losses and shipbuilding output for the United Kingdom and for the world are also attached. The situation should be viewed from the standpoint of the world's tonnage, as in these problems the mercantile navies of the whole world, excluding the enemy, may be regarded as one. It will be noticed that the diagrams record facts, and that nothing has been included in the nature of an estimate.