History of the World War, Volume 4 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest warMarch, Francis A., Jr.
History
History of the World War, Volume 4 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest war
March, Francis A., Jr.
World War, 1914-1918
From August, 1914, to September, 1918, German submarines sank 7,157,088
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
Net deficit due to war 18,062,088
In August, deliveries to the Shipping Board and other sea-going
construction in the United States for private parties passed allied
and neutral destruction for that month. The figures:
Gross
(Actual Tons)
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