------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Total | | | Seamen | | | additional | | | voted for | | | number | | Year. | the navy | Increase. | 'Waste.' | required. | |-------------------------------------------------------| | 1774 | 15,646 | -- | -- | -- | | 1775 | 18,000 | 2,354 | 936 | 3,290 | | 1776 | 21,335 | 3,335 | 1,080 | 4,415 | | 1777 | 34,871 | 13,536 | 1,278 | 14,184 | | 1778 | 48,171 | 13,300 | 2,088 | 15,388 | | 1779 | 52,611 | 4,440 | 2,886 | 7,326 | | 1780 | 66,221 | 13,610 | 3,156 | 16,766 | | 1781 | 69,683 | 3,462 | 3,972 | 7,434 | | 1782 | 78,695 | 9,012 | 4,176 | 13,188 | | 1783 | 84,709 | 6,014 | 4,722 | 10,736 | ------------------------------------------------------- It cannot be believed that the merchant service, with its then dimensions, could have possibly satisfied these great and repeated demands, besides making up its own 'waste,' unless its size were much reduced. After 1777, indeed, there was a considerable fall in the figures of English tonnage 'outwards.' I give these figures down to the first year of peace. 1777 736,234 tons 'outwards.' 1778 657,238 " " 1779 590,911 " " 1780 619,462 " " 1781 547,953 " " 1782 552,851 " " 1783 795,669 " " 1784 846,355 " " At first sight it would seem as if there had, indeed, been a shrinkage. We find, however, on further examination that in reality there had been none. 'During the [American] war the ship-yards in every port of Britain were full of employment; and consequently new ship-yards were set up in places where ships had never been built before.' Even the diminution in the statistics of outward clearances indicated no diminution in the number of merchant ships or their crews. The missing tonnage was merely employed elsewhere. 'At this time there were about 1000 vessels of private property employed by the Government as transports and in other branches of the public service.' Of course there had been some diminution due to the transfer of what had been British-American shipping to a new independent flag. This would not have set free any men to join the navy.