When Mr. Balfour was First Lord of the Admiralty, speaking in the House of Commons on March 7th, 1916, he directed special attention to this aspect of naval work, not merely to the service of ships flying the White Ensign, but to that of transports and of merchant and cargo vessels, and their officers and men, conveying imports and exports, and the supplies required by the Allied armies. “On them,” he said, “we depend, not less than on our armed forces, for maintaining the necessary economic basis upon which all war must ultimately be waged.” There were, as he said, thousands of officers and men whose ships had been sunk under them by mine and submarine, and yet who had cheerfully signed on again, and were not to be driven from their ancient heritage of the sea. England depends upon her mercantile marine for her national existence. To a great extent, her food and raw materials are in its charge; and it also brings without ceasing hundreds of thousands of tons of munitions of many kinds required by the Allies. When, therefore, we estimate the work of the Navy in the war, we must give to the merchant branch of the Sea Service the position it deserves, as an absolute and primary necessity to England and her Allies. The nobility of the work carried on by the officers and men of the merchant service and the fishermen, whether in armed ships, mine-trawlers, or cargo vessels, is a dominant note of the war. Their heroism has been conspicuous, and, as was stated by Admiral Sir Henry Jackson, when he was First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, the facility with which they learned to carry out their duties as part of a trained fighting force was extraordinary. “The Allied nations,” he said, “owe them a deep debt of gratitude for their response, as well as for their indomitable pluck and endurance.” “There is no room in the Navy for anything but the most sincere admiration and respect for the officers and men of the mercantile marine,” said Sir John Jellicoe. They had practically become a part of the fighting force, sharing in the work of the Navy in the war, and their courageous conduct and unflinching devotion to duty have gained the testimony of naval officers everywhere, not only in the British service, but in the Allied navies which have come into contact with them. Of the magnificent service of the mine-trawlers we have spoken in a previous chapter.