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1048 vessels of 4,997,356 gross tons. This increment of some 400 vessels is represented by purchase of foreign vessels, purchase of shipping board vessels and new building for private account. The purchase of shipping board vessels during this period, tak- ing for lack of better figures the. dif- ference in the shipping board fleet as of July 1, 1921, and July 1, 1928, ac- counts for approximately 200 vessels of 862,179 gross tons. The remain- ing, approximately 200 vessels, of 1.- 559,066 gross tons, added to the pri- vately owned American merchant ma- rine between the years 1917 and 1923, were built for private account in American shipyards or in foreign S. S. Manhattan 24,289 gross tons—Speed 20 knots—Completed, July 27, 1932— Sistership, one—See MARINE Review for September, 1932 S. S. President Hoover—21,936 gross tons—Speed, 20 knots—Comopleted, July 11, 1931 —Sistership, one—See MARINE ReEvirw for August, 1931 shipyards, and purchased from foreign owners. Privately Owned Vessels From 1923 to 1932 the total steel ocean going privately owned merchant fleet of the United States in units of 1000 gross tons and over, engaged in the two categories, foreign and do- mestic commerce, had increased to 1371 vessels of 7,421,964 gross tons. In the meantime the shipping board fleet had decreased from 1313 vessels of 6,370,777 gross tons to 362 vessels of 2,088,864. In other words, during this period the shipping. board had ridded itself of something like 951 ves- sels of 4,281,913 gross tons in these various ways; by selling for scrap- ping, by selling to foreigners under certain conditions and by selling to private American operators. How many vessels were disposed of in this manner in each category is susceptible of determination by a search of the records. For the present purpose it is sufficient to point out the importance of purchased shipping board tonnage. in the increment shown in privately owned tonnage in the interim between 1923 and 1933. During this period the privately owned fleet had increased from 1043 vessels of 4,997,356 gross tons to 1371 vessels of 7,421,964 tons or by an amount equal to 328 ves- sels of 2,424,608 gross tons. This increase in privately owned vessels in the sea going category of 1000 gross tons and over had been made up, as was the increase between the years 1917 and 1923, in three ways; new ships built for private ac- count in American. shipyards; pur- chase from the United States ship- ping board, purchase and building of ships in foreign countries for American account and transferred to United States registry. One definite group can be _ identified. These were built with the aid of construc- tion loans from the United States shipping board. As of July, 1932, 60 new vessels of 610,906 gross tons had been so built. Of the remain- ing 268 vessels of 1,813,702 gross tons, 39 of 265,815 gross tons were more or less elaborately recondi- tioned after purchase from the ship- ping board. The remaining 229 vessels of 1,- 547,887 gross tons by which the pri- vately owned American merchant marine was increased during the 10 year interval between 1923 and 1933 represent other vessels pur- chased from the shipping board, ves- sels built or bought abroad and ves- sels built in American shipyards. To this number must be added replace- ments of privately owned American vessels sold, abandoned or lost. The point, however, is that outside of the vessels built and reconditioned with the aid of construction loans MARINE REVIEW—July, 1933 and the comparatively limited num- ber of new vessels built for private account without aid of construction loans all other vessels range in age and condition of obsolescence from over ten years to 35 years in age. Engaged in Overseas Trade Further, when we stop to con- sider that as of June 30, 1932, only 510 privately owned vessels of 3,- 116,978 gross tons were nominally engaged in foreign trade and that as of March, 1932 of 1371 privately owned vessels of 1000 gross tons with an aggregate gross tonnage of 7,411,964 in both foreign and coast wise trade, 391 of an aggregate gross tonnage of 1,569,045 were idle, we begin to get some idea of the true proportion of American tonnage in overseas trade. Say that the idle tonnage is di- vided between foreign and coastwise in proportion to the number and tonnage in each instance, this will mean that in March, 1932 the active privately owned American merchant marine in the foreign trade amount- ed to approximately 365 vessels of 2,- 230,883 gross tons. Now if to this figure is added the active shipping board vessels at that time engaged in foreign trade amounting to 124 ves- sels of a total aggregate tonnage of 722,039 we get the total figure for American vessels engaged in foreign trade as of March, 1932 of 489 ves- sels with aggregate tonnage of 2,- 952,922 gross tons. Again it must be remembered that in these figures are included a very considerable num- ber and tonnage of tankers, largely owned by and serving oil companies, and not operating in the sense of common carriers. In this connection in a report, dated 1932, by Jesse E. Saugstad of the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce on shipping and shipbuild- ing subsidies, it is stated: “Considering only commercial ves- sels of 1000 gross tons and over, 44 per cent of the total privately owned tonnage of United States reg- istry is owned by industrial or im- porting entities operating in special- ized services such as the petroleum, 9