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~ MERCHANT SHIPS, Needed For National Economy and Defense BY COMMANDER A. B. COURT* three thousand miles of sea coast could possibly ignore the sea; for the sea, to every people that lives along its shores, is forever both a defense and a menace, a barrier and a highway, a confine and a lure. With less logic than almost any modern nation could we of the United States deny the influence of the sea upon our national fortunes. Our forefathers came here across the sea; our whole history is full of its lore. Our water borne commerce—coast- wise, intercoastal, and foreign—is probably not exceeded by that of any other country. The products of our mines, our oil wells, our farms, our mills, and our factories are carried across the sea to every quarter of the globe. The products and the art of all the world, brought to us by sea, find ready markets among us. Our culture mingles with that of Europe, Asia, and our neighbors in the West- ern hemisphere, Our possessions ex- tend half-way around the world; our ships encirele it; our finance and our engineering enterprise are inextric- ably interwoven with that of every people on earth. For all the ensuing traffic the thoroughfare is the sea. N? COMMUNITY bounded by Security of Maritime Interests Various elements are involved in the security of these farflung ‘‘mari- time interests’ of ours. The depend- ability of foreign source of raw ma- terials, the assurance of foreign mar- kets, the reliability of communica- tions, the availability of bases for *The author, Commander A. B. Court (CC) U. S. N., is attached to the Office of Chief of Naval Operations, Navy De- partment, Washington, D. C. ® The great guns speak. A file of United States battleships in battle force practice, firing salvos from their main bat- teries ® our operations abroad, the diligence of our agents, the skill of our dipio- mats, our teachers, our missionaries, and all the vast organization of our enterprise and finance in gaining and holding the good will and respect of foreign peoples—all these things en- ter into it. But in the last analysis the security and permanence of our “maritime interests’ rest upon the foundation of ships—-seagoing ves- sels that ply upon the oceans which cover three-fourths of the earth. Sea going vessels under any nation- al flag may therefore be regarded as evidence of the magnitude and vigor of the maritime interests of that na- tion. So it is with other nations, and so it is with our’s. Our merchant marine represents this nation’s in- terest in world enterprise and trade. Our navy represents the strength of this nation’s purpose to defend its possessions, its interests, and the rights of its citizens wherever they happen to be. Together, the mer- chant marine and the navy show what place this nation believes itself en- titled to occupy among the great sov- ereign powers of the earth. Although these two manifestations of our national spirit are frequently thought of as having little in com- mon, that conception is far from cor- rect. They are, on the contrary, closely related, complementary, and interdependent. Neither is secure without the other, in peace or war. The navy, of course, is the profes- sional defense of the ‘‘maritime in- terests’’ as well as of the territory of the nation. But the merchant marine also is a part of the national defense, in addition to its function in promot- ing the “‘proper growth of the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States.’’ Dual Role of Merchant Marine This dual role of the merchant ma- rine arises from the theory, amply supported by facts observed in the past, that the defense of any national interest is a national concern, the U. 8. 8S. New York, first class battleship. One of several modernized in Navy yards since the Washington treaty 12 MARINE REVIEwW—October, 1934