I'm no expert on the specifics but merchant seamen received certain pay bonuses in addition to base pay and overtime pay. The book "Liberty - The Ships That Won the War," by Peter Elphick, contains a quote to the effect that merchant sailors received $15 per day for sailing in a designated war zone. They also received additional bonuses for coming under attack, described in the book as "$150 per port" although the meaning of "per port" is not clear to me. (This information appears on page 123 of the book.) Another book, "The Forgotten Heroes" by Brian Herbert, mentions a bonus payment of $125 for coming under air attack (see page 181). In any case merchant seamen surely must have received additional pay for service in the North Atlantic convoys to Russia and back. Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard website
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