Records on the Armed Guard site shows the following for WW 2: Merchant Marine serving, 243,000; died, 9,521; percentage, 3.90%; and ratio, 1 in 26. Does anyone know what these figures were for World War One?
I need this information to help an author in the UK who has helped provide me with some valuable info. Thanks "Ole Salts". John
Because the United States entered World War I fairly late, and because most war casualties occurred in land battles rather than at sea, one could presume that the number of merchant marine casualties during World War I would be fairly modest, compared with that of World War II.
I have been unable to find an online source that clearly depicts World War I merchant marine casualties. I did, however, find an interesting page that lists all U.S. merchant ships sunk or damaged during World War I, along with casualties, if any for each incident, although the casualties are not totaled on this page. See http://www.usmm.org/ww1merchant.html. This page, in turn, lists its (long-ago) source as being "American Ship Casualties of the World War, Including Naval Vessels, Merchant Ships, Sailing Vessels, and Fishing Craft," compiled by Historical Section Navy Department, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1923.
I have totaled the casualties (deaths) mentioned on the above web page, and summarize them below, assuming my math is correct:
Ships sunk by German raiders: casualties - 1
Ships sunk or damaged by enemy torpedo, gunfire or bomb: casualties – 417
Ships mined: casualties – 46
Ships sunk or seriously damaged in collisions / Ships sunk or seriously damaged from miscellaneous causes [i.e., maritime accidents]: casualties – 163
Casualties in the first three categories are clearly those associated directly with combat situations. Whether one wants to consider the fourth category as combat-related is something of personal opinion. On one hand such incidents were likely not directly involved with combat. On the other hand, the ships may have been where they were when the incidents (and associated casualties) occurred only because there was a war going on.
If you consider only the first three categories, the casualty total is 464.
If you consider all four categories, the casualty total is 627.
A further consideration is that the web page does not indicate whether the casualties were all merchant marine crewmen, or whether some of the casualties may have been passengers (whether civilian or military) or whether some of the casualties may even have been of the World War I version of the Armed Guard.
However I do not know the total number of U.S. merchant mariners who served during World War I, which would be necessary to calculate casualty rates. Since merchant mariners were (and are) civilians employed by individual shipping companies rather than part of a single discrete organization, such employment information would likely have been scattered among the various shipping companies, most of which are no longer in business.
There are a number of books that describe the history of the U.S. merchant marine. It is possible that these books contain estimates of merchant marine employment totals for certain periods, perhaps including that of World War I. See http://www.usmm.org/books.html#anchor27740 and http://www.usmm.org/books.html#anchor25722 for titles of books that may provide useful information.