As the first full year of U.S. involvement in the war came to a close, Admiral Emory S. Land, Chairman of the War Shipping Administration, issued a grim report: 3,200 seamen had either been killed or gone missing at sea during 1942. The statistics revealed a 3.8% casualty rate for the merchant marine, compared to 0.75% for the American armed services.

In his statement, Admiral Land cited a “lack of sufficient armament on merchant vessels” as well as “inadequate escort vessels, slow convoys, and insufficient safety devices” all as contributors to the high casualty rate. The sobering report served as a call to remedy these problems, and indeed, the remaining years of the war saw increased attention to the issues Admiral Land listed. [see The Lookout 1943 March http://qcarchives.com/sci/items/show/1275]