In 1870 the tonnage of sailing vessels was four times as great as that of steam vessels. By 1900 the position was reversed. The growth of the effective carrying power was much greater than is indicated by the mere tonnage figures as the steam vessel made three or four voyages for every voyage of the sailing vessel. The total tonnage owned in the United Kingdom was reduced by nearly 21 million net tons between 1914 and 1918 by reason of war building failing to keep pace with war losses. Since the war the highest total reached was at the end of 1925 when it was prac tically the same as at the end of 1912. The depression in shipping in the last few years has discouraged building and has accelerated the scrapping of older vessels, and tonnage on the register at the end of 1927 was more than a million tons less than at the end of 1925. Since 1923 the Board of Trade returns show motor ship tonnage on the register separately. The increase from 263,00o net tons in 1923 to 765,000 net tons in 1927 is not so great either absolutely or relatively to the total tonnage on the register as was the increase in steamship tonnage from 2,723,000 tons in 188o to 3,973,000 tons in 1885 and to 5,043,000 in 1890.
The world's mercantile marine doubled itself between 1666 and 1800 from the 2 million tons of Sir Henry Petty's estimate to the 4 million tons of Mulhall's estimate and increased tenfold between 1800 and 1922 from 4 million to 41 million net tons.
Motor ship tonnage has increased from 146,00o tons in 1914 to 2,576,00o tons in 1927 and the same comment can be made as on the United Kingdom table that this increase is not so great either absolutely or relatively as the increase in steamships between 186o and 1870 or between 1870 and 1880. The world's merchant shipping was on the whole increasing at a rapid rate during the period. Sailing ship tonnage was increasing until 186o, roughly stationary until 188o and has, on the whole, been steadily declin ing since that date.
The relative positions of the merchant fleets of the chief mari time nations for the last 4o years can be studied from the pub lished records of Lloyd's Register of Shipping which go back to 1886.
The table on the following page shows the steam (including motor) and sailing ship tonnage for June of the years 1886, 1920 and 1927. Vessels of under i oo tons gross are omitted from Lloyd's Register figures.
In 1886 the United States occupied the second place numeri cally, but much of its shipping was employed on the Great Lakes and in the reserved coasting trade, and Norway came immediately after the United Kingdom among world carriers. The columns
of the table headed "1914" show the position immediately before the World War. The United States had dropped to third place and more than half of the 4.3 million tons of United States steam shipping was employed exclusively on the Great Lakes.
Germany was by far the most important shipping country in the world after the United Kingdom. The figures for the year 192o are inserted in the table as showing the position immediately after the war better than the figures for 1918 or 1919. Early in 192o Germany surrendered all her larger vessels to the Allies under the terms of the Peace Treaty and her steam tonnage was reduced to 419,00o gross tons, or less than she had in 1886.
The United States total had increased to over 141 million tons of steam and motor shipping, of which about 121 million gross tons was ocean-going. This huge increase in American shipping followed the completion during 1919 and 192o of the building programme entered upon in the last years of the war. Much of this tonnage was of doubtful value, nearly 2 million tons consist ing of wooden vessels. During the last seven years, American tonnage has been steadily reduced while Germany has been slowly rebuilding her merchant fleet, and she is well on the way to regain her prewar position.
Japan, Italy, France and Norway have all considerably im proved their relative positions since The British Empire owned 63.6% of the mechanically pro pelled shipping in the world in 1886, 35.2% in 1914, 37.4% in 1920 and 34.6% in 1927. (L. I.) In the 19th century United States shipping passed through stages of brilliance (see SHIPPING, HISTORY OF), gradually fading and declining into an inconsequential factor in the world's carry ing trade, to be revived again since the World War in a new effort to provide United States cargoes with ships of the same nation ality suitable to convey them to their respective destinations.
Early in the history of American independence the shipping industry was pre-eminent among the industries developed on the western side of the Atlantic. At that time the United States was primarily a seacoast country, and overland transport had not been sufficiently developed to make exploitation of the interior convenient, while the size of the population did not make it urgent. Inter-state transport was chiefly by water, as was, of course, transportation between the states and the European sources of 'articles whose manufacture was not yet developed in America. Materials for wooden ship construction were to be had cheaply and at locations convenient to the coast. Therefore a large shipbuilding industry was set up and flourished along the North Atlantic seaboard.