Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!xanth!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!cbnews!ugthomps@cs.buffalo.edu
From: ugthomps@cs.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: US sealift capability (was: Re: Are A/C Carriers Obsolete?)
Message-ID: <3418@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 24 Jan 89 02:56:29 GMT
References: <3335@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
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In article <3335@cbnews.ATT.COM> wbralick%dragonlady@afit-ab.arpa (William A. Bralick) writes:
>Which brings up a point.  What is the status of our merchant marine?
>I seem to recall (hazily) comments to the effect that our sealift
>capability is a far cry from what it would have to be to support a
>protracted conflict.  Comments?

The US Merchant fleet number ~5000 ships at the end of WWII.  That
number has since dwindled to ~500 due to foreign competition and a lack
of the US realization of the necessity for a merchant fleet that is
US registered.

The entire fleet now in existence would have to suffer very few losses
in order to continue to support a war in europe.  However, history was
shown that in WWII the greatest tonnage of ships sunk were merchant marine.

The outlook of US support of a war in europe is dismal.

                         - G