Today, May 22nd, is National Maritime Day! n 1933, Congress declared National Maritime Day to honor the US maritime industry and commemorate the American steamship Savannah’s voyage from the United States to England, marking the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean with steam propulsion. During World War II more than 250,000 members of the American Merchant Marine served their country, with more than 6,700 giving their lives, hundreds being detained as prisoners of war and more than 800 U.S. merchant ships being sunk or damaged.
Maritime Day is a time-honored tradition that recognizes one of our country’s most important industries – the Merchant Mariners and the commercial ships that keep the global market running.
If you’d like to keep up with “thing” in the world wide shipping industry, I can recommend the YouTube Channel: “What’s Going On with Shipping”. The host, Sal Mercogliano is an associate professor of history at Campbell University in North Carolina and adjunct professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He holds a bachelor of science in marine transportation from the State University of New York Maritime College, along with a merchant marine deck officer license (unlimited tonnage 2nd mate), a master’s in maritime history and nautical archaeology from East Carolina University, and a Ph.D. in military and naval history from the University of Alabama. …. he knows his stuff and he is entertaining as heck and informative too.
It can be your secret nerd channel. I won’t tell…
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Don’t forget Brother Marius in the Korean War…jp
Thank you for sharing this information. My father was in the Merchant Marine during WWII and made several Atlantic crossings and was in England during the D-Day invasion, but like many of his generation, talked very little about his war time service.
Thank you