The term “Merchant Navy” was coined to describe the trading fleet belonging to the British Empire, then encompassing many of the world’s countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Indian subcontinent, parts of Africa, the Far East and the Pacific.

Since the golden age of shipping – when the art of precise navigation was developed and the world was explored and charted – the British had risen to own and control over half the world’s shipping by the turn of the 20th century.

The advent of the Second World War increased the importance of the Allies’ merchant fleets. Supplies and armaments had to be transported by sea and many of the world’s nations banded together with the Merchant Navy to gain added protection for their fleets. Britain and her commonwealth countries united with nations that included Russia, China and Sweden to amass a merchant fleet of almost 150,000 personnel.

The merchant fleet were responsible for maintaining supply lines across the Atlantic during WWII and an estimated 50,000 members of the Merchant Navy lost their lives in the effort, amounting to almost 35% of the entire personnel of the Allied trading fleet.

Today, merchant fleets operate around the world, sometimes complementing the work of their country’s navy. Merchant vessels can often be identified by the initials “M/V” forming part of the ship’s name.