United Seamen's Service: Support for Merchant Mariners
Merchant Seamen received this 48-page booklet, first published in 1943 by the United Seamen's Service, listing sources of help if they developed physical or mental health problems, giving the addresses of residential and recreational "clubs" in U.S. and foreign ports, and explaining what to do if stranded overseas.
The title seems to be a loose analogy of the procedure of sending merchant ships out in convoys, protected and supported by aircraft and warships. Similarly, the Table of Contents lists various forms of protection and support for seamen - not on the high seas, but "on the beach."
Lightly armed merchant ships could be sitting ducks for torpedoes or attack from the air. Over 200 Liberty ships were sunk in World War II, as of course were many other cargo ships. Seamen rescued by anyone other than the U.S. Navy might need to follow the steps outlined in Shore Convoy.
The main focus of the booklet, as stated on the first page (below), is fitness and health. Names and addresses of the nation's Marine Hospitals (including the one where Herman received training) and U.S. Public Health Department Clinics are arranged by state.
It also describes the four programs of the United Seamen's Service. Of special interest is the personal service division which assists with problems of any sort. A page describing this service is reproduced at the end of this section.
All merchant ships were under the control of the War Shipping Administration, as we have seen, and WSA offices at American consulates could be valuable resources for seamen needing assistance abroad.
The American Red Cross was another source of support.
Repatriation
An unusually interesting chapter of Shore Convoy explains procedures for repatriation of shipwrecked or stranded seamen (below) alongside information about State Department policy on the repatriation of alien seamen.
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The last section of Shore Convoy gives addresses for the residential and recreational clubs maintained by the United Seamen's Service in U.S. ports. Room rates ranged from fifty cents to $2.50 per person and meals were served, at "low cost," if there were no restaurants nearby. Five of the ports also had recreation clubs.
Clubs overseas included four in the United Kingdom; one in Durban, South Africa; one in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; and one in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Because the booklet was current only as of late 1942 - a year after the U.S. entered the war - the page reproduced below notes that six more centers will soon be set up in the expanding theaters of the war.
Page 43 gives examples of the "personal service" available to seamen.
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United Seamen's Service is very active in 2021, nearly eight decades after Herman was given a copy of Shore Convoy. Visit the website at https://www.unitedseamensservice.org/
A good description of USS may also be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Seamen%27s_Service
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