NOTE: The figures in this table are unofficial estimates obtained from various sources.
Merchant Marine Casualties in World War II
In 1988, the U.S. government conferred official veteran status on those who served aboard oceangoing merchant ships in World War II. The officers and crews played a key role in transporting the troops and war matériel that enabled the United States and its allies to defeat the Axis powers.
During the war, merchant seamen died as a result of enemy attacks at a rate that proportionately exceeded all branches of the armed services, with the exception of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Enemy action sank more than 700 U.S.-flag merchant ships and claimed the lives of over 6,000 civilian seafarers. Untold thousands of additional seamen were wounded or injured during these attacks, and nearly 600 were made prisoners of war.