1777 736,234 tons 'outwards.'
1778 657,238 " "
1779 590,911 " "
1780 619,462 " "
1781 547,953 " "
1782 552,851 " "
1783 795,669 " "
1784 846,355 " "

At first sight it would seem as if there had, indeed, been a
shrinkage. We find, however, on further examination that in reality
there had been none. 'During the [American] war the ship-yards in
every port of Britain were full of employment; and consequently
new ship-yards were set up in places where ships had never been
built before.' Even the diminution in the statistics of outward
clearances indicated no diminution in the number of merchant
ships or their crews. The missing tonnage was merely employed
elsewhere. 'At this time there were about 1000 vessels of private
property employed by the Government as transports and in other
branches of the public service.' Of course there had been some
diminution due to the transfer of what had been British-American
shipping to a new independent flag. This would not have set free
any men to join the navy.

When we come to the Revolutionary war we find ourselves confronted
with similar conditions. The case of this war has often been
quoted as proving that in former days the navy had to rely
practically exclusively on the merchant service when expansion
was necessary. In giving evidence before a Parliamentary committee
about fifty years ago, Admiral Sir T. Byam Martin, referring
to the great increase of the fleet in 1793, said, 'It was the
merchant service that enabled us to man some sixty ships of the
line and double that number of frigates and smaller vessels.' He
added that we had been able to bring promptly together 'about
35,000 or 40,000 men of the mercantile marine.' The requirements
of the navy amounted, as stated by the admiral, to about 40,000
men; to be exact, 39,045. The number of seamen in the British
Empire in 1793 was 118,952. In the next year the number showed
no diminution; in fact it increased, though but slightly, to
119,629. How our merchant service could have satisfied the
above-mentioned immense demand on it in addition to making good
its waste and then have even increased is a thing that baffles
comprehension. No such example of elasticity is presented by
any other institution. Admiral Byam Martin spoke so positively,
and, indeed, with such justly admitted authority, that we should
have to give up the problem as insoluble were it