During this era, merchant shipping was targeted in two wo rld wars, and in each war ro ughl y a third of the wo rld 's oceango ing merchantmen were sunk. N umbers were made good by wartime co nstruction, mostly of standardized types. In the latter part ofWo rld War II the great majo ri ty of these replacements were built in the US, particularly the Liberty Shi ps and their va riations. In the postwar period , merchant Aeets of all nations were filled with such ships. They incorporated novel co nstruction methods, including prefabricatio n and extensive use of welding, and in the immediate postwar yea rs th ere were losses in heavy seas, some due to in experienced operators and some to stru ctural defects. By the 1950s general cargo steam ers were still prevalent in ports aro und the wo rld, but thereafter the type steadily declined in favo r of today's larger and mo re specialized types of carrier. Egypt's blocki ng of the Suez Canal between 1967 and 1975, which was provoked by war with Israel, had the effect of has tening the adoptio n of supertankers and permanently changing the pattern of wo rld trade routes. Maritime trade on ocean ro utes today is carried largely in specialized ships: bulk carriers of oil, grain, o re and liquefied narural gas; container ships; and vehicle transporters. General cargo vessels are now to be fo und almost entirely in coastwise and localized operatio ns. Some modern freighters are equipped with a towering array ofl ifting gear, which rivals that available in
Beira Docks, Mozambique (1353) even the most important ports, but a great many ships never need ro come alongside at all : they load and discharge their cargo by means of giant hoses while the vessel is moored to dolphins planted in deep water. The Port of New Orleans, one of th e largest in the country, has few deepwater berths to be seen . Itinerant cargo steamers, eminently sensible and functional, rather crankylooking bur once so universal, are now scarcely ro be seen at sea, and the tramp steamer, as Kipling knew it, has become extinct. ,!,
fan Marshall is a Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) and the author ofjive books ofpaintings: Armored Ships, Ironclads, Passage East, Flying
Boats, and C ruisers and La G uerre de Course. His work hangs in permanent collections of the US Naval Academy Museum at Annapolis; the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth, England; the Scottish United Services Museum at Edinburgh Castle; Mai ne Maritime Museum; Lloyds of London; Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Co. Limerick, Treland; Botswana National Museum; the Royal Netherlands Navy Museum at Den Helder, Netherlands; and the US Naval \,%r College, Newport, Rhode Island. For twenty years his paintings have been shown in London by Oliver Swann; Swann's gallery is now merged under the name of the Tryon and Royal Exchange Art Gallery. In the US, Marshall's work is shown by the Russell Jinishian Gallery at Fairfield, Connecticut, and the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut. The many prestigious venues that have hosted his exhibitions include the annual exhibitions of the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London and at the Mystic International at Mystic Seaport. In 2004 he received the Rudolf]. Schaefer Maritime H eritage Award at the Mystic International and, in 2006, their Award of Excellence. A native ofScotland, he acquired his qualifications as an architect at the University of Cape Town and the University of Pennsylvania. His architectural career was in private practice, Largely in East and Central Africa. Since 1386, he and his wife have made their home on Mount Desert Island in Maine. Ian is currently President of the ASMA.
SS Umgeni in drydock, Cape Town (1351) 36
SEA HISTORY 129, WINTER 2009-10