From 1943 onward, the Allies perceived a need for faster transport ships. The desperate shipping crisis of the early Battle of the Atlantic had receded somewhat, and emphasis could now be placed on improved quality and speed. The result was...

Oil proved to be the life blood for nations and their armed forces, and thus oil tankers often represented the single most important ships within convoys. SS Ohio is arguably the best-known merchant vessel of WWII, largely due to its...

The need to replace the merchant tonnage lost to enemy commerce raiding prompted the design of the Liberty-class ships. Simple and easy to build, these rather basic merchantmen were put together in large numbers and very quickly – which was...

Preventing attacks on defenceless merchant ships is the other main role of the navy, and it was here that the war was fought, day in and day out, by the humble corvette, frigate and destroyer escort, and later by escort...

Covering a multitude of individual classes of merchant shipping, tramp freighters can be found in every sea of the world, plying their trade while avoiding the larger political issues around them. In the Second World War, many tramp freighters were...

Various vessels were converted to seaplane tenders, most of them small merchant ships fitted with light anti-aircraft armament. Whilst of little value against advanced fighters and bombers, seaplanes were sometimes effective in chasing off or shooting down reconnaissance aircraft and...

As well as fuel, armies and navies need enormous amounts of ammunition in order to function. Ammunition ships were vital to the war effort, but also posed a severe risk to their own forces close by due to the explosive...