The merchant seamen faced the same dangers of war as the regular armed forces, but they did so as non-military citizens, or civilians. Their merchant ships were peacetime vessels which even if fitted with guns for defense, were not designed to withstand an enemy attack. The job of the Allied Merchant Navy was to carry vital troops, food, fuel and equipment to wherever they were needed in the fight against the Axis alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Although the Allied Merchant Navy participated in all the theatres of war, it is now generally accepted by historians, that their most crucial struggle was "The Battle of the Atlantic". The battle began on September 3rd, 1939, when the British passenger liner Athenia was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and it continued until Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945.


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