Britain authorises the requisitioning of ships

On 3 August 1914 the British government issued a royal proclamation authorising the requisitioning of merchant ships for the needs of the war. From then on the Admiralty could take over British vessels, undertaking to pay compensation to their owners. Formal requisition notices in the following weeks cited precisely the proclamation of 3 August, although the right of requisition itself derived from the traditional prerogatives of the Crown.

Great Britain then possessed the largest merchant fleet in the world. Hundreds of passenger and cargo ships could be used for military purposes. The state needed them above all to transport troops: the British Expeditionary Force was to cross to the Continent within a few days, together with its horses, guns and supplies.

Merchant ships performed many functions during the war. They served as troopships, as colliers supplying the ships of the Royal Navy with fuel, as hospital ships and as supply vessels. The largest and fastest liners were converted into auxiliary cruisers, armed with guns and used, among other things, to patrol the sea lanes and enforce the blockade of Germany.

The proclamation was part of wider preparations. In the same days Great Britain was mobilising its fleet and army, and the government was working to safeguard seaborne trade, on which the feeding of the island nation depended. The ability to keep shipping going proved in the following years to be one of the factors that decided the outcome of the war.