Armed Guard

During World War I, enemy attacks on American and Allied shipping created a need for military protection aboard merchant ships. The U.S. Navy provided gun crews to protect the ships and the cargo resulting in the first Armed Guard. At the end of World War I, the Armed Guard was deactivated. The United States reinstated the U.S. Navy Armed Guard as involvement in World War II appeared to be imminent. The Armed Guard provided protection for merchant ships from submarines, enemy surface raiders, and air attacks. Totaling 144,970 enlisted men, they worked as gunners, signal men and radio operators on 6,236 merchant ships. Without guns until November 1941 due to the passing of Section 2 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, the merchant ships were vulnerable targets to the enemies even along the American coast. Facing great obstacles, such as German dominance of the seas until 1942 and gun shortages throughout the war, the Armed Guard continued to defend the merchant ships. With over 700 ships being sunk, the number of casualties roughly range from 1,810 to 6,000 crew men, dead or lost at sea. The U.S. Navy Armed Guard was deactivated again at the end of the war.