Merchant Marine Geocoin (copy tag)

This geocoin was purchased in October of 2010, and we feel it would be muggled soon after being released.  Therefore, to ensure it does not go missing, and also to provide cachers with the opportunity to add the Merchant Marine icon to their public profile trackables list, we are keeping the coin itself, and have made up a copy tag to move from cache to cache.

History, from wikipedia.org (edited): 

The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant ships, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is responsible for transporting cargo and passengers during peace time. In time of war, the Merchant Marine  is an auxiliary to the Navy, and can be called upon to deliver troops and supplies for the military.

Merchant mariners move cargo and passengers between nations and within the United States, operate and maintain deep-sea merchant ships, tugboats, towboats, ferries, dredges, excursion vessels, and other waterborne craft on the oceans, the Great Lakes, rivers, canals,  harbors, and other waterways.

The merchant marine was active in wars from the Confederate commerce raiders of the American Civil War, to the First and Second Battle of the Atlantic in World War I and World War II. 3.1 million tons of merchant ships were lost in World War II. Mariners died at a rate of 1 in 24, which was the highest rate of casualties of any service.  All told, 733 American cargo ships were lost and 8,651 of the 215,000 who served perished on troubled waters and off enemy shores.

Merchant shipping also played its role in the wars in Vietnam and Korea. During the Korean war the number of ships under charter grew from 6 to 255. In September 1950, when the U.S. Marine Corps went ashore at Incheon, 13 Navy cargo ships, 26 chartered American, and 34 Japanese-manned merchant ships, under the operational control of Military Sea Transportation Service participated.

During the Vietnam War, ships crewed by civilian seamen carried 95% of the supplies used by the American armed forces. Many of these ships sailed into combat zones under fire. The SS Mayaguez incident involved the capture of mariners from the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez.

During the first Gulf War, the merchant ships of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) delivered more than 11 million metric tons of vehicles, helicopters, ammunition, fuel and other supplies and equipment. At one point during the war, more than 230 government-owned and chartered ships were involved in the sealift.

For more information, the Internet contains much more detail on the United States Merchant Marine.

Please move the copy tag to any cache, anywhere, and log where it goes on geocaching.com

Thanks !

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