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This paper examines the decline of the previously omnipotent British mercantile marine between the two world wars and the challenges presented thereby to successive British governments. Several packages of financial aid were made available to ship owners but they were limited in scope and did little to improve the trade's underlying competitive position. This in turn reflected the complex nature of the trade's problems; the unwillingness of the ship owners themselves to accept that they were in any way to blame for a faltering commercial performance; and government fears concerning the potential cost of propping up this most international of industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]