| 释义 |
merchant navy|ˌmɜːtʃənt ˈneɪvɪ|
[merchant a. 2 + navy1.]
A fleet or number of ships used in trade and not for purposes of war.
In 19th-cent. official sources called ‘merchant shipping’, ‘merchant service’, ‘mercantile marine’, ‘mercantile navy’, but not ‘merchant navy’.
1875T. Farrer in A. Hurd Merchant Navy (1921) I. 80 The actual increase of our Merchant Navy is a most remarkable fact. 1921A. Hurd Merchant Navy I. 2 Within a few months of the opening of hostilities, the King, in a message of appreciation of the services of the merchant seamen, referred to ‘his Merchant Navy’,..and the Prime Minister..described the Merchant Navy as ‘the jugular vein of the nation’. 1928Times 14 Feb. 14/6 The King has appointed the Prince of Wales Master of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets. The announcement will appear in the London Gazette to-night. 1929Ann. Reg. 1928 i. 10 On February 13 the King paid a graceful compliment to the British seafaring population outside the ranks of the Royal Navy by creating the Prince of Wales ‘Master of the Merchant Navy and the Fishing Fleets’—a new title for which there was no exact precedent in British history or usage. 1937Discovery June 165/1 Seamen, whether of the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, or the Fishing Fleet. 1965S. J. Harland (title) The dustless road: a career in the Merchant Navy. |