Kort videoklipp om "engelske" konvoier - der norske sjømenn deltok sterkt via Nortrashipflåten. World War II Footage -- British Merchant Ships and German U Boats At the start of the war, there were 9000 British merchant ships - 3363 Allied and Neutral Merchant ships lost - more than 32000 Allied seamen died. Nearly 26000 Axis U Boat seamen died or missing. Of the 830 Axis U Boats at the start of the war 696 were destroyed or 84%