NSA (UK) and other authorities responsible for providing services to
shipping (ports, bunkers, etc), and would take on the management and
operation of prize tonnage and Alliance shipping allocated to the
NSA(UK) by the DSA.
Access and Powers
16 In tension and war the
shipping through requisitioning, chartering and, to a much lesser
extent, purchase and capture. UK-registered vessels would be the
obvious first choice, but merchant and other civilian vessels are
procured and operated to meet commercial needs, and it cannot be
assumed that every UK emergency and wartime need that could be met
by merchant vessels should be capable of being met in type and
quantity by UK-registered vessels. A great deal of the planning in
Government would secure access to
this area since the Second World War has been on the basis that
there might not be enough merchant shipping in the Alliance to meet
all its needs without difficulty.
•
17 In a period of tension, before the assumption of emergency
powers needed to be considered, ships could be requisitioned by use
of the prerogative power when there is an imminent threat of or an
attack upon the United Kingdom or its dependent territories. The
power extends to British ships on the United Kingdom register and
the registers of dependent territories, and it is considered to
extend to any other ship beneficially owned by an individual or a
company entitled to register a vessel in the United Kingdom or its
dependent territories. The full extent of the prerogative
relation to foreign-registered ships has not been tested.
in
18
During a developing crisis it would be for the Government of
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Private notes are available after approval.