1,361,870 875,064 2,236,934
3rd quarter 952,938 541,535 1,494,473
4th quarter 782,887 489,954 1,272,843

1918

British. Foreign. Total.
1st quarter 697,668 445,668 1,143,336
2nd quarter 630,862 331,145 962,007
3rd quarter 512,030 403,483 915,513
4th quarter 83,952 93,582 177,534

Figures for 4th quarter are for Month of October only.

The decline of the losses of British shipping was progressive from the
second quarter of 1917; in the third quarter of 1918 the reduction in
the tonnage sunk became very marked, and suggested definitely the
approaching end of the submarine menace.

The fact that during the second quarter of 1918 the world's output of
tonnage overtook the world's losses was another satisfactory feature.
The output for 1917 and 1918 is shown in the following table:

United Dominions,
Kingdom Allied and Total for
Output. Neutral World.
Countries.
1917
1st quarter 246,239 340,807 587,046
2nd quarter 249,331 435,717 685,048
3rd quarter 248,283 426,778 675,061
4th quarter 419,621 571,010 990,631

1918
1st quarter 320,280 550,037 870,317
2nd quarter 442,966 800,308 1,243,274
3rd quarter 411,395 972,735 1,384,130
4th quarter, Oct. only 136,100 375,000 511,100

It will be noticed that by the last quarter of 1918 the output of
shipping in the United Kingdom alone had overtaken the losses of British
shipping.

It is not possible to give exact information as to the particular means
by which the various German submarines were disposed of, but it is
believed that of the 186 vessels mentioned as having been lost by the
Germans at least thirty-five fell victims to the depth charge, large
orders for which had been placed by the Admiralty in 1917, and it is
probably safe to credit mines, of which there was a large and rapidly
increasing output throughout 1917, with the same number--thirty-five--a
small proportion of these losses being due to the mines