It is intended for children, with the verses responding with facts and humour to their curiosity about the 'big steamers' - as the merchant ships are called.
The poem was also put to music by English folk singer and Kipling Society Fellow Peter Bellamy.
German's setting was for baritone voice with piano accompaniment, and published by Cramer in 1911.
This was in response to a request from the Ministry of Food Control to set the poem to music,[2] with the intention that it would be sung in schools and bring to the attention of children the importance of merchant ships - at a time when many ships had been lost to German U-boats and food rationing had just been introduced.
It was a simple song with piano accompaniment, suitable for children, and the first music Elgar had written for about a year.