It was founded in November 1917 against a backdrop of strike action amongst seafarers and was originally intended as a purely wartime measure to facilitate wage negotiations in a period of rapid inflation.
[1] In the 1920s, the board imposed a series of wage reductions with the support of the National Union of Seamen.
The Ship's Stewards Union opposed the first of these reductions in 1921, and its members were locked out.
At this time, the board also became embroiled in controversies over the policy of Joint Control introduced by the NUS and Shipping Federation.
It was allegedly widely used to force out of employment members of rival unions, communists, and other 'agitators'.