Royal Naval Seamen's records now online

You can now search and download the service registers of more than 500,000 seamen who joined the Royal Navy between 1853 and 1923.

The records, held in the series ADM 188, provide a wealth of information for family and naval historians. Alongside a seaman´s name, age, place of birth, summary of their service and a list of ships on which they served, many of the later records (of those who joined after 1873) contain a description of your ancestor's appearance. This includes their height, hair and eye colour, as well as any scars or tattoos.

'There is nothing akin to this on the net for people wanting to find out about Naval ancestors. These men served in the Crimean, Boer and First World Wars,' said The National Archives naval specialist Bruno Pappalardo.

Featured in the records is the Navy´s youngest ever Victoria Cross winner, John Travers Cornwell. The 16-year-old was mortally wounded on 31 May 1916, at the Battle of Jutland, off Denmark while aboard the HMS Chester. According to his service register, Boy First Class Cornwell also served aboard HMS Vivid during the First World War.

You can search the records free of charge by first and last name, place of birth, official number and date of birth. It costs £3.50 to download an image of a record. It is important to note that if a man entered before 1873, he will have an additional service record in the series ADM 139, which is not online.

Go to DocumentsOnline to:

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