This is a brief guide to finding records of merchant ships. The National Archives holds many records relating to government regulation of merchant shipping, but they can be difficult to search. There are also many records of merchant shipping in local archives.
-
What records can I see online?
-
Merchant shipping movement cards (1939-1946)
Search and download surviving merchant shipping movement cards (BT 389) in Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies, (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) for the Second World War.
-
-
What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
-
Agreements and crew lists (1747-1860)
Search the agreements and crew listswritten agreements regarding conditions of service and crew lists filed by ships' masters with the Registrar General of Shipping in BT 98 by date range and port of registry.
-
Agreements and crew lists (1835-1994)
Search for agreements and crew listswritten agreements regarding conditions of service and crew lists filed by ships' masters with the Registrar General of Shipping by ship's official number (obtainable from the Miramar Ship Index (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.)) in BT 99, BT 380 and BT 381. (For some dates after 1927, you will have to browse our catalogue as the numbers are given as ranges).
-
Daily casualty registers and index to ships (1940-1945)
Browse our catalogue in BT 347 for records of daily ship casualties, mainly due to enemy action but also including other routine causes of losses at sea.
-
British merchant and fishing vessels sunk or damaged by enemy action (1914-1920)
Browse our catalogue in MT 25/83-85 for lists of British merchant and fishing vessels sunk or damaged by enemy action 1914-1920.
-
To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
-
-
What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
-
Agreements and crew lists (1861-1994)
Look at the websites of other archives and organisations which hold agreements and crew listswritten agreements regarding conditions of service and crew lists filed by ships' masters with the Registrar General of Shipping, including the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland, the National Maritime Museum, the National Archives of Scotland and Ireland, and local archives, especially those in port towns and cities.
-
-
What other resources will help me find information?
-
Publications
Consult Lloyd's List, which has been printed since 1734, first weekly and then daily. It provides information on merchant shipping for insurance companies and the maritime industry. Copies are held by the Guildhall Library, National Maritime Museum and other archives.
Consult Lloyd's Register, printed since 1764 and published annually. The Register provides information about all sea-going merchant ships, including their condition. -
Websites
Consult the Crew List Index Project (CLIP) website, which has information about merchant ships from 1861 to 1913.
Consult the Miramar Ship Index (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) website, a historical database listing some categories of merchant and naval ships.
Consult the ShipIndex.org (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) website, a database of ships mentioned in books, journals, websites and other resources.
-
Merchant seamen serving up to 1857
Merchant seamen serving 1858-1917
Merchant seamen serving after 1917
Officers in the Merchant Navy