Royal Navy and Merchant Seamen

[MaryA]

More service records are now available from the Royal Navy, detailing the service history of seamen who joined the Navy from 1853 to 1923.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... ervice.asp

[MaryA]

This is a collection of links to posts that our forum members have kindly suggested.

From Daggers
The National Archives Documents Online now include downloadable medal index cards for WW1 Mercantile Marine [i.e. Merchant Navy] personnel. They are likely to have earned the MM Medal [not Military Medal!] and British War Medal.
The one I have looked at shows the ribbons were issued on July 1921 and the medals, by post, in March 1922. The address the medal was posted to is handwritten.
Details on the card: Surname, Christian names, place and year of birth, dates of issue for ribbons and medals, 'Certif. or Dis.A' , 'RS2 No.'
No ship details are given.
The cost is £3.50 [by card].
The NA Catalogue reference is BT 351/1.

with replies from Katie and Germaine.
DIS A stand for Discharge Number. A must when looking in other series of the BT series

BT 349
BT 350
BT 351

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... 3_1972.pdf

One from Dickiesam
http://brew.clients.ch/Seafarers.htm

More service records are now available from the Royal Navy, detailing the service history of seamen who joined the Navy from 1853 to 1923.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... ervice.asp

The Battle of Trafalgar and other battles
http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/ ... falgar.htm

From Tina a link about the CLIP Project (Pay per View on FMP)
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

And some tips from
Tony Hennessey
Available on Ancestry, maybe other sites also. Either use the drop down "County" box or scroll down to the list of counties at the bottom of the page and you will be able to choose "Royal Navy" for the years 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 or "Misc Ships at Sea or Abroad" for 1861.

Daggers
Also, for those with the LDS discs of the 1881 census there is a section in the Scotland Region (Lowlands) for 'Royal Navy (Scotland)', though I have never had cause to look at it.

and sjn
Additionally, click on the county as normal, e.g. Lancashire, then choose "Vessels" as the district

[Blue70]

Merchant Navy Seamen Cards 1918-1941

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/merchant-navy-seamen


Merchant Navy Seamen Medal Cards WW1

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... ueryType=1


Merchant Navy Seamen Medal Cards WW2

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu ... ueryType=1



Blue

[MaryA]

Naval-History.Net has researched and published original data for 14 years, including Admiralty War Diaries and Action Reports of World War 2.

War Diaries from August 1939 to March 1942 are combined into a day-by-day account. April 1942 into 1946 is covered by a growing number of War Diaries ranging from the Home and Mediterranean Fleets to the British Pacific Fleet. All can be found at http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3900Intro.htm

These include all Dominion, United States and Allied Navy ships operating with the Royal Navy.

The Diaries make fascinating reading in their own right. They also provide detailed movements of hundreds of ships and the men who sailed in them.

To research ships and men, you can also use the search box in the top lefthand side of http://www.naval-history.net

and also from the National Archives
If you need help getting started, our navy personnel research signposts ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... L-0/c.aspx ) should help point you in the right direction. They explain which records are available, and how to search.

When you're ready to search, you can explore the records that we've digitised and put online. Our Royal Navy records ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... K-0/c.aspx ) include ratings' service records ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... M-0/c.aspx ) (1853-1923), officers' service records ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... N-0/c.aspx ) (1840-1920), and Women's Royal Naval service records ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... O-0/c.aspx ) (1917-1919). These all help to fill gaps in a naval ancestor's story that may have been lost over time, such as hair and eye colour.

We also hold files that record the movements of British and Allied merchant ships ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... P-0/c.aspx ) during the Second World War. If you know which ship your ancestor sailed on, you'll be able to learn where it was on a given date, along with its cargo and expected destination.

Our partners Findmypast.co.uk have digitised over 1 million of our Merchant Navy seamen records ( http://enews.nationalarchives.gov.uk/MA ... Q-0/c.aspx ) (1835-1857 and 1918-1941). These records give biographical information about individuals, and in some cases include photographs.

[dickiesam]

Early Merchant Navy record 'cards' had columns for entering multiple voyages in a single year. The destination of a vessel could be given in a code form and the place of departure may be also indicated in a code. An example of the codes and other abbreviations

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help ... s-records/

These numbers are not vessel ID numbers. That system that didn't start until about 1855. The port code system meant there wouldn't be a problem deciphering a clerk's cramped writing of the port and country into that small space, just a number.

There is a 'code book' in PDF available from the National Archives:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... CF8be0YdBQ

[MaryA]

Many thanks to Shelagh, one of our Society members, who has previously given a talk to the Southport Group about how she was able to trace one of her ancestors through the intricacies of the resources of Royal Museum Greenwich and other places, she has given us some links to information leaflets etc. that might be of help.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/librar ... hant-navy/
On this page is also a link to the Maritime History Archive and the National Archives

Also useful is the Maritime and Coastguard Agency http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/ On this site there is also an Information Leaflet/Historical Records, which is a guide to the library of seamen and ships records held at the Registry of Shipping and Seamen (RSS) in Cardiff and also identifies records transferred to other places and how to apply for them. This appears to be a downloadable document only and I can't give a link to it, but in the search box enter 5323 and it will give you a link to it.

Shelagh will soon send some more details about research of the Merchant Navy, but obviously if your ancestors were in the 1800's this information won't be applicable to them.

[MaryA]

http://www.irishmariners.ie/

[MaryA]

Just came across this site with extremely useful information about ships and what line they belong to.
http://www.norwayheritage.com/

[MaryA]

Update from the National Archives
Search and download these naval service records for the first time. These records (ADM 362 and 363) will allow you to complete research into the career of any any Royal Navy Rating who enlisted before 1923 and served after 1924.

Newly digitised records complete story of naval careers
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/abou ... D326%26363

Military and Maritime Research Guides
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help ... d-maritime

[MaryA]

Another useful site.
http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/tit ... page_1.htm

[MaryA]

http://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/#home

[MaryA]

Webinar - Help to introduce you to the record series which relate to men and the vessels they served on in the Royal and Merchant Navies during the First World War. You’ll learn about what kind of details you can expect to find in these records and how to combine research from multiple sources in order to get the most out of the resources available.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/royal-na ... e=Facebook

[MaryA]

We are always wanting to search maritime history. This has many archives for P & O, including searches for ships and some downloadable Family History research guides. http://www.poheritage.com/

[MaryA]

Irish Merchant Seamen 1918 - 1921
http://www.irishmariners.ie/searchdatab ... mit=Search

[MaryA]

Naval Social History - Circa 1793 - 1920+
http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html

[MaryA]

The National Archives have announced they Royal Marine Service Records are now available for you to view online. These records are the service registers of around 110,000 men who joined the Royal Marines between 1842 and 1925.
Held in series ADM 159, they were originally created in 1884 but include records created retrospectively for anyone who had joined earlier and was still serving in 1884.
A copy of the service record can be downloaded for £3.45.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help ... l+Archives

[MaryA]

Lloyds Register of Ships online.
http://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/public_e ... ps-online/

[MaryA]

Lloyds Register of Ships online.
http://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/public_e ... ps-online/

[MaryA]

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collection ... 31513.html
http://www.maritimemuseums.net/uk.html

and don't forget the old faithful familysearch
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Br ... ant_Marine

[MaryA]

Thanks to Alex69 for recommending this site https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=home