Filed under Royal Navy Service Records: A Method Guide
What should you look for first?
Copies depend on the holder and on the rules for records of deceased persons, which may ask for proof of death. This site does not request records for you; it explains the holder's process so you can approach the holder directly.
Before you trust a match, ask what else it could be. A match with no rival explanation is stronger than a match you have not tried to break. Whatever else you hold, hold the dates lightly until a record confirms them. Family dates are often a decade out, a year out, or attached to the wrong event. The catalogue entry is a record in its own right. Read it fully before you open the record it describes, because it tells you what you are about to see.
How do you read what you find?
Where a record uses code letters or numbers, find the key for that period and that service. A code read without its key is a guess dressed as a reading. Read the file backwards as well as forwards. A later sheet often explains an earlier entry that looked, at first reading, like an error.
An entry that names a place but no unit, or a unit but no date, is a partial clue. Use it to frame the next search, not to close the question. Check whether an entry was written by the unit, by a clerk, or by a later compiler. The writer decides how much weight the entry can carry.
Dead ends to expect here
A unit that moved, a ship that was renamed, and a camp that closed all break simple name searches. Follow dates and people, not names alone. A dead end shared by many researchers is usually a coverage problem, not a personal one. The research guides for that record type will often say so plainly.
- A transfer between branches, with a new numbering pattern.
- A ship name reused by a later vessel.
- A shore establishment mistaken for a ship at sea.
- A file for later dates that has not yet transferred holder.
A step by step way through
Work from the most reliable record you have towards the least, not from the most interesting towards the most convenient. A method that works is a slow one. Each step below earns the next, and skipping a step does not save time, it creates a check you will have to do later.
- Fix the service dates first, so you know which holder is likely to hold the file.
- Note the service number and the rating or rank together, exactly as written.
- List ships and shore establishments in date order, and treat each draft as a separate check.
- Test every later record, log entry or casualty entry, against the personal file before adding it to the timeline.
What to open after this one
A next step chosen from curiosity will entertain you. A next step chosen from the timeline will advance it. Prefer the timeline. If a related guide looks irrelevant, read its first paragraph before dismissing it. Irrelevance is often a misjudged title, not a misplaced guide. If this guide has made the next record obvious, it has succeeded. Go to that record, and take the question with you.
Primary sources for this guide
Claims in this guide are kept general and point to official holders, so you can check the current position with the holder itself. This guide is general educational information only. It is not personal professional advice, it does not offer a record lookup service, and it does not determine any individual's service.