Merchant Navy Records

Supporting guides

• How Do I Find a Merchant Seaman's Record?
  Find a merchant seaman's record from the discharge book number and the ships served on, using the catalogue and indexes at The National Archives. A name alone will return many seamen, so the number and the ships are what narrow it.
• What Is a Discharge Book?
  A discharge book is the seaman's personal record of voyages, ships, ratings and conduct, carried from ship to ship. It is the spine of merchant research, in the same way a service record is the spine of forces research.
• What Is a Crew Agreement?
  A crew agreement is the contract for one voyage, listing the crew, their ratings and their terms. It proves service on one ship for one voyage, so a full career needs many agreements, one per voyage.
• How Do I Track a Merchant Ship?
  Track a merchant ship through its log, movement cards and shipping records, in date order. A ship's name was often reused, so match name with dates and official number where possible.
• How Do I Research a Merchant Ship Loss?
  Research a loss from the ship's papers, casualty records and commemoration entries together. Merchant losses at sea often have no grave, so the commemoration entry and the ship record together carry the story.
• Merchant Navy or Royal Navy: How Do I Tell?
  Tell them apart by the record: Royal Navy service sits in a naval service record, while merchant service sits in discharge books and crew agreements. A person could serve in both at different times, so keep each period separate.
• What Do Merchant Navy Ratings Mean?
  Merchant ratings describe jobs aboard ship, from deck and engine room to catering and steward work. Read the rating with its voyage dates, because a rating could change between voyages.
• Why Are There Gaps in Merchant Records?
  Gaps come from lost agreements, voyages under different articles, and records kept by shipping companies rather than the state. A gap between voyages is normal and is not evidence a seaman stopped sailing.
• How Do I Use Merchant Ship Photographs?
  Merchant ship photographs can identify a ship and its period, but they rarely name a crew member. Use them to confirm a ship's appearance and era, then return to the discharge book for the person.
• In What Order Should I Research Merchant Service?
  Work in this order: discharge book, then crew agreements for the voyages, then ship logs and loss records. That order keeps the person anchored before the ship's story takes over.