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Published annually the Mercantile Navy List contains the most comprehensive listing of British vessels

The Mercantile Navy List was first published in 1849. Whilst Lloyd's Register of Ships lists vessels over 100 gross tons regardless of their country of registration, the Mercantile Navy List records all British registered vessels one quarter of a ton and over, including coastal vessels, ferries and pleasure craft making it the most comprehensive listing of British vessels available. In fact beween 1850 and 1874 it included some very large British registered ships which were not in Lloyd`s Register of Ships. This annual publication can also be a source of information on masters and mates, licensed pilots, ships signals and various official notices and statistics. 

19th and early 20th Century directories are currently being digitised by Google and other institutions.

The following list will be amended as additional volumes are added. 
How to use the Mercantile Navy List

1849  1850  1851  1852  1853 1854   1855
1856  1857  1858  1859  1860  1861  1862*
1863  1864  1865  1866  1867  1868  1869
1870  1871  1872  1883* 1888* 1889* 1892*
1893* 1895*  1896*  1897*  1898*  1904*
1907*  1911* 1917*  1920*

* Courtesy of the Australian National Maritime Museum Archive

Memorial University Newfoundland has also digitised years 1868, 1875, 1876, 1882, 1896, 1899, 1904, 1907, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938 and these volumes can be viewed on their Digital Archives Initiative
website.

The Crew List Index Project (CLIP) image viewer accesses images from several sources, so you can search for a ship name through one edition of the Mercantile Navy List covering various dates from 1858 to 1940.