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. |
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. |
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