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merchant navy service records advice please

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gary.k.

gary.k. Report 9 Feb 2008 09:58

my dad my grandad and his dad were all in the merchant navy can i obtain there service records ie ships they served on were they went etc if so how do i go about this...any help or info would be great ...........

Gwyn in Kent

Gwyn in Kent Report 9 Feb 2008 10:04

Do you know if they worked on one particular line, eg. Cunard?


Gwyn

gary.k.

gary.k. Report 9 Feb 2008 10:13

HI Gwyn no i think they chopped and changed a bit but i do know that my grandad worked on the mail boats between Newhaven and Dieppe for a few years and my dad worked on the Castle line for a while and he trained on the merchant navy training ship VINDICATRIX THEY WERE CALLED THE VINDI BOYS.......

Gwyn in Kent

Gwyn in Kent Report 9 Feb 2008 10:45

Have a look on Google...you might find help there.
I just came across this site which might give some idea of leads.....

http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:HXzhGRTcvoQJ:www.unioncastlestaffregister.co.uk/+RECORDS+%22CASTLE+LINE+%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk&ie=UTF-8

gary.k.

gary.k. Report 9 Feb 2008 10:50

HI Gwyn thanks very much i,ll try that one hopefully i will at least get some ideas of what to do ...thanks again ....GARY...

gary.k.

gary.k. Report 9 Feb 2008 11:06

HI INis thanks for your help will have a look there aswell .....GARY.......

was plain ann now annielaurie

was plain ann now annielaurie Report 9 Feb 2008 16:37

What period are you talking about? Presumably 3 different times, but when?

Paul

Paul Report 1 Sep 2008 22:54

Gary,
I have had some success in tracing my Grandfather's Merchant Navy career. Start with National Archives and get the Board of Trade card. This should have the official numbers of the ships that he served on. Next step is to find the Crew Agreements for the relevant year. These may be at National Archives (they only kept a sample) or more likely at the Maritime History Archive in the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. Each agreement that you find gives details of his previous ship. A lot of the above is searchable online, but you do need some luck in getting started.
Good Luck!
Paul

Heather

Heather Report 1 Sep 2008 23:51

You can check the seamans register on National Archives but sadly its not complete.