LibGuides: Ships and maritime history: Shipping Registers

Online books

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 - Volume Vol 9
Volume IX – The Royal Australian Navy, 1914–1918 (9th edition, 1941)
Royal Australian Navy, 1942-1945 (1st edition, 1968)
Volume II – Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 (1st edition, 1968)

Books about the Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy : ships, aircraft and shore establishments
This is the primary source of information on RAN ships.
Fair winds to Australia : 200 years of sail on the Australia station
This well-illustrated book offers short profiles of naval sailing vessels serving in Australia from 1788 to 1988. Includes warships, survey vessels and sail training vessels.
Australia's colonial navies
Ships on the Australia Station
A comprehensive work on Royal Navy vessels stationed in Australian waters before 1913.
Australian & New Zealand warships, 1914-1945
Australian & New Zealand warships since 1946
Australian submarines : a history

Books about the Royal Navy (UK)

The navy list
The library holds from 1914 to the present. The amount of information shown in these lists changes with time but they record officers (retired and active) and ships, where ships were stationed, pay scales, uniform regulations, etc.
Ships of the Royal Navy
Vol.1 major ships. Vol.2 Navy-built trawlers, drifters, tugs and requisitioned ships.A two volume set which provides a brief entry on all Royal Navy vessels, detailing dates of build, tonnage, specifications, and fate where known.
The Oxford illustrated history of the Royal Navy
A good general text on the history of the navy.
Nelson's navy : the ships, men and organisation 1793-1815
Gives an in depth description of the Royal Navy in Lord Nelson's time. With over four hundred illustrations, the book is divided into fourteen sections that deal with the design and construction of ships, the navy's administration, and life at sea. Other topics include shiphandling and navigation, gunnery techniques and fighting tactics, and a discussion of foreign navies of the day. A detailed study of the navy of the time.
The wooden world : an anatomy of the Georgian navy
A revealing account yet of the Georgian navy and British naval society of the eighteenth century. Meticulously researched, it draws the reader into this fascinatingly complex world with vivid, entertaining characters and full details of life below the decks.
A companion to the Royal Navy
A good general reference guide, featuring names and badges.
The sailing navy list : all the ships of the Royal Navy : built, purchased and captured 1688-1860
A very useful book about sailing vessels of the Royal Navy. Illustrated, with copies of draughts for many vessels.
The naval chronicle : the contemporary record of the Royal Navy at war
This five volume work is a consolidated edition of the Naval Chronicle which was published between 1799 to 1819. The original is considered a primary source for naval history research. The library holds the original on microfilm.

Books about fighting ships

Jane's fighting ships : an encyclopedia of the navies of the world
The reference source on naval vessels. Good for a brief summary with technical details and profile drawings.
Conway's all the world's fighting ships, 1860-1905
Conway's is very similar to Jane's and acts as an excellent ready reference source on naval vessels. See the links below for further volumes.
Conway's All the world's fighting ships, 1906-1921
Conway's All the world's fighting ships, 1922-1946
Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1947-1995

Merchant Navy records

The Library does not hold any official records for the Merchant Navy or the Australian Merchant Navy.

Information about official records for the Australian Merchant Navy can be found at the National Archives.

Information about official records for the Merchant Navy (UK) can be found at the National Maritime Museum (UK)

Details about the role of the Australian Merchant Navy and the role Australian merchant ships played in World War II can be found at Merchant Ships of Australia in World War 2.

The library does have collections of books, dealing with most aspects of the Merchant Navy. Some of the most useful include:

The Mercantile Navy list and maritime directory
The official list of all British-registered merchant vessels was first produced by the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen in 1849 and published annually from 1857 to 1977, excluding the period 1941 to 1946. It lists ships alphabetically by name and gives similar technical details to Lloyd's Register, plus a list of masters and mates, with certificate numbers for the first few years. Library holds from 1863-1976.
Register of ships (Registre maritime)
Library holds microfilm copy covering 1827 to 1987.
This is a list of ships registered with the Bureau Veritas in Paris, and includes ships not found in Lloyd's Register.
The Mercantile Navy list and maritime directory
Library holds imperfect holdings from 1865-1976.
This lists every ship owned and registered in the British Empire. It is a listing only, without any of the details of Lloyds. It does however give the vessel's official number, which theoretically never changed. Later editions include fishing boats and yachts of more than 15 tons. At the beginning of each volume is a list of people being examined for masters and mates certificates from the Board of Trade.

Jane's publications

Jane's publications have been around since 1898, producing high quality publications in subject areas including transport and defence. The State Library holds a number of titles which may be of use to the maritime historian.

Jane's fighting ships
An essential reference to the changing capabilities of modern navies, their ships, aircraft and weapons systems in service and under construction. Colour photographs and line drawings can be found throughout to assist your recognition needs. Jane's Fighting Ships' authoritative inventories for 163 navies around provides comprehensive surveys of global construction and modernisation programmes
Jane's merchant ships
Library holds from 1982 onwards. Jane's merchant ships is first and foremost a recognition guide for those either at sea, or in occupations where there is a need to identify merchant shipping.
Line drawings and photographs, plus the use of a revised version of the Talbot Booth recognition system based on ship type, sequence and hull form, will support your identification making this a core resource on the world's merchant vessels. A merchant shipping report, ana
Jane's navy international
Library holds from 2005 onwards. The global magazine of naval operations and technology
Jane's navy international provides timely, accurate and impartial coverage of key operations, technology and procurement issues as they affect maritime security.
Jane's fighting ships of World War I
This one-volume encyclopedia of WWI warships includes more than 1,000 photographs, line drawings and data tables, providing the reader with instant reference to the great fleets that clashed at sea. It also covers the many warships launched or completed during the last months of hostilities when shipyards were still working at full speed.
Jane's fighting ships of World War II
Encompassing more than six thousand warships from all the countries involved in World War II, this extensively illustrated reference provides statistics, descriptions, and specifications for battleships, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and more.
Over 600 illustrations highlight this reference to the fighting strengths of WWII. Features full statistics and pertinent information for all countries.

Lloyds marine records

The cargo ship Nestor in 1940. View more information about this image here.
Lloyd's information is in various forms and publications, compiled on a daily, weekly, quarterly or annual basis depending on the subject. It is useful for researching:

ships' technical details
ship movements
crews
ship losses and casualties

Lloyd's list [newspaper]
A newspaper reporting ship movements and casualties. First issued weekly in 1734, twice weekly from 1737, in 1837 it became a daily record of maritime news, general commercial information and details of vessels arriving at ports in England, Ireland and elsewhere. Library holds 1838-1850.
Lloyds list index
The first annual indexes were compiled in 1837 and were replaced in 1927 by Voyage Record Cards. In 1880, casualties and selected movements began to be reprinted weekly as Lloyd's Shipping Index. Weekly reprints continued under various titles including, from 1920, Lloyd's Weekly Casualty Reports. Publication of casualties and movements was dropped during the First and Second World Wars and replaced by confidential listings for restricted circulation. Library has 1838-1850
Lloyd's captains registers, 1851-1947
A series of volumes listing merchant navy captains and mates who received captain's certificates between 1851 (when Board of Trade exams and certificates became compulsory) and 1948. Entries are alphabetical and show the person's name, year of birth, certificate details, subsequent career and vessels served in, and other special qualifications. The library has records from 1851–1947 on microfilm.
Lloyds register of ships
The register is an annual list, by ship's name, of merchant ships that meet Lloyd's specifications and are sound and seaworthy. It gives type of vessel, master's name, size, tonnage, owners, where and when built. Listings from 1876 include all British merchant ships over 100 tons, and from 1890 all merchant ships over 100 tons worldwide. From 1775 editions were 'posted' with casualties, often explaining the fate of a ship. Library holds from 1764 onwards.
Lloyd's war losses : the First World War : casualties to shipping through enemy causes, 1914-1918
It provides a most detailed and comprehensive record of British, allied and neutral vessels sunk or destroyed by war causes. As well as the ship's specifications and the circumstances of her loss in each case, this book contains much detailed information which is recorded nowhere else, for example, the subsequent fate of vessels detained or captured.
Lloyd's war losses : the Second World War, 3 September 1939-14 August 1945
British Allied and Neutral vessels captured sunk or destroyed by war causes. Originally compiled by Lloyds Intelligence section in the 1950's enormous details and accuracy with brief details of cargo loss, crew etc. where available.

Ships and maritime history: Shipping Registers

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