Royal Navy

Records

• My Ancestor was in the Royal Navy by Ian H Waller 2014, published by Society of Genealogists. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. As this book was published 2014, it includes only limited information about online sources. An earlier guide is

Tracing your family history : Royal Navy compiled by Allison E Duffield, edited by Sarah Paterson, 2nd edition 2005, published by Imperial War Museum, London. Archive.org Books to Borrow. Noting date of publication, current online sources will not be covered.

• National Archives Guides: A-Z index, letter R Select guides relating to the Royal Navy, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Naval Division and Royal Marines. Includes
  • Royal Navy ratings 1853-1928
  • If a rating entered the Royal Navy after 1928, or a Royal Navy officer entered after May 1917, his record will still be with the Ministry of Defence. For details of how to access a record from the MOD, see the equivalent Fibiwiki section British Army - Army personnel serving after January 1921, and select information in the links provided relating to the Royal Navy. Note that it is now possible to apply online for Royal Navy records, using a debit or credit card (not currently (2022/04/30) available for British Army records).

National Archives Guide How to look for records of... Births, marriages and deaths in the armed forces Includes Royal Navy. Also see Chaplains Returns which includes some (limited) references to Naval records.

A Guide to the Naval Records in the National Archives of the UK edited by Randolph Cock and N A M Rodger. 383 pages. 2nd Edition 2008, first published 2006. Published by University of London School of Advanced Study Institute of Historical Research in conjunction with The National Archives of the UK.

• National Archives Blog "‘By Sea, By Land’: Royal Marine attestation and discharge records" by Dr George Hay 13 June 2019.

"Royal Marines Register Numbers" from 1885 by Major Alastair Donald RM. Archive.org. Applies to "other ranks".

• A great number of service records for seamen who joined the Royal Navy between 1853 and 1928 are now online and can be searched and downloaded at the relevant documents online section of the The National Archives website. There is no charge for the initial search but a fee applies to obtain sight of the full record.

For a list of abbreviations used in service records, refer External links below.

• Other Navy Records held at the National Archives include Officers’ service records (1756-1917) and wills of Royal Naval Seamen (1786-1822). – many of these records can also be searched and downloaded.
• Information about access to service records of members of the of Royal Navy, Women's Royal Naval Service, and the Royal Marines royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk.
• Findmypast, a pay website, includes two associated databases located in Armed forces & conflict/Service Records. (Under the tab "Search records" is a category "A-Z of record sets" which is a listing of all the record databases).

"British Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service and Pension Records, 1704-1919" and "British Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service and Pension Records Browse, 1704-1919". These include records from the National Archives series ADM 29 / 1-32, 34-131 – Admiralty: Royal Navy, Royal Marines, coastguard and related services: Officers’ and Ratings’ Service Records (Series II) 1802-1919.

Update c 18 November 2022. This database has been extended to 1939 and includes ADM 362 - Royal Navy Registers of Seaman's Services, 1925-1929 and ADM 363 - Royal Navy Seamen's Services Continuous Record cards, 1929-1950.

• Findmypast datasets "British Armed Forces and Overseas Births, Marriages, Deaths", three separate Index databases (located within BMD), contain at least some naval records, (but perhaps limited); check the findmypast record pages for details of the coverage. For more details about these databases, see Chaplains Returns.
• Findmypast includes the following databases located in Armed forces & conflict/First World War
  • "Royal Naval Division Service Records 1914-1920"

  The RND transferred from the authority of the Admiralty to the War Office on 29 April 1916. However, it appears to have remained structurally as part of the Royal Navy as entries continued to appear in the Navy List, not the Army List.

• "WW1 Naval Casualties". Source unknown. Transcripts, no images. (A possibility (as there is an equivalent source for airmen) is Naval & Military Press transcriptions from Admiralty: Naval Casualties ADM 242 which are available as a DVD-ROM Sailors Died In The Great War. Royal Naval Other Ranks Deaths 1914-19. )
• "WW1 Ships Lost At Sea, 1914-1919" sourced from the National Archives WW1 Ship Casualties Card Index series ADM 242/6.

• Royal Navy: First World War - Lives at Sea A Royal Museums Greenwich website. A free resource derived mainly from transcriptions by volunteers of service records of Royal Navy officers and ratings who served during the First World War, from TNA records in the series ADM 196 and ADM 188. The database does not include details of those who served in the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve or Royal Naval Air Service. As the project progresses more records will be added on a regular basis up to 2021.
• 1911 Census is available on findmypast and Ancestry, both pay websites, and perhaps on other similar sites. For a helpful finding aid, based on the Ancestry databases, which includes census information for Royal Navy personnel overseas and in England and Wales, see Stations of British Army troops in India - 1911 England and Wales Census.
• Ancestry (pay website) includes a database "UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960" (located in BMD records). This database consists mainly of Naval records, sourced from the National Archives, Kew.
• Ancestry (pay website) includes a database "Great Britain, Royal Naval Division Casualties of The Great War, 1914-1924", (Ancestry location Birth, Marriage & Death). These are death records researched by Jack Marshall.
• Ancestry released 3 October 2018, the first stage of records in the database "UK, WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923", (located in Military), which are index records, with the images available on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, (which requires an Ancestry All Access subscription, or a separate fold3 subscription). The first released records relate to Naval and Mercantile Marine explained in the WFA article "Release of Naval and Mercantile Marine Pension Records by Ancestry" October 2018.
• See Chaplains Returns - External links for details of the website "deceased online" which has some naval records from the UK under the title "UK and overseas garrisons; Registers of burials".
• Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service Records held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. The FAA Museum, part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, is located at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, Ilchester, Somerset (also known as HMS Heron). The FAA Museum generally does not hold records of service for those who enlisted after about 1925, which are still held in the custody of the Ministry of Defence. Currently (2023/03) "Researching Naval Personnel" (nmrn.org.uk) has some details of the records held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. A previous webpage, now archived, has more details, including details of some records at The National Archives, Kew. Collections(nmrn.org.uk) scroll to, and open "How can I view the collections" gives details of visiting the Fleet Air Arm Museum research room (twice a month) and Digitisation on Demand charges.
• Research guides: The Royal Navy Royal Museums Greenwich. Includes "Research guide B1: The Royal Navy: Tracing people" and "Research guide B3: The Royal Navy: Sources for enquiries".
• Maritime Memorials in respect of ships’ crews’ deaths, both Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, from all around the world, including UK. Search for entries for India, Burma, Burmah and Myanmar, Ceylon and Sri Lanka, and other countries such as China, Singapore etc. (Entries for Karachi were classified as India), or search by name. An associated National Maritime Museum website.
• "Tracing your seafaring ancestors in the Royal Navy" National Museums Liverpool, Archive Centre Maritime Museum Information Sheet 66, from the page Liverpool Museums/Merseyside Maritime Museum/About/Archives Centre/Information Sheets/Tracing your Ancestors. Mentions the book Tracing Your Naval Ancestors by Bruno Pappalardo, published in 2003 by the National Archives.
• Books by SD and DB Jarvis, originally published 1993, and available in reprint editions.

The Cross Of Sacrifice. Vol. 2: Officers Who Died in the Service of the Royal Navy, RNR, RNVR, RM, RNAS and RAF, 1914-1919. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01008822978 (Reprint edition.)

The Cross Of Sacrifice Vol 4: Non-commissioned Officers and Men of the Royal Navy, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force 1914-1921. Including the Commonwealth Navies and Air Forces. Sample pages, Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01006747946 . (Reprint edition.)

The Cross Of Sacrifice Vol. 5: The Officers, men and women of the Merchant Navy and Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary 1914–1919. This volume additionally contains a 14 page addendum to Volume 4 which is not available separately. Sample pages, Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01007836149 . (Reprint edition.)

The three books are available at The National Archives Library catalogue entry.

Merchant Navy

• Also see Births, marriages and deaths at sea.
• findmypast includes the following databases located in Education & work/Merchant navy & maritime
  • Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1918-1941. National Archives records BT 348, BT 349, BT 350 and BT 364. Images. Some records include photographs
  • England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913. Transcripts and some images. Includes Lascars
  • Ireland Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1863-1921. Images of the original records from the National Archives of Ireland. Crew members were not only from Ireland but also from around the world.
• CLIP - the Crew List Index Project. A not-for-profit volunteer project, with databases of British seafarers and ships records, set up to assist research into the records of British merchant seafarers of the late 19th and early 20th century.
• Research guide C1: The Merchant Navy : Tracing people – crew lists, agreements and official logs At the bottom of the page other guides to the Merchant Navy are listed including

Research guide C9: The Merchant Navy Find out about merchant ships involved in the First World War. Includes researching crew members, with links to additional guides. Royal Museums Greenwich.

• Tracing Seafaring Ancestors In The Merchant Navy National Museums Liverpool, Archive Centre Maritime Museum Information Sheet 43, from the page Liverpool Museums/Merseyside Maritime Museum/About/Archives Centre/Information Sheets/Tracing your Ancestors.
• Tracing your family history: Merchant Navy compiled by Allison E Duffield, edited by Sarah Paterson, 2nd edition 2005, published by Imperial War Museum, London. Archive.org Books to Borrow. Noting date of publication, current online sources will not be covered.
• See above, under Records, the book The Cross Of Sacrifice Vol. 5: The Officers, men and women of the Merchant Navy and Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary 1914–1919.
• The book Lloyd's War Losses : the First World War : casualties to shipping through enemy causes, 1914-1918 is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011394103. This is a 1990 facsimile reprint of the original held at Guildhall Library, City of London, now the London Metropolitan Archives.

Navy List

• National Archives Series ADM 177 1914-1945 Admiralty: Navy Lists, Confidential Edition. During the First and Second World Wars there were two separate editions of the Navy List, one of which was for official use only, the other being an expurgated version available to the public. Most, perhaps all, are available to download from the National Archives website. In normal circumstances there is a fee charged, however currently (2022/02) due to covid conditions, the downloads are free.
• All the online editions which follow are likely to be the editions available to the public during the First and Second World Wars.
• For links to a selection from 1782 -1945 searchable online see the Fibiwiki page Military Periodicals online- Navy Lists. The early editions have the title Steel's Original and Correct list of the Royal Navy.
• Online Navy Lists are also available on the website of the National Library of Scotland, NLS, with transcriptions available, together with a Search facility, as Navy Lists: 1913 to 1944
• Navy List Research includes a free Searchable database for many Navy Lists to 1945 with links to some online volumes, mainly on the Archive.org website. navylistresearch.co.uk
• The pay website Ancestry has a broken range of editions of the Navy List from 1888 to 1970. These are searchable by name and linked to relevant page images. The same dataset is also available on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3.
• For editions not available online, The Navy List is available at the British Library, UIN: BLL01012418229, from 1815, and also in the Library of the National Archives, from November 1814. For the First and Second World Wars, there were two versions, with the confidential versions available in ADM 177, as Archive records, see above, rather than in the TNA Library.

The earlier Steel's Original and Correct list of the Royal Navy is available at the British Library, UIN: BLL01001116981 (classified as a Journal) with editions to 1816, with additional catalogue entries classified as a Book). The National Archives has a catalogue entry 18th Century Royal Navy Lists 1782, 1790-1799 [Steel's Royal Navy Lists] QLIB 3. National Archives Library. The Lists were published monthly during war and quarterly during peace, and include details of ships of the Honourable East-India Company. Previously it was stated that all years were available as a pay download, however this wording does not currently appear (2019/11).

The British Library has published a guide: "Service Lists for the Army, Navy and Air Force", including Lists of Ships, from the mid 1600s. This is a download, which you will probably need to locate in your downloads folder. Archive.org version. The Navy List was mostly a quarterly publication, (with some gaps) but from August 1870 to March 1924 was also published monthly [but most likely not the months when there was a quarterly publication]. From 1949 it became an annual publication.

Mercantile (Merchant) Navy List

• The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory for 1894 Compiled from Official and Other Sources by J Clark Hall, Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. Published for the Committee of Lloyd's. At the head of the title By Authority. Archive.org
• The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory at Archive.org for 1850-1871 (broken range), 1881, 1894 (but catalogued published 1850), 1914, 1917-1918-1919, 1921, 1925, 1927-1928-1929, 1931-1932-1933, 1935-1936-1937-1938-1939, 1940 Part 2 only, 1947 and 1949 by J Blake Harrold, Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen (initially) and from 1932 Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen. Some files are originally from Google Books, see individual Archive.org pages.
• Mercantile Navy list and Maritime directory Collection from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Broken range from 1868 to 1973. Click on Browse Collection, or use Search
• Vaughan Evans Digital Library Australian National Maritime Museum. Select Registers of Shipping/ The Mercantile Navy List. 15 volumes from 1862 to 1920.
• Online editions are linked from the page Mercantile Navy List maritimearchives.co.uk
• CLIP - the Crew List Index Project includes a database of the Mercantile Navy List.
• For editions not available online, variant titles of The Mercantile Navy List are available at the British Library 1850-1855 UIN: BLL01001109334; 1857-64 UIN: BLL01001109335; 1865-1957 UIN: BLL01001109336; 1958-1976 UIN: BLL01012919140. Later volumes were published by H.M.S.O.

Medal Rolls

Free downloads of the Naval Medal Rolls are available from the National Archives website, or the same information is available on the pay website Ancestry. See the page Medal Rolls for details.

Also see

• Maritime Service
• Royal Air Force. Some records mentioned on this page may also include Royal Naval Air Service records.

External links

• Naval-History.Net "Preserving Naval History Research and Memoirs ..... making Contemporary Accounts more readily available". All periods including WW1 and WW2.
• The World War I Document Archive includes a category The War at Sea which includes the category Bibliography. A slightly later dated Bibliography than appears on the website is WWI Naval Bibliography.
• Military Ancestors: Royal Navy from the National Archives' British Battles, now an archived webpage.
• Naval Social History - Circa 1793 - 1920+ sites.rootsweb.com/~pbtyc. Appears to be based on the now archived Naval Social History - Circa 1793 - 1920+ from pbenyon.plus.com, now archived. Note, the archived version appears to have some additional entries.
• Royal Navy Official Numbers for Ratings. There were multiple series of numbers applying from 1894, with changes from 1908, 25 October 1925, 1931, 1934, 1943 and post WW2 changes.
• William Loney RN - Background information about the Navy in the 1800s. pdavis.nl
• The Royal Navy in 1905 by Commander Alastair Wilson, R.N. probably circa 2009. kiplingsociety.co.uk
• "The Wavy Navy: a forgotten legacy" The history of the RNVR by Cdr Sue Eagles December 1, 2022 maritimefoundation.uk. In the First World War, a large proportion of the RNVR were formed into the Royal Navy Division. Mentions two very good accounts Wavy Navy, a collection of writings by members of the RNVR (Harrap, 1950) (Second World War) and The RNVR: a Record of Achievement by Lennox Kerr and Wilfred Granville (Harrap, 1957) (an account of their exploits from the late 19th C to post WW2).
• Royal Marines Historical Society which contains a link on its website to the website

Royal Marines Badge and Insignia Reference, whose purpose “is to provide reference information and research material for those interested in the Royal Marines”. Use the Search to find articles not directly linked from the website such

• Royal Marines Historical Society Contents List of Royal Marines Historical Society Newsletter (Precursor of The Sheet Anchor)
• "The Royal Marine Artillery 1804-1923" by C Montin. An article, from Royal Marines Historical Society Newsletter Volume 1 1968-1969. However, it does not mention the two volume published history The Royal Marine Artillery, 1804-1923 [v.1 1804-1859 v.2 1859-1923] by Edward Fraser and L. G. Carr-Laughton 1930 available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002243960

• Royal Marines previously www.royal-marines.net, including "Bibliography of the Royal Marines"
• Great War Forum includes a category "Ships and navies". First World War period.
• The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. longlongtrail.co.uk. The RND transferred from the authority of the Admiralty to the War Office on 29 April 1916.
• "Anglo-Japanese Naval Cooperation, 1914-1918" by Timothy D. Saxon Naval War College Review Winter 2000, Vol. 53 Issue 1, p62 . Website of Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA.
• WW2Talk Forum includes a category "The War at Sea". Second World War period.
• The Naval Review publishes four journals each year. Members (subscription required) have access to the Archive of past Journals from 1913, or articles from older journals are available to others for a small administration charge. For more details see Historical books online, below, including a freely available Index of articles to 1930. The public area of the website includes Book reviews.

During WWI the Journal was published, but circulation may have been restricted, and information was collected and published after the War. “In World War II there was no censorship, and the regular “Notes on the War at Sea” and "Diary of the War at Sea" are important records of naval events during World War II.“ The website Naval-History.Net, refer above, contains an index of articles relating to WW1.

Based on library catalogues, Oxford University Library appears to have an extensive set of volumes, (but lacking 1914-1921); Imperial War Museums (LBY E. 5 / 229) some, but missing WW2; British Library UIN: BLL01012090056 ("stock incomplete"); National Library of Scotland catalogue indicates an almost complete set.

• Navy Records Society. The Navy Records Society publishes in print and online rare and original documents on naval history. A subscription gives access to Digital volumes. Select Books, for details of the publications, including The Naval Brigades in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-58 (1947) (available online, see below) and The Second China War, 1856-1860 (1954). Some sample pages from Volume 158 (2011), The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919–1929 edited by Paul Halpern. Google Books. Some of the earlier publications are available online, refer below.
• Obituary of John Winton [naval author], 1931-2001, pen name of Lieutenant-Commander John Pratt. 03 May 2001 The Telegraph. He wrote many books, both non fiction and fiction, relating to the Royal Navy. John Winton Wikipedia. Contains a list of his books.
• Service Record Abbreviations. Common abbreviations and phrases found in Royal Navy and Royal Marines Service Records from various periods. Archived page, The National Museum of the Royal Navy.
• Naval Shore Establishments. Archived page, The National Museum of the Royal Navy. Includes India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Singapore. Note: "This list is NOT comprehensive".

In addition, HMS Highfligher was the Royal Naval Base at Trincomalee in Ceylon, commissioned on 1 July 1943. (There was also a East Indies flagship of this name). There was a Royal Navy Wireless Telegraphy Station at Matara on the very southern tip of Ceylon, (in existence in c 1920).

• East Indies and China Station Wikipedia. In existence 1831 to 1865, until separated into two separate stations. Rejoined in 1941 to form the Eastern Fleet.
  • East Indies Station Wikipedia. The East Indies Station had bases in Ceylon at Colombo and Trincomalee, and at Bombay, Basra and Aden.
  • Commander-in-Chief, China Wikipedia. Information about China Station. The formation had bases at Singapore, Hong Kong and Wei Hai.
• "The Royal Navy East Indies & China Naval Station: A brief History Including Letters from Officers and Seamen" by Gerald J. Ellott May 2011. Postal History and Philately.
• Audio: Recollections of George Michael Clarkson recorded 1975 Royal Navy 1915-1937. 48 reels. Imperial War Museums Sound, Catalogue number 679. Also Recollections of George Michael Clarkson, Royal Navy, no date, but perhaps c 1975, or possibly later. 4 reels. Imperial War Museums Sound Catalogue number 21283. The first item is part of a series of interviews Naval Operations, 1900-1919: Lower Deck, 1908-1922 IWM Sound.
• Listen to the 1990 interview with Henley Charles Claxton British seaman. Includes service aboard HMS Vindictive on China Station, 1925-1928 Reels 7-9. Catalogue number 11945. In most of the reels there is a delay before the sound commences, of up to approximately one minute. Imperial War Museums.
• www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk. Use the Search facility to locate items. Includes
  • Information about access to service records of members of the of Royal Navy, Women's Royal Naval Service, and the Royal Marines
  • H M S Tamar, R N Base Hong Kong
  • Cyril H H Poole photographs including Submarines of the 4th Submarine Flotilla based at Hong Kong, Singapore, and Wei Hei Wei
  • Fleet Air Arm Bases, WW2
    • India: R N Air Section Juhu on the coast 7½ miles N. of Bombay city; R N Air Section Cochin; R N A M Y Tambaram 13 miles SW. of Madras; R N Air Section Vizagapatam
    • Ceylon RNAS Trincomalee; RNAS Colombo Racecourse
• "A research note on the history of ships, places, organisations and events associated with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA): The origins of the RFA" by Thomas A Adams

Historical RFA Supported by the RFA Association.

• Royal Navy Loss List Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust. Includes a link to a database to search or download.
• The Royal Navy, 1922-1930 : the search for a naval policy in an age of re-adjustment by Edward Des Rosiers. Link to a pdf download. Direct pdf link. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGill University, Canada, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History. August 1966.
• Changes and challenges: The Royal Navy's China Station and Britain's East Asian empire during the 1920s by Matthew Joseph Heaslip. University of Exeter thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Maritime History, November 2018. Direct pdf. Also available from EThOS British Library. Subsequently this thesis formed the basis of Gunboats, Empire and the China Station. The Royal Navy in 1920s East Asia Sample pages Google Books.
• The Royal Navy and the War at Sea: a bibliography [WW2] royalnavy.mod.uk

Historical books online

Also see Military periodicals online for details of Navy Lists, also see above, books in the category Navy Regulations, Manuals etc and publications such as Army and Navy Gazette, Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine and Naval & Military Gazette.

General

• Royal Naval Biography 1828 by John Marshall googlebooks
• A New List of all the Ships and Vessels of Her Majesties Royal Navy ... pub 1711. Google Books
• ‪The Ship-master's Assistant and Owner's Manual: Containing Complete Information, as Well to Merchants, Masters of Ships, and Persons Employed in the Merchant-service, as to Officers and Others in the Royal Navy, Relative to the Mercantile and Maritime Laws and Customs by ‪David Steel. 9th Edition Very Considerably Improved and Enlarged 1801 Google Books.
• The naval history of Great Britain, from the declaration of war by France in 1793, to the accession of George IV...bringing the work down to 1827 in 6 volumes by William James. First published 1822, 7th editions 1886, with 1902 reprints of the 7th editions. Archive.org. It is believed there were later reprint editions also.
• The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest times to the present by Sir Wm. Laird Clowes. Volume VII has title The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to the death of Queen Victoria. Archive.org. Volume I, Volume II,

Volume III 1898. Covers the period 1714-1792. Index entry East India

Volume IV 1899. Includes "Major Operations of the Royal Navy 1793-1802" page 196

Volume V 1900. Includes "Major Operations of the Royal Navy 1803-1815" page 44

Volume VI 1901. Includes "Military History of the Royal Navy 1816-1856" page 222

Volume VII 1903. Includes "Military History of the Royal Navy 1857-1900" page 91

• Britain's Sea Soldiers: A History of the Royal Marines, Volume 1 to 1815 by Colonel Cyril Field 1924 Archive.org

Britain's Sea Soldiers: A History of the Royal Marines, Volume 2 1815-1913 by Colonel Cyril Field 1924 Archive.org

• For titles such as The Queen's Regulations and the Admiralty Instructions for the Government of Her Majesty's Naval Service and The King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions for the Government of His Majesty's Naval Service, Manual of Seamanship, and The Orders in Council for the Regulation of the Naval Service, see Military periodicals online - Navy Regulations, Manuals etc
• Admiralty Fleet Orders ADM 182 Catalogue description, The National Archives, Kew. "Printed routine orders issued to ships and establishments for information, guidance and action. The orders cover matters of general interest or requiring wide circulation, including technical, administrative and disciplinary regulations, and official instructions and information."

Digitised Admiralty Fleet Orders 1910-1945 (incomplete series). Website of Seapower, Australian Navy. (Currently 2024/9, only locatable via the Search).

The same website also contains [Australian] Commonwealth Naval Orders 1900s to 1970s.

• Publications of the Navy Records Society. Multiple volumes, from a Search using key words "Navy Records Society", from Volume 1, 1894, to 1984, some of which are catalogued according to year of publication, not specific title. Archive.org, including Archive.org Lending Library. There may be additional volumes catalogued by title. Refer External links above, for the Navy Records Society, whose website contains details of its publications. Includes
  • The Naval Brigades in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-58 edited by Commander W B Rowbotham RN 1947. Printed for the Navy Records Society, Vol LXXXVII. Archive.org Lending Library.
  • A Narrative of my Professional Adventures (1790-1839). Volume II 1802-1839 by Sir William Henry Dillon, edited by Michael A Lewis. Printed for the Navy Records Society, Volume XCVII, 1956. Includes two chapters, "Voyage to China" and "Voyage to India" 1815-1819 Archive.org Lending Library.
• A voyage from England to India, in the year 1754, and an historical narrative of the operations of the squadron and army in India, under the command of Vice-Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, in the years 1755, 1756, 1757 ... Also a journey from Persia to England by an unusual route. With an appendix, containing an account of the diseases prevalent in Admiral Watson's squadron, etc. by Edward Ives, formerly Surgeon of Admiral Watson’s Ship, and of His Majesty’s Hospital in the East Indies 1773 Google Books. Archive.org version, Public Library of India Collection.
• The Navy In India 1763-1783 by Herbert W. Richmond 1931. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Travels in India Ceylon and Borneo by Captain Basil Hall RN, FRS, Selected and edited by Professor H G Rawlinson 1931 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Selected from Fragments of Voyages and Travels (in nine volumes). Captain Hall was appointed to the East India Station in 1812.
• Regulations and instructions, for the medical officers of His Majesty's Fleet by the Admiralty 1835 Archive.org.
• Report on the Health of the Navy. Title varied. Initially titled Statistical Report on the Health of the Navy, and some editions possibly may have been titled Statistical Report of the Health of the Navy. Also A Statistical Return of the Health of the Royal Navy. Later titles may have omitted Statistical. It appears to have been published generally annually from 1830, through to c 1936 by HMSO [His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office] and also presented to the House of Commons as a Parliamentary Paper.
  • "The health of the Navy: the changing pattern" by FP Ellis Brit. J. Industr. Med., 1969, 26, 190-201. pubmedcentralcanada.ca
  • Statistical Reports on the Health of the Navy, for the years 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835 and 1836, etc. [A reprint of pt. 1, without the Appendices]. 1841 Google Books
  • A Statistical Return of the Health of the Royal Navy for the Year 1858 in Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons 1861 Volume XXXVIII 1861. Google Books. Includes "East India and China Station", page 113
  • A Copy of the Statistical Report of the Health of the Navy for the year...

  1866 (1868); 1867 (1869). Ordered to be printed by the House of Commons. HMSO. Archive.org, Granth Sanjeevani Collection.

  • Statistical Report on the Health of the Navy for the Year 1871 Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 46 1873. Google Books.

  Includes "East India Station", page 218, with Map of East India Station, and "China Station" page 261

• The Cree journals : the voyages of Edward H. Cree, Surgeon R.N., as related in his private journals, 1837-1856 edited and with an introduction by Michael Levien 1981 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes ten years in the Far East including the First Opium War period and pursuit of a Chinese pirate fleet in 1849.
• "A Fight with Pirates in the China Seas [c early-mid 1850s] by J. D. B. pages 318-322 The United Service Magazine 1878, Part 2 Google Books
• "The Marines at Canton, The Peiho, and Pekin" [1856-1860] Pages 92-103, pages 197-202 The United Service Magazine 1876 Part 1 Google Books
• Cover title: A Naval Cadet with H.M.S. Shannon Brigade in India: Journal of Edward Spencer Watson. Title page Journal. India: with H.M.S. "Shannon", Naval Brigade, from August 18th, 1858. Note however, there appears to be a typographical error, as correct date should be 1857. Catalogued as published 1858. Google Books.
• ‪The Shannon's Brigade in India‬: ‪being some account of Sir William Peel's Naval Brigade in the Indian Campaign of 1857-1858‬ by Edmund Hope Verney, Lieut. R.N. 1862 ‪Google Books
  • Also see Fiction below for a novel, The Devil's Wind by Maj. Gen.G.L. Verney, concerning the Shannon's Brigade.
• Navy Estimates Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 35 1863. Google Books. Includes
  • "China"
  • "Navy (China Seas)"
• The Log of H.M.S. "Sutlej", Pacific and China stations, 1904-1906 by G H Gunns 1906 Archive.org
• "The Chinese Stations" page 99, and Photograph: Naval Hospital Liukungtao, facing page 113 The Sea Road to the East, Gibraltar to Wei-hai-wei; six lectures by Arthur John Sargent 1912 Archive.org
• Online articles are available from past editions of The Naval Review. Although previously available without restriction, now only available to members (subscription required), or the page Regulations of The Naval Review states "Time limited access to the archive is open to researchers and historians after 10 years from an article’s original publishing date for a small administration charge".

When the archives were freely available, and probably the current situation, you could browse the Contents page for each issue, or there was an Index of articles 1913-1976. Pdf downloads. Many of the articles appear without authors, which appear in "Author List for the Naval Review 1913-1930" by James Goldrick, which is an Index of all articles to 1930.

Examples of articles:

• "A Naval Brigade In Burma in 1858" (scroll down) by W. B. R. The Naval Review May 1938 Vol XXVI no 2, pages 283-288. The destination was the frontier post and Fort at Meaday, on the Irrawaddy. Available as an archived webpage.
• "The Tigris Above Baghdad" by Lieut-Comr. A S Elwell-Sutton RN. Scroll to item 15 page 153 The Naval Review February 1923 Vol. XI No. I, produced by The Naval Society. Details of the Caddisfly, one of the 'Fly' class gunboats. Available as an archived webpage.

• The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford Volume I, Volume II 1914 Archive.org. He was in the Royal Navy 1859-1909.
• Fifty Years in the Royal Navy by Admiral Sir Percy Scott 1919. Includes Naval gunnery, the Boxer Rising, the China Station and WW1.
• Memories of a Marine. An Amphibiography [1879-1913], by Major-General Sir George Aston 1919 Archive.org. Royal Marine Artillery.

Secret Service by Major-General Sir George Aston 1930 Archive.org. Includes details of the author's WW1 service.

• The Mediterranean Naval Situation, 1908-1914 by Paul G. Halpern Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Paul G. Halpern Wikipedia. Halpern's later books include publications of the Navy Records Society, (refer External links above) The Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 1915-1918 (Volume 126, 1987), and The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919-1929 (Volume 158, 2011). These latter books are available online to NRS members, and also available at the British Library UIN: BLL01010066046 and UIN: BLL01015816949 .
• History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Naval Operations.Volumes I-III by Sir Julian Stafford Corbett, Volumes IV-V by Henry Newbolt. Published 1920-1931. Archive.org : Volume I, includes Cameroons and the Far East; Volume II, includes Gallipoli; Volume III includes Gallipoli and Mesopotamia; Volume IV , includes Mesopotamia; Volume V. Naval-History.net has transcribed editions which additionally contain maps from a separate case for Volumes II and III.

Revised second editions were published: Volume 1 1938, revised by Edward Yorke Daniel and C. V. Owen in two volumes, Text and Maps, of which at least one volume is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01000784025 ; Volume 2 1929, with maps in pocket UIN: BLL01015219377 ; Volume 3 1940, whose dustjacket cover states "Important revisions" including in respect of the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia. Facsimile reprints of the 2nd editions of Volume 1 and 3 were reprinted by Imperial War Museum/Battery Press in 1997 and 1995 (Volume 3 UIN: BLL01011725482). The reprints available from Naval & Military Press, which are in turn available on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3 contain the revised editions, (at least for Volume 1 and 3, Volume 2 unknown) but not the separate map boxes of the originals. For those with suitable University access, revised Vols. 1 and 3 are available on HathiTrust Digital Library.

History of the Great War based on Official Documents: The Merchant Navy by Archibald Hurd 1921-1929. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Volume III is available as a transcribed edition on Naval-History.net

• World War I Naval Staff Monographs seapower.navy.gov.au (Royal Australian Navy). (To locate in the Seapower website use the Search term Naval Staff Monographs). Compiled by the Historical Section of the Training and Staff Duties Division of the Naval Staff from Admiralty records and original papers in the temporary custody of the the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. The various volumes are described in a page from Naval-History.net.

Includes Volume 2 East Africa to July 1915; Cameroons, 1914; Volume 4: Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf; Volume 5 including China Squadron, 1914 (including Emden Hunt), and East Indies Squadron, 1914

• Rank at a Glance in the Army and Navy New and revised edition. Catalogued 1915. Published by George Philip. 48 pages. File is a series of images. Archive.org

Badges and their meaning : a companion to "Rank at a Glance" : Army & Navy, the R.N.A.S., R.N.D., R.N.R., R.N.V.R., the Royal Marines, Forces of the Overseas Dominions, British Red Cross Society, miscellaneous badges, etc., etc., with descriptive notes. Published by George Philip. Catalogued 1916. Archive.org.

• First World War books by E. Keble Chatterton, late Lieutenant-Commander RNVR include

Dardanelles Dilemma: The Story of the Naval Operations by E. Keble Chatterton 1935 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available Archive.org version, Public Library of India Collection.

Seas of Adventures: the Story of the Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Aegean [1914-1918] 1936 Hathi Trust Digital Library.

"Severn's" Saga by E. Keble Chatterton 1938 Hathi Trust Digital Library. HMS Severn in East Africa.

• Britain's Sea Soldiers. A Record of the Royal Marines during the War 1914-1919. Compiled by General Sir H. E. Blumberg, Royal Marines 1927. HathiTrust Digital Library. May be unavailable in USA etc. Archive.org mirror version.
• Indiscretions of the Naval Censor by Rear-Admiral Sir Douglas Brownrigg [1867-1939] 1920 Archive.org
• The Naval Front by Gordon S Maxwell, Lieut. RNVB illustrated by Donald Maxwell, Lieut. RNVB 1920 Archive.org. Includes chapters on Gallipoli and Mesopotamia.
• The Navy in Mesopotamia, 1914 to 1917 by Conrad Cato [real name Cyril Cox RNR 1917 Archive.org

The Navy Everywhere by Conrad Cato [real name Cyril Cox RNR] 1919. Archive.org

There was a later 2013 reprint The Shallow End of War: Accounts of the Royal Navy in the 'Sideshow' Theatres of the First World War, 1914-18, consisting of partial content from both books.

• "The First Commission of HMS Firefly" by Staff Surgeon FG Hitch RN JRNMS Volume 4, 1918 Archive.org. One of the 'Fly' class gunboats. Also details of other craft on the river Tigris.
• Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations
• On Four Fronts with the Royal Naval Division by Geoffrey Sparrow MC, and J N MacBean Ross MC Surgeons RN 1918 Archive.org. Includes Gallipoli and Salonica. The Division was under the authority of the Admiralty until 29 April 1916.

"With a Royal Marine Battalion in France" by Temporary Surgeon J N MacBean Ross, Medical Officer, 2nd Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry. Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, Vol 3 1917, page 465. Commentary on “With a Royal Marine Battalion in France” Surg Lt Cdr JG Penn-Barwell J Royal Naval Medical Service 2014, Vol 100.2

• The Royal Naval Division by Douglas Jerrold 1923. National Library of Australia. Includes Gallipoli.

The Hawke Battalion. Some Personal Records of Four Years 1914-1918 by Douglas Jerrold 1925. Archive.org

• The True Glory : the Royal Navy, 1914-1939 by Max Arthur 1996. 1997 edition, Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library. Personal accounts. In two Parts including "Part Two The Interwar Years 1919-1939" including
  • Account of "Seaman Gunner Stan Smith", page 161 Smith was held as a prisoner at Baku by the Bolsheviks in very harsh conditions, also referred to as the "Black Hole of Baku". "Obituary: Stan Smith" by G K Johnson 9 Dec. 1995. independent.co.uk . Smith's memoirs of his naval career Sea of Memories (1985), available at the British Library UIN: BLL01008135156 "read like yarns from Boy's Own".
• Bless our Ship by Captain Eric Wheler Bush, Royal Navy 1958. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Born 12 August 1899, he had become a Naval Cadet at age 12 in 1912, and went to sea at the outbreak of war still aged 14. Many of his classmates on other ships died as a result of enemy torpedo action. Biographical details archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Served in the Navy to 1948, including East Indies Station from 1922 and China Station late 1920s and again early 1930s.
• From the Dardanelles to Oran : Studies of the Royal Navy in War and Peace, 1915-1940 by Arthur J Marder 1974 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

Old Friends, New Enemies : the Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Strategic Illusions 1936-1941 by Arthur J Marder 1981 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

Arthur Marder Wikipedia.

• Naval Policy between the Wars Volume II The period of reluctant rearmament 1930-1939 by Stephen Roskill 1976 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. (Volume I subtitle The period of Anglo-American antagonism, 1919-1929, pub. 1968. Sample pages, Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01009930913)
• For History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series. The War at Sea, 1939-1945 by Captain S W Roskill RN, in four volumes, HMSO 1954-1961, see Second World War - Despatches, Offical histories (UK). Scroll down.
• World War II Naval Staff Histories Including Battle Summaries 15 Naval Operations off Ceylon. Website of SeaPower, Royal Australian Navy. (Currently 2024/9, only locatable via the Search)

BR 1886 (C.B. 4273 (52) H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action 3 Sep 1939 - 2 Sep 1945 Based on reports held in the Admiralty at the time of its publication in 1952. A publication in the Navy Department: Reference Books (BR Series). Website of Seapower, Royal Australian Navy.(Currently 2024/9, only locatable via the Search)

• Also see First World War, including First World War - Historical books online - Naval, and the various Fronts linked from that page, and Second World War.
• Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, published from Volume 1, 1915. Archive.org. Originally published quarterly, bound in yearly volumes. Each quarterly issue contains “News of the Service” with Honours, promotions, appointments, relevant Admiralty Orders etc. There is an Index at the back of each yearly volume which includes page numbers for each "News of the Service".
• Medals of the British Navy and how they were won : with a list of those officers, who for their gallant conduct were granted honorary swords and plate by the Committee of the Patriotic Fund by W H Long 1895 Archive.org.
• Vocabularies: English, German, Magyar, Serbian, Bulgarian, Roumanian, Greek, Turkish Compiled by the Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty. HMSO. 1920 Archive.org
• 1919. Signal Letters of British Ships (formerly the British Code List) for the use of ships at sea, and for signal stations Prepared by Charles H Jones, Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. Published for the Committee of Lloyd’s. Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives Initiative (DAI). Direct link for pdf download. Page xx is titled "Ships belonging to the War Department..."

Civilians in the First World War

• A Captive on a German Raider by F G Trayes 1918. Archive.org The author, who was retiring from Siam, was a passenger on a Japanese ship "Hitachi Maru" which was captured by the "Wolf" (see next section) on 26 September 1917, two days after leaving Colombo.

German Navy

• Review Of German Cruiser Warfare, 1914-1918 British Government report 1940. Archive.org
  • Page 17. German Cruiser "Wolf" was ordered to lay mines off various Indian ports.
• Der Kreuzerkrieg in den ausländischen Gewässern, published 1922 - 1937, part of the official series Der Krieg zur See 1914-1918 German language. English Series description by Google Translate. Book texts in German. Volume 1; Volume 2 which includes the Indian Ocean; Volume 3. The latter includes "S M Hilfskreuzer Wolf" page 237 with Map of mines around Bombay, laid 19/20 January 1917 by Wolf Archive.org. Note, there was a 2nd, revised version of Volume 1, published in 1927 which possibly also includes Volume 2 as one volume.

Other online volumes :

• Der Krieg zur See 1914-1918: Der Krieg in der Nordsee Volume 1, Volume 3, Volume 4 (of seven volumes). German language. National Library of Estonia - English webpage option available.
• Der Krieg zur See 1914-1918: Der Krieg in der Ostsee Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3. Archive.org. German language.

• Unsere Marine im Weltkrieg. Bd. 2, Krieg auf sieben Ozeanen Editor: Fritz Otto Busch, Georg Günther von Forstner Volume 2. 1935. German language. National Library of Estonia - English webpage option available.
• Lauterbach of the China Sea : the Escapes and Adventures of a Seagoing Falstaff by Lowell Thomas, 1930 Archive.org. A China Sea Captain, during WW1 Julius Lauterbach was navigator on the German SMS Emden which attacked oil tanks at Madras page 51. He was later a prisoner in Singapore at Tangling prison camp page 95, and helped ferment dissatisfaction which led to the Singapore Mutiny, during which he escaped and fled, initially to Sumatra. Julius Lauterbach [1877-1937] Wikipedia Google Translate English version, Original German version.

Emden : my experiences in S. M. S. Emden by Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern, Oberleutnant z.S.a.D. 1928 Archive.org. A later edition was reprinted as Emden: The Last Cruise of the Chivalrous Raider, 1914. Originally published 1925 in the German language Emden : meine Erlebnisse auf S.M. Schiff "Emden".

Fiction

• The Devils Wind by Maj. Gen. G.L. Verney 1956. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. An account of the actions of the Naval Brigade of H.M.S. Shannon,which participated in the Relief of Lucknow, during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 told through the eyes of a very young sailor.
• The Scarlet Stripe - being the adventures of a naval surgeon by 1932 Taffrail (Captain Henry Taprell Dorling R N) 1932 fadedpage.com, a Canadian website with many online books. A transcription. Also available Archive.org Books to Borrow, 1953 edition. An adventure story. Includes piracies of coasting steamers in the China Seas, in line with actual events. He was also the author of the novel Pirates published 1929, a story of the operations of the pirates in the Canton delta and of the duties of the British gunboats involved, which is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01000969387 . H. Taprell Dorling Wikipedia.
• Yangtze Skipper, by Thomas Woodrooffe 1937. HathiTrust Digital Library. Set in 1919 Shanghai, Toby Warren is First Lieutenant on the "Beetle", a (fictious) Royal Navy river gunboat. The author had served in this period on HMS Scarab a river gunboat.

Note, this appears to be the American title. Appears to be the same book as River of Golden Sand by Thomas Woodrooffe, first published 1936. A review of River of Golden Sand

Naval Odyssey by Thomas Woodrooffe 1938, first published 1936. HathiTrust Digital Library. Toby Warren, on the (fictitious) British cruiser HMS "Cassiopeia", participates in the events in Turkey during the 1920s, and the Royal Navy's involvement in the crises there. A publisher's note about the book and the author, says "After the war he saw service …in the Mediterranean…is thus eminently qualified to write a book about things actually seen and experienced while in the Navy".

Thomas Bovius Ralph Woodrooffe was in the Royal Navy from 1917 and became Lieutenant-Commander in 1929, retired/was dismissed in 1933 and then served in WW2. In Good Company, published 1947 is a memoir about his WW2 service as a Naval Observer. He also wrote a number of other books on naval matters. His navy service is here scroll down to his entry. unithistories.com

• Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000) wrote 21 very well regarded nautical historical novels in the Aubrey–Maturin series (Wikipedia) set during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). One reviewer thought they were the best historical novels ever written.

Archive.org editions, search term "Aubrey, Jack (Fictitious character)". Or Search for individual book titles.

Jack Aubrey Commands : an historical companion to the naval world of Patrick O'Brian by Brian Lavery 2003. Archive.org Books to Borrow.