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Service records are held in different locations according to branch of service and the date of entry. You may also need to search in more than one place to find an individual’s record, according to the dates he served.
Many of the relevant records relating to naval genealogical research (particularly those relating to the post-1920 period) are still held by Ministry of Defence departments and agencies. Genealogical enquiries must be made in writing. You may have to wait for a reply because the Ministry of Defence’s principal function is to respond to official enquiries concerning welfare, employment, pensions and other legal matters. The basic search fee is currently £25. If you are enquiring about an individual who is still alive, your enquiry should be directed through the
Naval Service Freedom of Information
Co-Ordination Cell (NSFOICC)
Mailpoint G1
CINCFLEET
Leach Building
Whale Island
Portsmouth PO2 8DX.
The National Archives has most of the records in the public domain, and their helpful research guides can be found on their website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk They have also published some very useful books, and of particular note are
Tracing your Ancestors in the Public Record Office
6th edition, edited by Amanda Bevan
Naval Records for Genealogists
by N A M Rodger
Tracing your Naval Ancestors
by Bruno Pappalardo.
Editions of the Navy List, published continuously from 1814, are the obvious starting point for any search into an officer’s career, as they contain seniority lists of all officers, cross-referred to individual ships, which in turn list their complement of officers.
Included are retired and Reserve officers in employment, together with yard and civilian officers, Women’s Royal Naval Service, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service and other Admiralty officials. During the First and Second World Wars much of the usual information was omitted from the published editions of the Navy List and confined to confidential editions for ‘service use’ only.
A full set is held by The National Archives, but the Department of Printed Books holds a near complete run, including many of the confidential editions, for the period 1914 to date.
Unfortunately, there is no similar listing available for ratings.
The Institute of Historical Research and The National Archives have jointly published A Guide to the Naval Records in The National Archives of the UK. While naval warfare is one of the most popular subjects of research in The National Archives, readers are frequently frustrated in their search for information, and a high proportion of the relevant records are seldom consulted. This invaluable guide will help researchers both to understand TNA's naval records and to locate the information they want, regardless of how much or little administrative history they know, or want to know.
The guide includes public records deposited outside The National Archives in the National Maritime Museum and the Post Office Archives. It also refers to some documents which have strayed from official custody and are now in the British Library, Cambridge University Library or the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and which are known to fill gaps in the records.
A Guide to the Naval Records in The National Archives of the UK
Published September 2006
£20.00
387pp paperback
ISBN: 978 1 905165 16 2