Ships & Ship Registers

Bonsor, N. R. P. North Atlantic Seaway : an Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New in Four Volumes.; with ill. by J. H. Isherwood. Enl. and rev. ed. Newton Abbot [Eng.] : David & Charles, 1975-1980.

LC Call Number: HE822.B7 1975

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/75316725

Multi-volume set with written descriptions of individual ships. Volume One covers 1816-1856 with introductory information; volume 2 covers 1857-1873; volume 3 covers 1873-1980; and volume 4 covers 1909-1970. There are a number of illustrations as well as an introductory section in volume one and several statistical and informational appendices in volume 4.

Cutler, Carl C. Queens of the Western Ocean; the Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines. With a foreword by Chester W. Nimitz. Annapolis, U.S. Naval Institute [1961]

LC Call Number: HE745.C8

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/61011247

Table of Contents: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/toc/becites/genealogy/immigrant/61011247.toc.html

General index A-I: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/toc/becites/genealogy/immigrant/61011247.idx1.html

General index J-Z: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/toc/becites/genealogy/immigrant/61011247.idx2.html

Index to ships' names: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/toc/becites/genealogy/immigrant/61011247.idx3.html

Chapters cover particular time periods beginning in 1607 and ending in 1860. There are also several helpful appendixes including sailing lines between the U.S. and foreign ports and coastal lines.

Directory Relating to Record of Arrival of Passenger Steamships at the Ports of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, 1904 to 1926 Inclusive. New York, Immigration Information Bureau, 1928. [San Francisco, R and E Research Associates, 1972]

LC Call Number: HE565.U7 D57 1972

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/77163942

Information is limited. Listed by ship line and then by date of arrival.

Gibbs, Charles Robert Vernon. British Passenger Liners of the Five Oceans, a Record of the British Passenger Lines and Their Liners from 1838 to the Present Day. London, Putnam [1963]

LC Call Number: HE565.G7 G5

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/63023868

Organization is by area of activity: Indian Ocean, South Pacific, North Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Caribbean.

Macpherson, Arthur George Holdsworth. Mail and Passenger Steamships of the Nineteenth Century, the Macpherson Collection / with iconographical and historical notes by Captain H. Parker and Frank C. Bowen. Philadelphia, : J.B. Lippincott Company, [1929?]

LC Call Number: VK19 .M3 1929

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/31000088

Written information about individual ships listed alphabetically. There are also a number of color plates and black and white illustrations.

LC Call Number: HE568 .O4

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/unk82076282

Holdings: 1933-1998, monthly. This is organized mostly to show schedule for steamship lines. However, there is a listing of ports of call with a list of which lines dock there. There are also listing for the major routes: trans-Atlantic (westbound and eastbound) that is presented by month with the days of departure then the ports of call and destination; and Pacific to Europe (includes those ships leaving the Panama Canal).

LC Call Number: HE568 .O23

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/75642265

Holdings: 1975-1993, monthly. The mostly covers international cruise lines but does include ship profile with information on name, tonnage, operator, commission date, year rebuilt/refurbished, crew nationality, hotel staff number, country of registry, former name, passenger capacity. Cruise information is grouped by destination then where ship originated. There is also information on port-to-port ferry schedules that are presented by destination and then origination port.

Smith, Eugene Waldo. Passenger Ships of the World, Past and Present. [1st ed.] Boston, G. H. Dean Co. [c1963]

LC Call Number: HE565.A3 S48

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/63003478

Covers ships built before 1963. HathiTrust has a digital version but access may be limited. Organized by area of activity: Trans-Atlantic, Trans-Pacific, Trans-Pacific via Panama Canal, Latin America, to Africa and Eastern oceans, and California/Hawaii. Information on ships can vary but usually includes: name, company, construction information, as well as information on when it was scrapped or sold. There is also a pictorial section

Smith, Eugene Waldo. Trans-Atlantic Passenger Ships, Past and Present. [1st ed.] Boston, G. H. Dean Co. [1947]

LC Call Number: HE565.A3 S5

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/47006048

There are several sections: history of record breakers, ships built between 1840-1940, fleet list, longest ships, liners over600 feet classed by funnels and masts (past/present). There is also a pictorial section

LC Call Number: HE565.U5 W39 1983

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/83008210

Includes ships that carry passengers, even those that are both passenger and freight, if they are propelled by steam on the Mississippi River. The main listing is alphabetical by ship name. Ship information includes: some dimensions and specs as well as a history of the ship that includes dates built, berth information, and disposition. There are also listings for compound name index and general index that include captain/owner names. There are also some images.

LC Call Number: HE561.B6

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/unk81014619

Holdings: 1844-1858 incomplete. Alternate titles: Boston Shipping List and Prices Current and Boston Shipping List, Prices Current, Commercial and Underwriters Gazette. Publication is semiweekly on Wednesday and Saturday. News and information on ship disasters, sailings, cargoes and their prices. Covers news and developments in international shipping but does have a particular focus on Boston activities including statistics on the ports and statistics on commodities though the port. There was reporting on commodities prices/trade and news. Data from the publication was often reported in other trade literature like The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review. Now off-site so turn around for this title is 2 days.

LC Call Number: VM1.U63

LC Catalog Record:

Holdings: 1952-1969. This titles was a consolidation of separately, previous published information and was continued by Naval Ship Systems Command Technical News. A large part of the work concerns ships of the U.S. Navy.

LC Call Number: HF1.S5 (folio)

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/sn84031174

Holdings: 1815-1894. This has several titles or is known by different names: Shipping and Commercial List and New York Price Current (1826-1840 and 1849-1854), Shipping & Commercial List (1824-1825 and 1840-1849 and 1855-1868), New-York Shipping and Commercial List (1816-1820), New York Price Current, and Turner's New-York Shipping and Commercial List (1820-1823). This is a semi-weekly (published on Wednesdays and Saturdays) newspaper with a few news articles and advertisements, but it does include Packet arrival information as well as ships from foreign countries and other U.S. ports. The Marine List which includes ships and arrivals to New York. Publication includes prices for imports/products - current prices of various products offered for sale by local merchants, exchange rates and other data of interest to people and business involved in shipping and commercial trade. Oversize folio volumes now off-site so turn around for this title is 2 days. Some years (1841-1850) of this title are available digitally but each page is digitized individually. See: Gulnar whichever is better: http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/All%20Newspapers/New%20York%20NY%20Shipping%20And%20Commercial%20List/index.html

Or

http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/All%20Newspapers/Page7.html

LC Call Number: Newspaper Microfilm 1336

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/sn85054004

Holdings under various titles at: 1823-2000. This is a merger of: New York Journal of Commerce, Daily Commercial Bulletin and Auction Record, New York Commercial, and Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin and Commercial. This publication is often microfilm only. Much of this title is part of the 1336 Microfilm reels but some parts/title may not be so check the individual records of the titles as well. This is a general news publication focusing on commerce but it does have ships (with mails) comings and goings on a regular basis. Articles do cover topics that aren’t strictly trade including wars, natural disasters, and large events but content and coverage did vary some over time. Currently this publicationhas an online component at http://www.joc.com/ which does include a publication Traffic World as of 2009. It is related to the JOC Sailings website.

LC Call Number: VM1.M3

LC Catalog Record:

Holdings: 1886-2008, and also known as Marine Log. News about shipbuilding activity. There is an online presence.

LC Call Number: VM1.M57

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/44049561

Holdings 1938-1988. This is a British publication that has news about shipbuilding activity, includes photographs.

LC Call Number: VM1.M6

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/sf84007072

Holding: 1916-1963. Later known as Rivers & Harbors. News about shipbuilding activity, includes photographs.

LC Call Number: HE554.N7 N65

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/35016081

Holdings: 1929-1986, weekly. This title was later known as Forwarder and Brandon’s Shipper and Forwarder. Early volumes are in single part, later volumes each issue came in two parts. Part 1 was ship specific information by destination/port of call and was the “official steam ship schedules” and part 2 was news.

LC Call Number: VM1.S42

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/45030084

Holdings: 1931-1964. Holdings: 1966-2013. This is a British publication with news about shipbuilding activity, includes photographs.

LC Call Number: VM1.S495

LC Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/66009938

Holdings: 1966-2013. This was a British publication with news about shipbuilding activity, includes photographs.

This section includes sources for ship specific information like specifications as well as images. There are a number of free sources with images and information but it is impossible to include them all. Also included are other archival collections around the United States that cover ships. While all archival collections could ne be included, sources like Archive Grid (https://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/) could be helpful in finding other local and alternative sources and collections.

http://ww2.eagle.org/content/eagle/en.html

Vessel search http://www.eagle.org/safenet/record/record_vesselsearch?Accesstype=PUBLIC&ReferrerApplication=PUBLIC

This is a largely subscription based product related to the print title mentioned earlier in this guide under American Bureau of Shipping. Their online database (some of which is searchable) provides a listing of all vessels and offshore installations currently in class with ABS, including appropriate class notations. Each listing contains the principal particulars of the vessel or installation and information on the machinery, hull, capacities, builder, owner and ABS survey particulars.

http://nmdl.org/aowv/whindex.cfm

According to the website: “The American Offshore Whaling Voyage (AOWV) database includes information from about all known American offshore (or "pelagic") whaling voyages from the 1700s to the 1920s, but not including the modern factory ship voyages of the mid-20th century. Information is most complete for the 19th century.” It can be searched by vessel, master, port, and dates and data can include: Voyage Number (unique identified for each voyages), Vessel name and rigging, Port of registry or departure ("Hailing Port"), Departure year and month, Arrival (return at end of voyage), Destination, Product landed or sent home (Sperm or baleen whale oil in barrels, whalebone or baleen, in pounds) and Master (captain) name or names where there were multiple captains.

Ancestry.com

There are over 1,000 images of ships (photograph or artistic rendering) as part of the Pictures section as a way for those searching to see an image of the ship their ancestors arrived on. Information with the image can include: Line sailed under, Builder, Ship type, Tonnage, Dimensions, Number of masts and funnels, Ship history, and Years in service. It isn’t comprehensive but it is being updated. Most of these records are related to the immigration records from the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/passenger-arrival.html).

https://sin.clarksons.net/

This is the publisher of the Bulk Carrier Register and the Tanker Register (see print list). They do have an online subscription component which includes vessel specific information: Type, Name, Size, Unit, Dwt, GT, Flag, Built, Month, Builder, Owner Group.

Great Lakes Ship Wreck Research

http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/index.jsp

This information is specific to information on the Great Lakes. Sections include: Great Lakes Shipwreck News & Rumor, Great Lakes Maritime Books & Ephemera has a great listing of print resources covering wrecks in the Great lakes, Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Service, and the Great Lakes Maritime History Online Databases & Resources has other internet lists/projects covering shipwrecks in the great lakes. There is also a discussion and research forum.

Great Lakes Vessels Online Index

http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/

Created by Bowling Green State University it is just a part of the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes (HCGL) which collects, preserves, and makes available, historical materials documenting the Great Lakes region and connecting waterways. The Vessel Database base is the end product of combining these two data formats into an online tool.

Historic Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico

http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Archaeology/Shipwrecks.aspx

This information is maintained by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) which is part of the Department of Interior. Mostly about some of the known wrecks and information on preserving and investigating wrecks. There is a short snip about some of the largest with an extensive list of citations for more research.

IHS/Fairplay – Lloyd’s Register of Ship

http://www.shipfinder.org/

This is a subscription based product and is an electronic equivalent/enhancement of the print title. Details on all sea-going, self-propelled merchant ships of 100 GT and above, irrespective of their classification. Data is the same as it is in the print title.

Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide to Published Sources (Library of Congress) http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/immigrant/immigrant.html

This is a guide produced by Local History & Genealogy staff at the Library of Congress and is intended for those researching arrivals of people into the United States.

http://www.shipwreckregistry.com

The information is not online - requests are made by email. There is a wreck list group by region (north Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, etc.) with price information.

JOC Sailings

http://www.jocsailings.com/

This is a website related to content found in the long running Journal of Commerce. There is a limited free source but more detailed information is by subscription. The Global Sailing Schedules allows users can enter an origin, destination, date, carrier name to see future schedules. There is a Carrier Directory is a useful and time saving tool that enables NVOCCs, 3PLs or anyone involved in freight forwarding, ocean shipping and importing and exporting to quickly locate carrier names, contact information, and services offered. There is also a Vessel Search enables NVOCCs, 3PLs or anyone involved in freight forwarding, ocean shipping and importing and exporting to find the names of vessels, their types, country of registry, capacities, IMO Numbers and active voyages. The JOC Ports links users to a separate product containing port information.

Library of Congress – Prints & Photographs Catalog

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/

Includes many images – both prints and photographs - of ships and other vessels some known others anonymous.

Lloyd’s Register of Ships Online

http://www.lr.org/en/research-and-innovation/historical-information/lloyds-register-of-ships-online/

This is a free site related to the print title mentioned earlier in this guide. It is an easy access point for the Lloyd’s Register of Ships which are fully accessible and searchable online. The early volumes, up to 1899, were scanned in by GoogleBooks and by The Internet Archive and can be searched by any of the fields such as ship name, master, ship owner or place of build (some of the fields may be abbreviated such as ‘Capt’. for Captain or ‘Amer.’ for America). Those from 1930-1945 have also been scanned and can be searched by ship name(s), year of build and gross tonnage. The Register Book for 1764-66 is now available to view in PDF format. Vessels can be found in alphabetical order of ship name.

Lloyd List Intelligence

http://www.lloydslistintelligence.com

This is a subscription based product. Includes news and vessel specific information.

Marine Log

http://www.marinelog.com/

This is related to a print publication of the same name (other title Marine Engineering & Shipping Age) and covers shipbuilding, offshore, coastal, and shipping.

Marine Traffic

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/

This is a participatory site with member contributions and includes many photos of specific vessels contributed by individuals.

Mystic Seaport - Museum of America and the Sea

http://library.mysticseaport.org/

The museum’s G.W. Blunt White Library has many shipping and sea related resources including many books and periodicals. Includes information on ship plans, Connecticut Ship Database (1789-1939) and other related resources. Specific resources of interest include:

Ship Register (1857-1900) Search http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/VMSearch.cfm

Yacht register/ship register list http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/ShipRegisterList.cfm

Immigrant Ships http://library.mysticseaport.org/immigration/intro.cfm

http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/CoastGuard/VesselByName.html

Access NOAA copy of the United States Coast Guard's (USCG) vessel data base and extract vessel characteristic, documentation, and ownership data (please read our data caveats page). This database is updated on a monthly basis. Our query program only retrieves data about vessels which are craft that are 5 net tons or larger and are documented by the USCG.

National Archives

http://www.archives.gov

Many maritime records are regionalized. There are excel spreadsheets with vessel names and some information on the site. There is a piece about search strategies (http://www.archives.gov/boston/public/strategies-ships.html) which may be helpful as well as another that has information about locations/organization of various maritime records (http://blogs.archives.gov/TextMessage/2011/03/30/navy-maritime-records-at-archives-i/), and Vessel Documents (http://www.archives.gov/research/maritime/vessel-documents.html). Search the site using “vessel documentation” many come from the Atlanta office (includes southern ports in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) which has put some finding aides to Records Group 26 (Coast Guard http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/finding-aids/maritime.html#rg_26). Coast Guard records in Chicago (http://www.archives.gov/chicago/finding-aids/wreck-reports.html) often include information about wrecks. Some specifics to mention are:

• 
  Record Group 26 Coast Guard (http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/026.html)
  
• 
  Record Group 36 Customs (http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/036.html)
  
• 
  Record Group 36 Customs (http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/customs-records-1820-1891.html). Passenger Lists (microfilmed) circa 1820-1891 for: Atlantic, Gulf, and Great Lakes Ports (http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/port/atlantic-gulf-great-lakes.html), Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia.
  
• 
  Record Group 41 Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/041.html) are important but some information is kept at regional location so see Overview of Records Locations and see the finding aids at the regional locations (http://www.archives.gov/locations/).
  

https://www.seahistory.org/

NMHS raises awareness of the nation’s maritime heritage and the role seafaring has played in shaping civilization. Members include merchant mariners, ship builders, naval architects, recreational sailors, historians, educators, conservationists, preservationists, leaders of the maritime industry, military members of the sea services, and other interested in maritime history.

New Orleans Public Library - Records Relating to the Port of New Orleans

http://nutrias.org/~nopl/inv/neh/nehqn.htm

Covers activities of the port including ship arrivals and cargo. General date coverage for full collection is 1806 to 1871. It contains manuscript records, mostly in French, giving the date of arrival, name, type, and amount of levee dues for each flatboat, barge, raft, and steamboat in the port. In some cases the name of the owner or master of the vessel is also given and in some instances the cargo carried by the vessel is specified. These were part of the records kept because of the City Council, ordinance of March 21, 1806, which required the Collector of Levee Dues to keep two books, one to record ships loading and unloading in the port, and the other to record flatboats, barges, rafts, and other craft arriving therein.

Pictures of United States Navy Ships (1775-1941)

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/navy-ships/

This site was created by the National Archives and includes photographs and photographs of artworks or models of ships that depict types of ships used by the Navy from the Revolutionary War period to December 7, 1941, before America's entry into the Second World War. Ships commissioned before the use of steel for ship construction was begun in 1883 are listed under Early Ships subdivided by method of propulsion, and listed thereunder chronologically by date of commissioning while ships commissioned after 1883 are listed under Modern Ships and are subdivided by general class, such as auxiliary or destroyer, and thereunder chronologically. Information for Early or Modern ships are a bit different.

Ships in Class

http://www.lrshipsinclass.lrfairplay.com/

This site “provides public access to general information about the Lloyd's Register classed fleet.” Using is free but users need to sign up with a username/password. Data included: Vessel name, LR/IMO Number,Owner, Flag, Status, Length (metres), Deadweight (tonnes), Breadth (metres), Gross tonnage (tons), Draught (metres), Classification details, Ship type, Builder, Year of build, Yard number, Country of build, and Propulsion summary.

ShipIndex

http://www.shipindex.org/

This is a subscription database (with some free content) from Ship Index, LLC and is a gateway to information about vessels, telling you which books, magazines, and online resources mention the vessels you're researching. There are 142,804 entries in the free database and 1,384,684 entries available with premium access. Type in a ship name, for example, and you can scan through the barks, brigs and schooners down to the steam schooner you are looking for.

The Ship List

http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html

This is a source for images of ships and ports in the United States. It also includes other related information like wrecks, additional photos, etc. There is more of an emphasis on historical material.

ShipSpotting.com

http://www.shipspotting.com/

This is a participatory site with member contributions some content is free but members can contribute and see more. It includes almost 2 million photographs. You can search and brows by ship type.

Smith’s Master List of Maritime Museums

http://www.maritimemuseums.net/

Mostly focused on U.S. museums like the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (VT) which often contain ship and shipwreck records.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Navigation Data Center

http://www.navigationdatacenter.us/veslchar/veslchar.htm

This is related to print title by the name Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States.

U.S. Coast Guard - Port State Information eXchange (PSIX)

https://cgmix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx

The Port State Information eXchange (PSIX) system contains vessel specific information derived from the United States Coast Guard's Marine Information Safety and Law Enforcement System (MISLE). Includes information on U.S. flag vessels, foreign vessels operating in U.S. waters, and Coast Guard contacts with those vessels.

WRECKSITE

http://www.wrecksite.eu/

This is a worldwide free database of + 65,000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions.

SUBJECTS

Merchant marine--United States.

Merchant marine--History.

Merchant ships--History.

Navigation--History.

Shipping--History.

Shipping --Periodicals.

Shipping --United States --Periodicals.

Steamboat lines --Directories.

Steamboat lines --Timetables.

Sailing ships--History.

Ocean liners--Registers.

Ship registers.

Ship registers--Periodicals.

Ship registers--COUNTRY NAME.

Ship registers--STATE NAME.

Ship registers—OTHER GEOGRAPHIC/REGIONAL DESCRIPTORS.

Cargo ships--Registers.

Liquefied gas carriers--Registers.

Ships--Registration and transfer.

Steamboat lines--Timetables--Periodicals.

Passenger ships--Timetables--Periodicals.

Historic ships.

Ships--Periodicals.

Shipbuilding--Periodicals.

Naval architecture--Periodicals.

Steamboat disasters.

Shipwrecks.