Catalogue description Registry of Shipping and Seamen: War of 1939-1945; Merchant Seamen's Service on Royal Navy Ships

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Details of BT 390
Reference: BT 390
Title: Registry of Shipping and Seamen: War of 1939-1945; Merchant Seamen's Service on Royal Navy Ships
Description:

This series contains records of Merchant Seamen's Service on Royal Navy Ships.

  • The T124X records detail the sea service of merchant seamen who served on Royal Navy ships (or Royal Navy auxiliary vessels).
  • The T124T records detail the sea service of merchant seamen who served on tugs.

Information is contained in pouches and includes personal details such as name, age, rank, rating/grade and qualifications, together with details of the vessels on which the individual served.

Note: Catalogue entries for this series have been enhanced as part of a project supported by volunteers.
Date: 1939-1946
Arrangement:

The pouches are arranged in three sequences:

  • British seamen who served under the T124X agreement;
  • British seamen who served under the T124T agreement;
  • Non-British seamen who served under the T124X agreement. (These were originally described as 'Asian seamen' but that is misleading. Most of these men were not born in Asia; many were Egyptian.)

Each sequence is in alphabetical order by the seaman's last name.
Related material:

Seamen's records ('pouches') are in: BT 372

Crew agreements and log books are in: BT 380

Coast trade crew agreements and log books are in: BT 381

Fifth Register of Seaman's Service is in: BT 382

Crew agreements and log books for requisitioned or chartered Allied foreign ships are in: BT 387

Special Operations Records, merchant seamen, are in: BT 391
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department: T124X and T124T pouches
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1872-1992
Physical description: 236 bundle(s)
Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure
Immediate source of acquisition:

In 2003 Registry of Shipping and Seamen
Custodial history: These records were compiled at the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. Much of the information would have come from the Royal Navy.
Accumulation dates: 1939-1946
Selection and destruction information: These records have been selected on the basis that they reflect the economic, social and demographic condition of the UK, as documented by the state's dealings with individuals, communities and organisations outside of its own formal boundaries (2.2.2.1 of PRO's acquisition policy).
Accruals: No further accruals are anticipated.

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