Discharge Book numbering from WW 2 to 1972 for British seamen

[Ken Atkinson]

1969 r878732

[Helen]

Dad first went to sea on SS Britannia in May 1939 and his R number was R 192838 - c.four months before WW2 started and five months before in the convoy on Britannia when of SS Yorkshire was sunk. He was from Glasgow and sailed from there but don't know if that is any help to you.

[Tony Reeves]

Hello David, my number is R789420 issued at Victoria Docks, London 3rd July 1963. Regards Tony Reeves.

[Mike R868356]

Hi Steve,
Mine was issued 28/10/68 R868356, there was a re issue 24/10/1972 keeping the same number R 868356 the book went from 34 pages to 50 and record taking was more detailed. I had a quick rummage of the internet and there were regulation changes in 1972. Both issued by Merchantile Marine Office Grimsby and remain in my safe custody as is my Seamans Card, I have just discovered its an offence to be holding on to either hey ho. Hope you get the answers your looking for.
Cheers Mike

[Lewis McColl]

Mine was R877577 issued in Liverpool September 1969

[brian clark]

My number was 702169

[Terry Sullivan]

Mine was issued in January 1946
Terry Sullivan R340406

[j.sabourn]

#1 David the discharge book if using to trace people with for fine tuning will be more accurate than using any certificates of competency they may hold. A discharge book for British Merchant Shipping was a necessity for signing on a British ship at one time ,whereas a C.of C was not. The last C of C I sat and got a pass was gained in December 1963 where you were issued with a Pink slip which gave you the right to sail in that rank.I didn’t get mine until February 1964 when time permitted at the mercantile marine shipping office , and had the date off issue stamped in and the proper number which was the only way of proof of ownership. A lot of people must have sailed on pink slips longer than me and wouldn’t know what their number was until they received at a later date. So a discharge book was more accurate of the two especially if fine tuning for voyages . JS

[Lewis McColl]

#151 Good health sir, Terry you must be one of our very senior members keep well

[Davina Chad]

I've done some research on Discharge Books and Discharge A numbers from WW2 to 1972 to try and get an idea of the turnover of British seamen over the period.
Typical numbers issued for various years are

1940 R 217400
1943 R 230000
1945 R 310000
1956 R 658000
1965 R 816000
1972 ??? Was R prefix still used at this time.

I would be grateful for feedback on whether these numbers look reasonable and also for some information on the numbers issued around 1972.
thanks
David Snook

RE Discharge books. My father, David John's Discharge number was R501689 date of discharge 12 June 1970 he was a Chief Cook and last ship was the Clarebrook