Ships Records

[John Egerton]

Hi Everybody

Although I am not a seaman my father served in the Merchant Navy from 1934 - 1950. As part of my family research I am trying to find information on how to find out what ships my father served on during this period.

I know he sailed on the various convoys during world war II and have obtained his British Seamans Identity Card from the national archives, with some other information. The only other information provided was a card with six digit numbers and a date beside each number. I believe the numbers to be the ships number and the dates of the voyage. However there is no reference to the name of the ship or the shipping line they belonged to.

The dates referenced are between 1934 and 1940.

I would apprecite any help from your members to point me in the right direction to find the ships names and why his record card only dates upto 1940.

Thanks for your time

John Egerton

[Doc Vernon]

Hello John
Firstly welcome to the site!
Now as for the card you have with the Numbers,yes they sound like the Ships official ones,and if you could Post these,we could the look up the names for you,that way at least you have a start!
Also if you could list your Fathers DOB and Place as well,we could also look up if there is still records held at the NA,such as his CRS10 or Saemans Pouch!
With the above info i am sure amomgst us we will be able to futher the search for you!
Cheers and Good Luck!

[Hugh]

Hello John and welcome,
I suspect the card you have is your father's CR2 which will have been held in his seaman's pouch from BT 372 at Kew. The numbers are indeed the ship's official numbers. His full service record from Jan 1941 should be held in a form CRS 10 which you can also get from Kew if it has survived. As Castleman says give a full name, date and place of birth for starters?

Regards
Hugh

[John Egerton]

Hi Castleman and Hugh

Thank you for your quick response. My fathers name was John Ernest Egerton and he was born 26/12/1915
His Dis A No. was R116885 and there is a c.r.s. 53 shown on his Identity card.

Ship Nos Date
149683
140310 17.2.34
147294 8.8.34
137459 7.3.36
145916 6.6.36
162411 9.1.37
145931 7.10.37
166247 26.8.38
162350 10.5.39
149837 8.3.40
137487 31.7.40

Hope this helps gents

Cheers ohn

P.S. he was born in Liverpool

[Doc Vernon]

Hi
The following are from Mirimar Ship Index so hope you may have a clue as to which are which!
Hugh may come up with better ones!
Looks like you will have to go to the CRS10 Section wherei\ if they still exist your Dads Papers will be there!
There are a few Numbers that dont come up at Mirimar,but can you just check those that are not listed in case you may have a digit incorrect!
Thanks!
I will look at another site as well to see if those missing numbers come up!
Wait for Hugh as well,as he i am sure will get more info!
Cheers
His Seamans Medals are at the following Link!

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/d...&resultcount=4

Seamans Pouch is here

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...ATREF=+R116885



140310 1917 SANTILLE 4287 V1917 #745 Scrutton Sons & Co
140310 1917 SPECIALIST 4287 1920 V1917 #745 Charente SS Co Ltd
140310 1917 NAILSEA LASS 4287 1936 V1917 #745 E.R.Mngt Co But the dates are wrong here!??


147294 1925 WANDERER 5079 V1925 #589 Charente SS Co Ltd

137459 1915 DEFENDER 8078 V1915 #102 Charente SS Co Ltd

162411 1934 MERCHANT 4615 V1934 #185 Charente SS Co Ltd

145931 1922 SCHOLAR 3940 V1922 #612 Charente SS Co Ltd

149837 1927 ARANDORA 12847 V1927 #27 Blue Star Line
149837 1927 ARANDORA STAR 12847 1929 V1927 #27 Blue Star Line

[Ray Buck]

John
149683 TACTICIAN
140310 17.2.34 SANTILLE
147294 8.8.34 WANDERER
137459 7.3.36 DEFENDER
145916 6.6.36 TRAVELLER
162411 9.1.37 MERCHANT
145931 7.10.37 SCHOLAR
166247 26.8.38 SCIENTIST
162350 10.5.39 HILARY
149837 8.3.40 ARANDORA
137487 31.7.40 BOSTONIAN

Ray

[Doc Vernon]

Just an update on al info!

GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20011907 BOSTONIAN 1915 6225 cargo Glasgow 1948 Burned - 137487

Later Identities:

Change Year Name Tonnage Type Remarks
1916 GLENGYLE 6225 cargo 1916/ex Bostonian
1923 LAUTARO 6240 cargo 1923/ex Bostonian
1947 RIVER SWIFT 6226 cargo 1947/ex Bostonian


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20006249 ARANDORA 1927 12838 passcgoref Birkenhead 1940 TorpedoedU - 149837

Later Identities:

Change Year Name Tonnage Type Remarks
1929 ARANDORA STAR 14694 cruiseship 1929/ex Arandora


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20038390 HILARY 1931 7403 passcargo Birkenhead 1959 Scrapped - 162350

Later Identities:

Change Year Name Tonnage Type Remarks
1940 HILARY 7403 boardgvsl 1940/conv < PC passcargo
1943 HILARY 7403 HQship 1943/conv < NL boardgvsl
1946 HILARY 7403 passcargo 1946/conv < NL HQship


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20080998 SCIENTIST 1938 6199 cargoliner Port Glasgow 1940 Gunfire - 166247


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20080989 SCHOLAR 1922 3940 cargo Glasgow - - 145931


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built At Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20059005 MERCHANT 1934 4572 cargo Port Glasgow 1941 Mined - 162411


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built At Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20089402 TRAVELLER 1922 3963 cargo Glasgow 1942 TorpedoedU - 145916



GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built At Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20021183 DEFENDER 1915 8078 cargoliner Glasgow 1952 Scrapped - 137459



GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built At Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20095145 WANDERER 1925 5079 cargoliner Glasgow 1949 Scrapped - 147294



GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20080780 SANTILLE 1917 4287 cargo South Shields - - 140310

Later Identities:

Change Year Name Tonnage Type Remarks
1920 SPECIALIST 4287 1920/ex Santille
1936 NAILSEA LASS 4289 1936/ex Santille


GSN Name Year Built Tonnage Type Built at Fate Year Fate LR/IMO
Number Official Number Remarks
20088257 TACTICIAN 1928 5996 cargoliner Birkenhead - - 149683

Later Identities:

Change Year Name Tonnage Type Remarks
1950 CROSTAFELS 5996 1950/ex Tactician


Cheers

[Hugh]

Hello John,
If you are in a position to visit Kew you should check out piece reference BT 382/536. This is where your dad's form CRS 10 [service record from Jan 1941] should be found. If you are not in a position to visit then make another post and we will let you know what your options are.
Regards
Hugh

[John Egerton]

Hi Ray, Hugh, and Castleman

Thank you so much for all your help.

Hugh, I actually live in Liverpool and have not as yet been able to get to Kew. You suggested there might be other options to obtain his crs 10 record.I would be very grateful if you could let me know what options I have.

The information provided by all of you has been very interesting and confirms a story my mum told me. As I was quite young when my father died, I didn't get the opportunity to talk to him about his life in the Merchant Navy service.

As the story goes, my father and his friend whose name I do not know, often signed on the same ships. His friend asked my father to sign on this ship they had previously been on, which was sailing out of Liverpool in the summer of 1940. However my father said he wasn't going on the ship as it had been" to lucky." His friend however did sign on. From your infomation it looks like that ship must have been the Arandora Star which as you know was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. Sadly his friend did not survive.

This probabally happened to many seaman during the war period, anyway just thought the story might have been of some interest to you.

My mother also told me that he was an able seaman, cook and gunner. Is this likely to have been correct or a flight of fancy, as I thought gunners would have had to have special training.

Once again thank you all for your time

Cheers John

[Hugh]

Hello John,
Firstly, being an able seaman and a gunner was most certainly not a flight of fancy - don't know about the cook though. My father was an able seaman and a gunner. Merchant seamen gunners did go on gunnery training and assisted RN and Maritime Royal Artillery gunners at action stations. On the form CRS 10 you may see an entry like MSG and a number. This will indicate that he completed a gunnery training course

With regard to obtaining his form CRS 10 without visiting Kew. Firstly, if you can visit this is by far the best and cheapest option. I am at this moment, on another site I work on, trying to get more clarity from Kew as their online ordering process is frankly shambolic. I can help cut through the red tape but I am afraid the costs will be around about £40, hence the comment regarding the visit.

I will post more information about obtaining Form CRS 10's later when I get the latest information.
Regards
Hugh