Discharge books

We once had a ships doctor who kept a book of discharges, wonder if that would be worth a look?

Discharge Books... How easy is it to get one nowadays if they still have them that is.??.. In 1997 I was master on the Nordic Explorer a Norwegian Seismic vessel. As during the voyage had a bit of disagreement with a UK camp boss who was green behind the ears as far as I was concerned and used to the North Sea only, about a developing Cyclone, think he thought it was always calm seas and sunshine out here, however he wanted to continue shooting I didnt and told him in no uncertain terms the ship was going to fairer climes and did so, so knew I would be shifted after tour was over. One of the Seismic crew came up with a Brand New Seamans Dis Book, also think he was a Dutchman and wanted me to sign with the ships stamp etc. told him to eff off. Said as far as I was concerned he was not entitled to a British seamans book and was not a member of the ships crew as such. Told him to go and see my friend and his, his camp boss who said he did not have the authority to sign. Thinking back 30 years previous to this the problems I had keeping a foreign vessel out of a British book makes the whole argument stupid now, as we are in a case with practically no British flag vessels, no British seamen, and Discharge books of British origin apparently easy to apply for and get. The one he had was brand new with no discharges in, I refused point blank to have that pleasure. Think the next master listened to this North Sea tiger and lost all the seismic gear, which he blamed the master for. Beleive however have mentioned this before. Cheers John S

Hi shipmates. I was given my mate Laurie{ war time} paper discharges, a few years ago to look after. now hes has crossed the bar I would never part with them . To me they are priceless... A part of our history... As my dads were lost in a fire...

It always amazes me when i watch the TV progamn *flog it* , people bring stuff up for auction, and asked where did you get it, many times it has been left to them by relatives or friends, and they are flogging these momentos, many times for peanuts.the only thing i can think is they want to see themselves on the box, KT

I have the Crew List for the last ship that my Grandfather sailed on - SS QUEEN 123532 torpedoed 28 June 1918 off the NW coast of Spain. He was the Bosun and there is a number alongside his name N HARTLEY 891658. Would this be a Discharge number? If so, would there be any chance of finding anything at Kew? I noticed that the rest of the Crew also had numbers beside their names. The Master and Officers and Engineers had their Certificate numbers as well. I've done loads of transcriptions of Crew Lists for the National Archives and haven't found this sort of thing before.
Can anyone help, please ?
Thanks
Brenda

#25... Most on this site have dis. numbers beginning with an R, or after some time later UK. They are mostly 6 letter numbers. Hugh when he sees your post will be able to tell you probably as has a lot of knowledge re the subject going back further than most of us. Could be a dis. number or cert number of some sort, or even an ID number giving to civilians durig various war periods. JS

Commonly confused around this time period for Merchant Seamen are the Discharge A. number and the RS2 (ID) number.
I am pretty sure the number shown on the Articles of Agreement for N. Hartley would be his Discharge number. If you can add his date and place of birth I can have a quick look.

Regards
Hugh

N Hartley?. is he the one who wrote the book about fly fishing?.

#26, Alfie my lovely, Different chap altogether

1983 -Yellow Pages JR Hartley - YouTube
► 0:49► 0:49
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv1VQ7uSC-s
6 Nov 2008 - Uploaded by haribokey
1983 classic UK commercial for Yellow Pages featuring the famous J.R. Hartley.