Hi all, I was wondering: are there records anywhere that would show what ships a captain in the Merchant Marine sailed on during WW2? What trips or convoys those ships were a part of? I imagine these aren't digitized, but would they even exist? I haven't spent much time looking into this, but my maternal grandfather (Thomas Edmund James May) was a merchant marine captain who was on ships through the whole war. I did use one site which turned up an image of a registration card from when he was 19, but that's not helpful in this respect.
Hi, Some of his service from the Fourth Register of Seamen - this is not a complete record and there will be other voyages not shown here. His WW1 medal card is available for download for £3.45 here: BT 351/1/90211 March 1919 - BECKINGHAM 08/03/1924 - ILFORD 06/02/1925 – ILFORD 08/03/1926 – WOOBURN 24/01/1928 – BLACKHEATH 08/04/1929 – WOKINGHAM 22/01/1931 – FULHAM 13/04/1932 – SELJE 10/04/1933 - FINCHLEY 29/01/1934 - TEECO 08/05/1937? – TEECO (Previous ship to TEECO shipwrecked) 19/11/1937 – SEVERN LEIGH 07/03/1940 - WANSTEAD 23/7/1942 – WANSTEAD (previous ship lost to enemy action possibly 27/6/1942) For his WW2 service record from January 1941 you should consult his CRS 10, if it has survived, I will give you details of that tomorrow sometime. Regards Hugh
You may have to search a couple of files for any surviving CRS 10. Check at Kew in BT 382/1202, BT 382/1203, BT 382/1204. Also you should consult Lloyd's Captains Register for service as Master and Mate. The records are held at the London Metropolitan Archives - their website is down at the time of writing. For earlier service as Master or Mate he has a couple of files on Ancestry - Thomas Edmund James May - UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 - Ancestry.co.uk I dont have access to this pay site. He has a CR10 card from 1919 with his id photo - not sure if you have it or not. Regards Hugh
Hi Hugh, Thank you so much! That is fantastic! I believe the image I do have is his 1919 CR10 card (when he was 17, not 19, my mistake). I'm confused by what you mention for TEECO and WANSTEAD. Well, I guess my first question would be what do the names and dates actually indicate - when he came on board a ship? Does this mean there was a TEECO he served on from '34 which was then wrecked, and a new ship was also named TEECO in '37? I'm not sure anyone in the family is aware that he was on a ship which was sunk during the war, or the shipwreck. Unfortunately my grandmother passed away some years ago. Looking these up would be interesting. It would have to be part of a vacation trip. (After the war, my grandmother insisted that he leave the sea... which my mother thinks was a mistake because he loved it so much. The family lived in Guyana for a while and then Canada. So I'm Canadian.)
Hmm. It seems that he wasn't in command of the Wanstead? Wanstead (British Steam merchant) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net says the master was William B. Johnston.
Thomas Edmund James May in the UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 Name: Thomas Edmund James May Estimated Age: 21 Birth Date: 1902 Birth Place: Dover Issue Date: 23 Nov 1923 Issue Port: Dover Certificate Number: 0017387 Name: Thomas Edmund James May Estimated Age: 23 Birth Date: 1902 Birth Place: Dover, Kent Issue Date: 12 Dec 1925 Issue Port: Bristol Certificate Number: 0017387 Thomas Edmond James May in the Web: UK, Campaign Medals Awarded to WWI Merchant Seamen, 1914-1925 Name: Thomas Edmond James May Birth Date: 1902 Birth Place: Dover Year Issued: 1914-1925 URL: http://discovery.nationalarchi... Reference: BT 351/1/90211 Description: Medal Card of May, Thomas Edmond James Place of Birth: Dover Date of Birth: 1902 Date: [1914-1925] Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Language: English Creator: Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1872-1992 Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Thomas Edmund James May Birth: 29 Dec 1902 - Kent Death: Jun 1977 - Dover, Kent, England F: Walter Edward James May M: Sarah Elizabeth Ann Pound
Hi, Just remember that what I have posted is not a complete record of his voyages as there will be omissions. The dates beside the ship names mean his date of engagement on that ship but the date of termination of the voyage is not shown so he could have signed on and off vessels in between those posted. On the TEECO and WANSTEAD he was the Mate not the Master. No it's a bit more complicated. As I said this is not a full account of his service. One of his cards states his book (discharge) was lost through shipwreck. The date stamp looks like 1937 but if the ship was sold on in 1934 then it cant be that. You would need to look at the crew agreement for TEECO for that year to find out what his previous ship was. Previous ship is usually shown on the agreements. One of his cards from the WANSTEAD states his book (discharge) lost to enemy action. possibly on the date I gave in previous post so you would need to look up the crew agreement for WANSTEAD for 1942 to check what his previous ship was unless you can get his CRS 10 from Kew which will list all his ships from Jan 1941. WANSTEAD was lost in 1943. For TD if you look at the Master and Mate certificates on Ancestry and continue to scroll right or left you will see other documents pertaining to the certificates of competency that you have shown in your previous post. These other documents should show list of ships for that period. Regards Hugh
Below are the files I have been able to copy from Ancestry for this person from that particular database: UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 TD
Well done TD, I am sure the o/p will be happy with those. For the period after 1927 including the war years the London Metropolitan Archive will hold Lloyd's Captains Registers. Regards Hugh
Thanks so much to both of you!! I write this before looking at the certificates. I chatted with my mother last and she mentioned that he was never on a ship that was torpedoed.
Hi guys, Was thinking about looking into this some more. What about tracing *ships* as opposed to my grandfather? Were there records of which ships were in convoys or where a ship went? When I was at my parents', I was looking in an old book my brother put together years and years ago when he was interested in family history, and he noted that my grandfather had sailed not just the North Atlantic but (if it's credible) a lot of other places like the Med and to Russia. Thanks, Chris
Hi all, I just spent a very interesting couple of hours making notes from the convoyweb website, and learned more about my grandfather's ships' movements - and that was just in the period from 1939-41! Someone in the other thread which mentioned convoy web talked about "ship movement cards". How are those obtainable? Anyway, I learned a lot. The Severn Leigh apparently started the war in "Igarka". Unless anyone has any brighter ideas, this seems to have been a Siberian river port for timber. (!??!) The Severn Leigh was in Convoy ON.10, February 5 1940, to "Norwegian waters" and there is a note "put back after collision". Would you interpret that as "had to be sent back"? It was after that, that my grandfather transferred to the Wanstead. All told, in that period, multiple transatlantic journeys, one with a trip down to Cuba (apparently) for sugar, two convoys to Gibraltar, and PQ3/QP4 to and from Archangel.
Hi Chris, it was me. The movement cards for SEVERN LEIGH are held at Kew in piece BT 389/26/209 They can be downloaded for £3.50 - some can be a bit messy and difficult to interpret. Looking at the convoy I think SEVERN LEIGH went back to Methil and did not continue with ON10 instead sailing Hartlepool, Aprl 17, 1940. Movement Card should clarify. Further information re Thomas Edmund James May. 1943 – RIDEAN PARK as 1st Mate. 1943 – INGLETON as 1st Mate. 1944 – WENTWORTH PARK as Master. 1945 – WENTWORTH PARK as Master. Regards Hugh
Thanks, Hugh! I might chip in on that - then again, the broad strokes are there. I wrote an email to my family with what I found so far, but I cut down the detail.
Hi Chris, you can find some information about the ships in the Lloyd's Registers at www.plimsollshipdata.org/ Yes Igarka's export was sawn timber/lumber. After the war it was one of Stalin's gulags. Roy