Merchant Marines - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

1904 "Continuous Certificate of Discharge" -- info please!

mloncaric13 — 2013-05-12 16:13:59Z

Hi --

We have recently unearthed my great-grandfather's "Continuous Certificate of Discharge" -- a little book with a Board of Trade emblem and his record number stamped on it. Inside -- along with many other rules and details -- it says to return to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, Carlisle Place, Westminster, London, SW.

My great-grandfather, Carl Emil Hjelte, was Swedish: born there and lived there until he immigrated to America in 1905. Or so we thought...

This book records 3 journeys he made on 3 different ships during the 1904-1905 time frame: to Cape Hatteras, to the Black Sea, and to Rio (and the USA, on this trip). The dates and places of discharge are all centered around Cardiff or Barry. There are a few more details (ship names, captains' names, Carl Emil's jobs, etc.).

Can anyone tell me what this is? How would he have hooked up to a UK Merchant Marine while living in Stockholm? What was being in the Merchant Marine all about? Is this how he could've earned his passage to America? And is there anywhere that I can do further research about Carl Emil Hjelte, specifically, and his time in the Merchant Marine?

This is a big surprise to the family! I am very excited to learn more about what it all means. I am grateful for any information or suggestions for further investigation.

Thank you!

Merchant Mariner Jack HOFFMAN

LFAYET — 2013-04-30 16:46:52Z

Looking for information concerning Jack HOFFMAN Merchant Marine
born abt.1925-1930 Later lived in Washington Heights NY.City,Or worked there.His father was German and his maternal family was Puerto Rican.

Re: My Father Was Supposedly a US Merchant Marine during WWII

moonpie71 — 2013-04-24 00:39:18Z

My dad was also a US Merchant Marine in WW2, aboard oil tankers in South America and Africa. I sent a request for his military records to the following address:

Commanding Officer
USCG-National Maritime Center (NMC-421)
ATTN: Correspondence Section
100 Forbes Dr.
Martinsburg, WV 25404

I also submitted a request through vetrecs.archives.gov and I received information from both agencies. (This was about three years ago; I don't know if budget cuts still make it possible.)

Here are a couple of other very helpful sites:

Merchant Marine Service Records including Voyage Discharges from U.S. Coast Guard:
http://www.usmm.org/contact.html#contact3
(The whole USMM site is great!)

Convoy Web (The Website for Merchant Ships during WW2)
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

Happy searching!

Nancy

Re: My Father Was Supposedly a US Merchant Marine during WWII

Lycanman — 2013-04-20 19:43:55Z

Not home now but will post the address sometime today!!

Re: My Father Was Supposedly a US Merchant Marine during WWII

terter54 — 2013-04-20 16:52:19Z

Thank you for letting me know about your positive results.
I'll try do to the same.
Do you by chance, still have the address you sent your request to?
I'd like to cover all the bases.

Re: My Father Was Supposedly a US Merchant Marine during WWII

WilliamHowell0187 — 2013-04-20 13:17:22Z

My father was in the Merchant Marines in 1943 and was in the North Atlantic. I had very little information other that a few photos of him in uniform. With very little info, I was able to go through the DOD and the Merchant Marine Academy and get information and confirm his enlistment. He was 15 at the time.

My Father Was Supposedly a US Merchant Marine during WWII

terter54 — 2013-04-19 03:46:05Z

However he never supplied any details.
No Ship names, no sail dates, no cremates, nada.

About the only thing I do know, is he had a scar on the back of his left calf.
He told us that it was from a bullet wound he received while on a voyage. He said he was luckier than most.

I would like to verify if he did serve. Maybe find out on which vessel(s) he served on and get some other info too.

Re: WWI Merchant Ship Actaeon

bethlehem2009 — 2013-01-07 21:03:31Z

I am researching William Adamson Ansell and he was on this ship as an "engineer". I have his medal roll card which gives me the proof that he was aboard.
Could you please if possible send me what you have to lynn.mace@timace.co.uk
Kind Regards,
Lynn Mace

Re: Decipher Merchant Seaman Discharge Certificate...help!

halpark — 2012-11-28 00:42:27Z

The No and Grade of B.T.Certificate simply means the Number and grade of his qualification as issued by the Board of Trade. He qualified as a 2nd Mate in April 1914, Certificate No. 008409, but was obviously sailing as a 3rd Mate at this particular time. I do not know what the other number stands for but it clearly says NHS Insurance Number which I would have taken as being his National Health Serice number. The NHS only came into force in July 1948 so if you are sure it is earlier than that it must be something else. There is nothing on the document to indicate which ship it was but you might find it worth looking at "theshipslist".

Decipher Merchant Seaman Discharge Certificate...help!

Jess311 — 2012-11-24 15:41:25Z

I have just stumbled across my great grandfathers discharge certificate from the Merchant Navy and have been trying to find meaning in the information provided with little luck.

I'd like to know what the 'No and Grade of BT Certificate' means (as well as what is written there), and also the ship he worked on, where it went, its purpose etc - I know this information is provided next to the photograpgh as '115813' March 1920. I have searched Miramar ship records which has provided the name of the ship though not much else.

I have attached the image...any help greatly appreciated!

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

halpark — 2012-11-19 22:45:48Z

Try "Theshipslist" and the Register of Seamen and Shipping.

Re: Port of Duluth

moonpie71 — 2012-10-13 14:33:48Z

Can you provide any additional details, such as year/place of birth, parent names, etc.? Robert Lloyd is a (surprisingly) common name, even when I only search Minnesota.

If you'd rather not post details, you can email them to me at administrativeprojects[[AT]]gmail//do\\tcom (trying to prevent spam) with Robert Lloyd in the subject line and I'll see if anything comes up.

Happy searching!
Nancy

Port of Duluth

Johnson_Lynn — 2012-10-08 20:51:31Z

I am looking for Robert Lloyd who was in the Merchant Marines back in 1938. He was in Duluth for a short time. My family wonders if he survived the coming war, and where he may have trained.

Re: JORGENSEN Kaj - Born 9 November 1907 DENMARK Mother: Anna Father:Hjalmar

jojensagain — 2012-08-19 05:45:45Z

Found a passenger list that showed that he was born in Marstal, so looked in the parish records...
They are available online at Arkiversonline. You have to browse, and some of the images are better than others, but they have the parish records for most of Denmark from the 1700's through the mid 1900s (and it's free) In Marstal's case they have records from 1698 through 1950.

I did find a couple other tidbits for you:

Ingeborg Kirstine Godtfredsen was born in Marstal parish Jan 7 1864 - parents Mads Godtfredsen and Ane Kirstine Erikson

Hans Rasmussen Haagensen was born Mar 15 1858 - parents Johan Peder Haagensen and Sidsel Kirstine Rasmussen

Frederik Hansen Jorgensen was born Jan 3 1835 - parents Johan Christian Jorgensen and Dorthea Sophie Hansen

(There were 2 Ellen Marie Christensen's born in Marstal at about the right time and I haven't had time to look for her marriage record yet. Hopefully that will tell me which is the correct one)

J Murphy

Re: JORGENSEN Kaj - Born 9 November 1907 DENMARK Mother: Anna Father:Hjalmar

santijorgensen — 2012-08-19 04:14:01Z

Thank you so much, for your help, may I ask how you got this information :)

Re: JORGENSEN Kaj - Born 9 November 1907 DENMARK Mother: Anna Father:Hjalmar

jojensagain — 2012-08-19 03:58:22Z

Maybe this will help?
Hjalmar Frederik Jorgensen, son of Frederik Hansen Jorgensen and Ellen Marie Kristensen, born 31 Dec 1879
wed
Anne Katrine Haagensen, daughter of Hans Rasmussen Haagensen and Ingeborg Kirstine Godtfredsen, born 27 March 1883
on Sept 3 1901 n Marstal Kirke, Svendborg Amt, Denmark

They had:
Frederik Hjalmar Jorgensen. b. Jan 17 1904
Ejnar Jorgensen, b. May 17 1905
Hans Jorgensen, b. July 7 1906 (perhaps died young? I didn't find him listed with his mother and brothers on the 1930 census)
Kaj Jorgensen, b. Nov 9 1907
Hans Ingvard Jorgensen, b. June 4 1909
(all born in Marstal parish, Svendborg)

J Murphy

Texaco Tankers, WW2 Merchant Marine-Post 1 of 4

moonpie71 — 2012-08-18 20:30:04Z

I received ship records from my dad's time as an employee of The Texas Company (now Texaco) in 1944 and 1945 on board the following vessels:

SS Colorado
SS Georgia
SS Indiana
SS Mississippi
SS Oklahoma

Note - These are not US Navy ships, which would be "USS" instead of "SS". These are oil tankers.

I extracted the other names listed and have compiled them in one list, just in case they may help another researcher.

Since Ancestry won't allow me to post PDFs on the board, I saved these as image files. I'm sorry to take up four message threads, but my post crashed when I tried to attach all of them to one post. Post 1 of 4 begins with surnames alphabetically listed, and it continues on to post 2, 3 and 4.

If you find one of your relatives listed, please post a reply with their name, and I'll send over what I have. For the most part, it's just crew lists and a few voyage details, but I'll share what I can.

Hope it helps!
Nancy

Texaco Tankers, WW2 Merchant Marine-Post 2 of 4

moonpie71 — 2012-08-18 20:29:16Z

Texaco Tankers, WW2 Merchant Marine-Post 3 of 4

moonpie71 — 2012-08-18 20:28:18Z

Texaco Tankers, WW2 Merchant Marine-Post 4 of 4

moonpie71 — 2012-08-18 20:26:58Z

I received ship records from my dad's time as a merchant marine employed by The Texas Company (now Texaco) in 1944 and 1945 on board the following vessels:

SS Colorado
SS Georgia
SS Indiana
SS Mississippi
SS Oklahoma

Note - These are not US Navy ships, which would be "USS" instead of "SS". These are oil tankers.

I extracted the other names listed and have compiled them in one list, just in case they may help another researcher.

Since Ancestry won't allow me to post PDFs on the board, I saved these as image files. I'm sorry to take up four message threads, but my post crashed when I tried to attach all of them to one post. Post 1 of 4 begins with surnames alphabetically listed, and it continues on to post 2, 3 and 4.

If you find one of your relatives listed, please post a reply with their name, and I'll send over what I have. For the most part, it's just crew lists and a few voyage details, but I'll share what I can.

Hope it helps!
Nancy

Re: merchant marine

ycaso77 — 2012-08-18 13:56:39Z

For any records on Merchant Marine members, you'll have to request information from the following location where records are held by the Coast Guard-

Include Name, Date of Birth, copy of Death Certificate if deceased, Social Security number, Address, and Z or Service number.

Commanding Officer
USCG-National Maritime Center (NMC-421)
ATTN: Correspondence Section
100 Forbes Drive
Martinsburg, WV 25404

Re: merchant marine

boonkidd — 2012-08-18 11:29:11Z

American, first joined in Pittsburgh, Pa.around 1940. Then was based out of West Coast, Ca./ Wa. state, with the Navy, I Think. Thank you for your reply, Bonnie

Re: merchant marine

JeffH01 — 2012-08-17 19:28:39Z

What nationality was he and what country's Merchant Service did he serve with?

merchant marine

boonkidd — 2012-08-14 18:26:36Z

Looking for info on Robeet Lee Kidd, seaman in abt. 1940 thru 1943. Thank You, Bonnie

MarineLives - Call for Volunteers

MarineLives — 2012-07-25 05:00:02Z

Are you a keen local historian or genealogist with good palaeography skills?

Would you like to put those skills to use and deepen your knowledge of mid-C17th marine (and London) life?

The MarineLives project team is recruiting volunteer project associates to work on the collaborative transcription, linkage and enrichment of High Court of Admiralty primary manuscripts, 1650-1669.

The end product will be a publicly and freely available online academic edition.

The project is a public/academic initiative, and is being conducted with the support of The National Archives, Kew. The team will work collaboratively on high quality digital images for a complete volume of the court's records, selected from the period 1650-1669.

Please contact the project team http://www.marinelives.org/Contact_Us.html), if you would like further information, or access the project website (www.marinelives.org. You can also follow us on Twitter (collaborate@marinelivesorg)

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

oneluckiangel1 — 2012-07-14 15:53:02Z

Thank you Nancy!!

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

moonpie71 — 2012-07-14 14:11:49Z

I did some searching but, unfortunately, didn't find a lot of useful information.

Here's a link to a few photographs of ships:
http://www.cbrnp.com/RNP/Flower/GALLERY/postwar_Italian.htm

And this is the Italian Navy (Regia Marina Italiana)
http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text.asp?nid=9&lid=1
On the left side of the screen, click History, and then you'll see a link for Merchant Marine. It opens to the Introduction page, and you'll have to use the drop-down at the top of page to navigate.

Good luck!
Nancy

There doesn't appear to be a lot of information online, but maybe you can check some of the references on the Italian Navy Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Navy

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

oneluckiangel1 — 2012-07-14 08:09:03Z

would any of those links have info pertaining to Italian Merchant Marines? If not would either of you know how to find them? Thanks.

Re: Merchant Marine Records

oneluckiangel1 — 2012-07-14 08:00:45Z

Anyone know how to find Merchant Marine records from other countries other than US? looking for merchant marine records for my great grandfather from Italy. would appreciate any help.

Re: Looking for Log Books and Crew names of Clydesdale and Oniedia of 1880 to 1890

oneluckiangel1 — 2012-07-14 07:56:57Z

my great grandfather was a member of the italian merchant marines in the late 1800's. anyone know how i can find his records and what ship he might have been on?

you can reply here or oneluckiangel@hotmail.com. Please put Ancestry Request in the subject line.

JORGENSEN Kaj - Born 9 November 1907 DENMARK Mother: Anna Father:Hjalmar

santijorgensen — 2012-06-27 04:20:52Z

Searching for information on my grandfather Kaj Jorgensen his siblings and his parents. Kaj was Born on 9 November 1907 in Denmark and left Denmark at an early ages (late teens)as far as I am aware to work on the ships and eventually was a Merchant Seaman. He arrived In Australia(unsure of dates) married Myrtle Pearce and had two children Shirley and Kay Jorgensen.

I am struggling to find any information, the only document I have and his family have in Australia, is a copy of his seaman certificate. I have searched Archives, Ancestory, Veterans etc and I am not able to pinpoint any further details.

His siblings: Fredrick, Ejnar & Hans
Father: Hjalmar Jorgensen
Mother: Anna Jorgensen

Unfortunately the only documentation I have is his Seaman Certificate. United States Department of Commerce port of New York August 2 1943, serial number Z 272 332 D 1

He passed away in Tasmania, Australia 1979 as a Veteran(Australia and American).

If you can help in anyway please let me know :)

Re: Charles Thomas Corden

CAROL_STETSON — 2012-06-23 01:26:02Z

He had about 7 kids. One named Ray. Who had a son named Ray.

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

moonpie71 — 2012-06-17 16:45:04Z

Found this link too:

HIMALAYA: An iron fullrigged ship built in 1863 by Pile, Hay & Co.:
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Merchant/Sail/H/Hima...

Also, could the ship Tasmania be the Great Tasmania? I have a subscription to Genealogy Bank (newspaper archive) and found a few results for the Great Tasmania. If you have more information, please email me at administrativeprojects [at] gmail [dot] [com] and I'll see what I can find.

Nancy

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

geebrooks9 — 2012-06-17 16:33:16Z

Hi Nancy, thank you very much. I am very grateful.
Best Wishes, Sara.

Re: Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

moonpie71 — 2012-06-17 16:20:03Z

This is a link to the UK National Archives page for records of a merchant seaman serving up to 1857:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-perso...

In addition, this link directs to the same site, for merchant seamen serving up to 1857, Further Research:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/m...

The numbers, I believe, correspond to an index of merchant seamen, and the Further Research link will explain in detail.

Good luck in your search!
Nancy

Merchant Navy Records 1850s. Can anyone help to descipher please?

geebrooks9 — 2012-06-17 13:59:13Z

Hi, I have some records that belonged to my great grandfather Charles william Davis who was born in Camberwell in 1832
I can't understand what the numbers mean and I wondered if anyone has had experience with this type of thing?
Also is there somewhere I can find out where he went on these voyages?
I think the names of the ships are The Himalaya and the Tasmania.
Any help would be great.
Thank you.

Re: Merchant Marine's

moonpie71 — 2012-06-09 18:33:18Z

Hi Robin,

I sent you a private message.

Everyone has their secrets (and lies) that end up as oral history; I have PLENTY of shady characters in my tree, but separating fact from fiction is one of the more fascinating (and exasperating) reasons to research!

I found an obituary for Raymond Charles Forster in St. Cloud, Florida - is this yours? The private message has my email address.

Nancy

Re: Merchant Marine's

robinziebert — 2012-06-09 16:15:21Z

Oh Moonpie, Im so frustrated. I would swear the man had some kind of secret. I have done so many searches it makes my head spin. It's strange because I was all caught up in family tree stuff very young, and thankfully have names and dates back to Germany....that said, there are things that reportedly my Grandfather didn't even know or at least wouldn't admit he knew....his father committed suicide (told my uncle it didn't happen, but we have confirmed in all ways....sad...maybe he really wasn't told) and his family was sent off to various members to be raised. He passed in 1989. I remember him having these blue tattoos on the inside of each forearm...think one was a pine tree and other involved anchor. But I can't find a thing regarding military service (he was born in 1903) or even he and my grandmother on census and so forth....it's really more than strange. I've got him and his siblings with his mom right after his dad's death(although she is using some last name I can't find anywhere) and on my uncle and mom's birth certificate....but it's like a black hole in between 1910 and 1932....His name was Raymond Charles Forster (some of family spelled it Foster). If you have any ideas I'd be appreciative! :-) Thank you for your energy in responding already..

Re: Charles Johnson - Merchant Seaman

ElizabethKA51 — 2012-06-02 22:30:01Z

Hello,
Thank you for your reply. I have already started research at the NA via the online Seaman Pouches. I've narrowed each search down to a time span and then a specific area. I'm still hopeful that someone will recognise the Giffin Street address from my posting. It really is all I have to go on, so confirmation on any Merchant Seaman record would be wonderful!
Many thanks once again, your help is greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth

Re: Merchant Marine Records

jlvia33 — 2012-05-30 17:33:31Z

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO FIND THAT INFORMATION, LOOK AT THIS LINK, THERE IS INFO ON HOW TO TRACE HIS SERVICE. GOOD LUCK!

http://www.usmm.org/contact.html

Re: Merchant Marine during WWII

ycaso77 — 2012-05-23 12:34:31Z

Here's the US Merchant Marine website, gives you the information on what records are available and how to obtain them-
http://www.usmm.org/contact.html#contact3

Re: Merchant Marine during WWII

jtfnavarre — 2012-05-23 01:20:38Z

I just posted to someone else that had a similar request. The National Archives in Washington D.C. may have the records that you are looking for. If you are unable to get to Washington D.C. go to the Archives website and look for the nearest regional Archives to you. Then go to them and ask if it is possible to have the records set to them for you to look at. In order to look at the records you will need to become a researcher with the Archives. It is easy and free. You will be able to make copies of the records. That is the only thing that is not free. The fee is small and well worth the money spent.

Re: Merchant Marines 1920's - 1930's

jtfnavarre — 2012-05-23 01:14:27Z

It is possible that his service records are stored at the National Archives in Washington D.C.. I found my great-uncle's records there. He died in 1942 after the ship he was on sunk returning from Murmansk. The great thing is that the records will have every port of call he had along with a photo of the Merchant Marine. Contact the National Archives about the records. It may be possible if you do not live near Washington D.C. that they could send the records to the nearest regional Archive so that you may look at the records. Good Luck.

Re: Charles Johnson - Merchant Seaman

ycaso77 — 2012-05-21 22:17:47Z

It will be almost impossible to tell which Charles Johnson is the correct one in the available records. You will need at least the name and time period of a ship he served on to narrow down the rew lists. Without his birth date and the location, it also increases the difficulty. But here's some places to both obtain records and tell you how to conduct your search.

British National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-perso...

Helpful hints for tracing a merchant sailor-
http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/the...

Charles Johnson - Merchant Seaman

ElizabethKA51 — 2012-05-21 21:10:38Z

Hello,
I'm trying to trace a Merchant Seaman, Charles Johnson. His date and place of birth is not known to me.
He lived at 41, Giffin Street, London, SE8, from 1947 - 1950. Would this address have been kept on record for the Reserves or Pension purposes?
At a guess I would say Charles served in the Merchant Navy throughout WW2.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth

looking for Shipmates of Louis B. Smith, Served on Zebulon B. Vance

ErnestWebb13 — 2012-05-09 14:22:57Z

My father, Louis B. Smith was a career Merchant Marine. He served on the Zebulon B. Vance during WWII. He shipped for part of his time out of the port of Baltimore, Maryland. I understand that his family roots were in Texas.
He met my mother as a war bride on the Vance and later married her. They separated and later divorced. I have not seen or heard of him since. I believe he may have retired to Florida and have died in the Jacksonville area in 2006.

Anyone who may have known him or served with him in the Merchant Marines, I would like to have any information you might share. Thanks for helping.

Re: Searching for Merchant Marine Uncle

brbrasiegel — 2012-05-07 15:14:50Z

Was Jerome "Jerry" Rosenthal a lawyer? Mother Anna Goldstein Rosenthal? Father William Rosenthal?

Zebulon B. Vance WWII

ErnestWebb13 — 2012-03-21 02:17:04Z

i am looking for information on the Zebulon B. Vance during WWII. Specifically during the period in 1945-47 when it did duty as a Liberty Ship transporting War Brides from Great Britain to the U.S.
I am trying to find information on Louis B. Smith, who was a boatswain on the ship. He may have been a career Merchant Marine as he appears on some crew lists of other vessels in later years. He may also have attended a MM school before entering the service.
if anyone may have any information or have been a shipmate, i would appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks, Linda

Re: Merchant Marines 1920's - 1930's

japerez1980 — 2012-03-18 01:39:02Z

Hello Nancy,

I tried to find him on the Rosters but with no luck. I'll keep trying. All I have is some pictures of him in uniform and a few scarves that he wore. Also a picture of him with other Merchant Seaman posing with Marine Guards in a Brig in Honolulu. He signed at age 18 in about 1920.
He told me that he went by the name Joe Paris (Perez) and that all of his records were in this name. He eventually used his correct name when the family eventually arrived in California.

Thank you,
Joe

Re: Merchant Marines 1920's - 1930's

moonpie71 — 2012-03-17 19:41:55Z

Hi Joseph,

The American Merchant Marine at War site (http://www.usmm.org) is an excellent resource, and includes links to the appropriate government agencies. It's the first place I'd suggest to anyone seeking information.

You can also search the 1930 Census of Merchant Seamen (here on Ancestry at http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8851) if you know he was a Mariner during 1930.

[Edited]One more thing - Hawaii wasn't a state at the time he enlisted; do you have any additional information?

Good luck!
Nancy