Tracing ancestors who served in the Royal Navy is easier than ever after five major sets of records of sailors, ships and submarines were published on family history website Findmypast.
The exclusive records were added as part of Findmypast’s partnership with the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
The five new sets are: ‘British Royal Navy Casualty Logs, 1939-1945’ (100,000 records); ‘British Royal Navy Submarine Movement Cards’ (40,000 records); ‘British Women’s Royal Naval Service Enrolment Forms, 1917–1919’ (6000 records); ‘Royal Naval Division Records, 1916–1919’ (4500 records); and ‘British and Allied Warships Lost in WWII, 1939–1945’ (420 records, cannot be searched by names).
At the start of the First World War, the British Navy was the largest in the world, and it played a crucial role in the conflict. The war saw the formation of the Women’s Royal Naval Service in 1917. Known as the ‘Wrens’, they would go on to provide key support to the Navy in both the First and Second World Wars.
Also formed in the First World War was the Royal Naval Division, which allowed excess Navy recruits to serve in the army but as members of the Navy. They famously insisted on using naval traditions in the First World War trenches. The new collection consists of records of officers and ratings who joined or trained at the major Navy centre at Crystal Palace, known as ‘HMS Victory VI’.
During the Second World War, the Royal Navy guarded the Merchant Navy convoys across the Atlantic that helped to transport Britain’s food supplies, facing danger from underwater mines and German U-boats. The casualty logs record each man’s name, service number, age, ‘quality’ or rank, the date of the casualty and whether he is injured, missing or dead. They often illustrate the shocking scale of Navy losses, with pages of records at a time given over to listing hundreds of casualties on a single ship.
Some famous historical figures can be found in the records. The Second World War casualty logs, for example, include the record of Montague Bennett, a cricketer for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club who was among those killed in the sinking of HMS Acheron on 17 December 1940.
Jen Baldwin, Findmypast’s research specialist, said: “This release is a game-changer for anyone with seafaring ancestors. For the first time, you can trace the men and women who served beneath the waves or on the high seas, discover the ships they sailed on, and understand their lives in wartime. These records don’t just list names – they tell stories of courage, sacrifice, and service. We’re so excited to bring thousands more of these exclusive records to the site throughout 2026, making Findmypast the home of British Navy records.”
