People
naval-history.net Editor's Research Resources for People
Last revision: 18 March 2025

This list of links has been accumulated by editors.
They are used as a source for research whilst editing the official log-books of Royal Navy ships from the World War 1 era, and Arctic voyages of United States vessels from the mid 19th century onwards.

If you want to see something corrected, or add items to the list, drop me .

Royal Navy Personnel
The National Archives
Find records from The National Archives and over 2,500 archives across the UK
British Military lists – Navy List
Details of officers who served in the British Royal Navy during the First and Second World Wars
Royal Navy First World War - Lives At Sea
Royal Museum Greenwich lets you search for information about Royal Navy officers and ratings who served during the First World War
Lives of the First World War
Discover, explore and remember millions of personal stories from the First World War
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Find war dead in a database of the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars
British Armed Services Senior Posts Holders
Colin Mackie's lists of the holders of senior posts within the British Armed Services between 1860 and the present day
William Loney RN – Victorian naval surgeon
Mid-Victorian Royal Navy personnel
Prisoners of War
ICRC Prisoners of the First World War
From 5 million prisoners and detainee reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross between 1914 and 1918, search the archives for prisoners of war
United States
naval-history.net – United States Navy, Coast Guard & Marine Corps Casualties – World War 1
List of World War 1 casualties by name and date/ship/unit
naval-history.net – United States Navy, Coast Guard & Marine Corps Casualties – World War 2
List of World War 2 casualties by name and date/ship/unit
The United States Navy Memorial
Search the log for a service member by name, or by station or ship
Registers of the Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps 1802-1973
An index to the annual Registers of the Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps 1802-1973, as submitted to Congress (PDF files)
A Naval Encyclopedia (1884)
A dictionary of nautical words and phrases; biographical notices, and records of naval officers; special articles on naval art and science; together with descriptions of the principal naval stations and seaports of the world
U.S. Revenue Cutter Service Historical Register of Officers 1790-1914
Alphabetical list of commissioned officers who served in the USRCS from its founding to its merger with the Life-saving Service to form the current U.S. Coast Guard (PDF file)
Register of officers, vessels, and stations of the U.S. Coast Guard 1915-1918
List of regular and reserve commissioned and warrant officers on active duty in order of precedence, and temporary members of the reserve, including living retired officers for the years 1915 to 1918
Register of officers, vessels, and stations of U.S. Coast Guard / Treasury Department 1921-1940
List of regular and reserve commissioned and warrant officers on active duty in order of precedence, and temporary members of the reserve, including living retired officers for the years 1921 to 1940
Our Family Tree – Military Ship Service
Lists of crew members (not just officers) that served on some of the older U.S. ships
The Maritime Heritage Project
Search for ports, captains, ships and names of more than 20,000 passengers who sailed into San Francisco during the 1800s
General
Crew List Index Project
Search for crew names in crew list documents covering the period 1863 to 1913
The Internet Surname Database
Search a database of surname origins
Abbreviations for English Given Names
Wikipedia list of abbreviations for names showing common abbreviations of English given names
Interment.net – Cemetery Records Online
Search in tens of millions of cemetery records, from thousands of cemeteries across the world, all contributed by genealogists, cemeteries, government agencies, and private organizations
Find A Grave
World’s largest gravesite collection, over million memorials created by the community since 1995
Gwulo: Old Hong Kong – Cemeteries
A resource page for researching the history of a person that died in Hong Kong