Royal Navy - UK - World War I



wwi-navy 1914If you had ancestors living in the United Kingdom from approximately 1900 to 1930, they may have served in the British military because the ‘Great War’ – World War One was fought then. Of course, you might think only of the army for an ancestor’s service, but many were part of the Royal Navy.

Available now online, free to use are the records, about 3,628, for those who served during World War I for the United Kingdom with the Royal Navy, put together by the National Archives of the UK. A reminder, that there were many individuals who were from outside the U. K. who joined the British ranks since the U.K. was fighting Germany beginning in 1914. Numerous numbers were from the United States and since the USA did not join in the war until April 1917, they went to the British Isle to join in the fight. Also, many of these fellows in the Navy had joined long before war broke out, some joining in the early 1900s. 

WWI-BrownYou can start a search just by placing a surname and given names. Of scroll down the page for an advance search series of boxes where you could fill in birth date, where they lived, and even what their occupation was before enlisting. This helps narrow down the search.

WWI-Brown record Of course, this is part of the type in information also available with the records which you might find. If you know the name of the ship an ancestor served on that can help in the search.

After submitting some information in the search a list will appear with full names, birth dates, etc. There could be several pages worth, see the number of pages below the first listing. Click on one or more that might be related to view the details on that person.

WWi-navySince spellings can be different, try a search just placing the county an ancestor was from and add the given name to narrow the search.

Included in the records are those who were killed in action. If there was an ancestor and you have not found what happened to them, this would be a place to search.

WWI-Lancashire CoYou can do a screen print of record on an individual you find to save to your computer. There is a print button in the right corner to print out the data.  Look over the Royal Navy Records by the National Archives of UK.  wwi-poster

Photos: Royal Navy in 1914; Brown Records, Lancashire Listings; and Navy Poster.

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Ancestors in World War One

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