In Search of Shipwrecks
Government Archives Sources Relating to Marine Casualties in Canada
RICHARD BROWN and GLENN T. WRIGHT
This article originally appeared in FreshWater, vol. 4 (1989): 14-20.
1. OFFICIAL WRECK REGISTERS, 1870-1975
2. REGISTER
OF INVESTIGATIONS INTO WRECKS, 1911-1960
4. SHIPPING REGISTERS, 1787-1966
6. ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY (RG 24 D)
8. OTHER INSTITUTIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ADDRESSES FOR FURTHER HISTORICAL
RESEARCH
Over the course of the last decade, research interest in the history of ships and the
maritime shipping industry in Canada has increased dramatically. A major component of this
renewed interest has been Canada's underwater heritage - the shipwreck. Discovery of the
War of 1812 wrecks Hamilton and Scourge in Lake Ontario, and the widely
publicized finding of the Titanic served to heighten general public awareness of
underwater archaeology and history. Activities of groups such as Save Ontario Shipwrecks
(SOS), especially with its emphasis on historical research using archival records, have
also contributed to increased demands for information stored in various records
repositories across the country. The following notes have been compiled to assist the
researcher who wishes to consult federal government records for information relating to
shipping losses in Canada.
Before describing the major sources of documentation available on shipwrecks in the
custody of the Government Archives Division (GAD) of the National Archives of Canada, a
few preliminary observations are in order. First, the singlemost important thing to bear
in mind is that an archives is not a library. For example, there exists no master list or
index to all the records pertaining to shipping losses in Canadian waters at the National
Archives. Our federal archival holdings, consisting of subject files and other unpublished
documents, are principally arranged according to the name of the department of government
that created and/or transferred the records to GAD. Thus, federal records relating to
marine casualties are generally located in the documents of the Marine Branch (Record
Group 42), Transport Canada (Record Group 12) and National Defence (Record Group 24).
There are various guides and finding aids (lists of files, card indexes, and so on)
available in the Government Archives Division to assist the researcher. Archivists are
also prepared to offer advice and assistance, although researchers are expected to search
the finding aids for their own references. The examination of the various lists and
indexes, and the ordering and retrieval of material takes time; consequently, researchers
who visit the Archives should not expect quick and easy answers to involved or complicated
questions. It should also be noted that some records in the custody of GAD are not
immediately available for research purposes; for instance, the wreck investigation files
dating from the 1950s forward must be reviewed by our Access staff in accordance with the Access
to Information and Privacy Acts prior to disclosure.
This can be a time-consuming process.
The Archives will attempt to answer written requests for information,
but since we receive hundreds of letters each year relating to ships and shipwrecks, the
amount of time which can be devoted to any single inquiry is limited. Inquiries should be
addressed to: Reference and Researchers Inquiries Division, Public Programs Branch,
National Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, OTTAWA, Ontario, K1A 0N3. For
researchers who wish to visit the Archives, our office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday to Friday; however, our research facilities are open twenty-four hours a day
throughout the year, including all public holidays. Lockers are available for the storage
of archival documents, but permission to use these facilities outside of regular office
hours must be obtained in person. * * *
As a general rule, researchers should seek to gain as much information as they possibly
can about shipwreck(s) of interest prior to consulting the Archives. In addition to the
vessel's name, useful details include the site of the casualty, the date of the accident,
the ship's port of registry, the ship's official number, and the year the vessel was
constructed. In many cases, it is difficult to obtain all the relevant facts; however, it
is absolutely vital that the name of the vessel be known. All of the records
relating to shipwrecks in the custody of GAD are organized according to ship's name.
Consequently, it is extremely rare that a shipwreck can be identified simply with the
knowledge of its geographic location or its ship's number. Each additional piece of
information tends to facilitate the identification of the shipwreck and the records which
may be available, but the name of the vessel is the essential link to the documentation.
The geographic location and the date of the casualty follow next in priority. It is
very difficult to identify shipwrecks and their potential archival records with none of
these details. The port of registry, ship's number, and construction date are less useful,
but do help to confirm the identity of individual vessels. This can be especially
important in cases where the identity of a vessel is placed in doubt by the duplication of
ship's name. To employ a common example, the Government Archives Division has records for
more than two hundred ships called Mary!
An excellent source of information on ships and shipwrecks is of course the local
public library and the companion resources of the inter-library loan network. There are
many maritime histories and bibliographies which offer reference points to begin shipwreck
research. Contemporary newspapers normally offer some insight: for example, the National
Library of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, K1A 0N3, has a vast collection of
Canadian newspapers available on microfilm through inter-library loan. For more details,
consult the Union List of Canadian Newspapers Held by Canadian Libraries (1977)
and for the Great Lakes, The Inventory of Ontario Newspapers, 1793-1986, (1987).
Researchers can also obtain official lists of shipping casualties from the federal
government. These include (1) "Statement of Shipping Casualties Resulting in Total
Loss in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf and on the Atlantic Coast, 1896-1979" (2)
"Statement of Shipping Casualties Resulting in Total Loss on the Inland Waters
Excluding the St. Lawrence River Below Montreal, 1870-1979"
(3) "List of Shipping Casualties Resulting in Total Loss In British Columbia
Coastal Waters Since 1897 (to 1979)". Please note that these lists are not complete.
They only inventory wrecks which were the subject of official reports (see below, no. 2).
Nevertheless, the lists are very useful and may be obtained free of charge from the
Canadian Coast Guard at the following address:
Aids and Waterways
Navigable Waters Protection Act Division
Canadian Coast Guard
Transport Canada
Canada Building
6th Floor
344 Slater Street
OTTAWA, Ontario
K1A 0N7
Also available at this address is the Canadian Coast Guard pamphlet Diving on
Shipwrecks, (1987) which explains to the public, and the diving community in
particular, the federal laws governing wrecks and the procedures to follow upon
discovering them.
Finally, no introduction to GAD shipwreck sources is complete without mention of
"the fire". On 11 February 1897, a fire in the West Block of the Parliament
Buildings destroyed all the registry files and reports of the Department of Marine and
Fisheries to approximately the year 1892. Consequently there is virtually no archival
record of official Canadian maritime activity from the inception of the Marine Branch in
1868 for a period of about twenty-five years. The exceptions include the ships'
registration records (see below, no. 4) and the articles of agreement and ships' logs
maintained by the Maritime History Group (Memorial University of Newfoundland, see below,
"Other Institutional Sources of Information and Addresses for Further Historical
Research"). Fortunately, there are several contemporary published sources which can
be consulted for wreck information. Of primary importance are the Annual Reports of
the Department of Marine and Fisheries, published each year from 1868 and especially
useful until the 1920s. During these years, the annual reports of government departments
were collectively printed as the Sessional Papers which are available at major
research libraries. Like other official reports of the period, the Annual Report
of the Marine Branch normally contains all sorts of miscellanea in the form of
supplements, usually shipwreck returns (a list of wrecks with ships' information and
geographic locations), occasionally small summaries of the circumstances surrounding
individual wrecks. The annual List of Vessels, while not directly concerned with
shipwrecks per se, is a particularly useful tool in the identification of ships and the
fixing of approximate dates for casualties.
* * *
The archival records described below are the major sources of information available on
shipwrecks in the Government Archives Division. What follows is not meant to be exhaustive
or definitive; rather, it is intended to direct researchers to the obvious sources. With
one exception, the documentation in Government Archives dates from after Confederation in
1867.
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1. OFFICIAL WRECK REGISTERS, 1870-1975
Official wreck registers were created and maintained by the Marine Branch of the
Department of Marine and Fisheries from 1870 to 1936, and from 1936 to 1975 by Transport
Canada. Together with their references, the registers cover the principal geographic areas
as follows:
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Sea-Going Vessels, Atlantic and Pacific Coasts,
1897-1907: RG 12, Volume 679; Microfilm Reel C6970.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, 1907-1923: RG 12, Volume
680; Microfilm Reel C6970.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, St. Lawrence River and Atlantic Coast, 1924-1929;
Pacific Coast, 1924-1928: RG 12, Volume 681; Microfilm Reel C6970.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, St. Lawrence River and Atlantic Coast, 1929-1944: RG
12, Volume 682; Microfilm Reel C6970.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Inland Waters Vessels, 1870-1918: RG 12, Volume 1007;
Microfilm Reel C6970.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Inland Waters Vessels, 1918-1949: RG 12, Volume 1008;
Microfilm Reel C6971.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Pacific Coast, 1929-1933: RG 12, Volume 1009;
Microfilm Reel C6971.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Pacific Coast, 1933-1947: RG 12, Volume 1010;
Microfilm Reel C6971.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, St. Lawrence River and Gulf, 1945-1975: RG 12, Volume
3305.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, British Columbia, 1948-1975: RG 12, Volume 3306.
- Register of Wrecks and Casualties, Inland Waters, 1950-1975: RG 12, Volume 3307.
The wreck registers record basic facts for each reported marine casualty, including the
name of the vessel, the date of the casualty, the port of registry, sailed from/bound to,
location, lives lost/saved, and remarks. For many years, these registers formed the basis
for the List of Shipping Casualties published as a supplement to the Annual
Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries.
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2. WRECK REPORTS, 1907-1974
Wreck reports consist of completed two-page forms which provide information
pertaining to missing ships, collisions, strandings and founderings of both Canadian and
foreign registered vessels in Canadian inland and coastal waters. The reports are arranged
in chronological order by year, within each year by geographic location (i.e., Pacific
Coast, Inland Waters, and Atlantic Coast), and within each geographic area, in
alphabetical order by name of vessel.
Wreck reports normally provide a corpus of information for each marine casualty
reported on, and may include the following details: registration data for the vessel, name
of master, number of crew, ownership, cargo, voyage details, and a brief account of the
casualty (see illustration).
Researchers should hope to find a wreck report for each casualty suffered within
Canadian waters. For many years it has been incumbent upon masters of Canadian and
foreign-registered ships to file official reports within twenty- four hours of an incident
at the office of the nearest Shipping Master or Receiver of Wreck. Experience has shown,
however, that for various reasons some wrecks were not the subject of official reports,
especially during the years prior to 1936. Consequently, there may not be wreck reports
for all shipping disasters, although in some cases other documentation may survive.
Wreck reports in the custody of the Government Archives Division are found in two
record groups - wreck reports from 1907-1936 are available in RG 42, and those dating from
1937 to 1974 in RG 12.
References: RG 42, Volumes 656-686, 1706 (1907-1936); RG 12, Volumes 882-889,
2166-2170, 2172-2177, 3851-3854 (1937-1974).
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3. REGISTER OF INVESTIGATIONS INTO WRECKS, 1911-1960
Researchers should not assume that all wrecks invariably result in the convening of
a board of preliminary or formal inquiry. Since passage of the Shipwrecks Investigation
Act of 1869 (32-33 Vict., Cap. 38), the convening of all such boards and marine
courts of inquiry has been at the discretion of the Minister upon the advice of his
designated representative. Consequently, there are many instances of shipwreck where no
action was taken beyond the filing of an official wreck report.
A particularly useful document, this register provides an alpha-chronological listing
of the shipping casualties in Canadian waters which resulted either in a preliminary or a
formal investigation by the Marine Branch of the Department of Marine and Fisheries and
later Transport Canada, or the convening of a coroner's inquest. The information contained
in this register includes the following: name of vessel; date of casualty; nature of
casualty; port of registry and official number; nature of inquiry and by whom; remarks
(often a summary of the findings); and the departmental file number for the records of the
inquiry itself. The latter includes numbers from the old Marine Branch central registry
for the period 1911-1936 and the current Transport Canada subject file classification for
wrecks beginning in the year 1937 (for an explanation of these registry systems, see
below, No.4).
Reference: RG 12, Volume 3304.
This register may be supplemented for the years 1930-1974 by a card index available
in the Government Archives Division. The cards provide a summary of the circumstances
surrounding the wreck and the relevant departmental file number as noted above.
Reference: RG 12, Accession 85-86/685.
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4. MARINE CASUALTY INVESTIGATION RECORDS, 1887-1980
Marine casualty investigation records consist of registry files created by the
Marine Branch of the Department of Marine and Fisheries from 1887 to 1936, and since 1937
by Transport Canada. The files were created during the course of preliminary as well as
formal investigations into marine casualties. These records generally include a transcript
of the proceedings (often with recorded testimonies), departmental and other officially
related correspondence, and supporting documentation (charts, newspaper clippings,
photographs, etc.); extensive files can be found in both RG 12 and RG 42.
From the inception of federally organized marine services to the present day, there
have been three basic registry systems used by the Marine Branch and Transport Canada to
organize or classify marine records, including files related to shipwreck investigations.
It is often very useful for researchers to familiarize themselves with these records
systems, particularly when embarking upon large-scale research projects.
Official correspondence received by the Marine Branch between the years 1868 and
approximately 1923 was organized by subject and placed on registry files (RG 42, Series
B.1, Volumes 45-344, 1707-1720, 1779-1780). Each registry file (or subject) was allotted a
number in sequential order, as was the customary practice in late Victorian
records-keeping. In 1923, the registry system was replaced by a departmental subject file
classification plan. However, some correspondence continued to be organized under the old
registry system right up to the year 1936. Conversely, some correspondence dated prior to
1923 was removed from the old registry system and reclassified under the new subject file
scheme.
Our holdings in Series B.1 range presently from file 8009 to file 64037. The records
cover all aspects of contemporary marine administration. As noted above, the files dating
from 1868 to approximately 1892 were destroyed by a fire in 1897. Researchers will also
notice that a considerable number of registry files within the range 8009 to 64037 appear
to be missing. Some records have unfortunately been lost; however, others were
reclassified under new file numbers with the advent of the Marine Branch subject file
classification system in 1923 (see RG 42, Series, C.1, volumes 354-537, 1040- 78, 1707,
1714, 1717-18 and 1720-79). Devised by the Department to improve an archaic and cumbersome
records-keeping system, the new classification scheme (which remained in existence until
the Marine Branch was incorporated into the Department of Transport in 1936) assigned each
file a primary and secondary number according to subject, with tertiaries and quaternaries
if required.
The creation of files and the filing of correspondence and other documentation is
never, it seems, a simple, straightforward affair. In the case of the Marine Branch
records, some correspondence continued to be organized after 1923 under the old registry
system (Series B.1) Conversely, some documentation pre-dating 1923 was removed from the
old system, renumbered and placed on files created within the new subject file
classification scheme.
To further complicate matters, others were subsequently renumbered under the new
subject file classification scheme inaugurated with the creation of the Department of
Transport in 1936 (essentially the system presently used in the Department). This system
divides the Transport Canada registry records into three main fields (these represent the
largest operational-administrative branches within the Department): Air, Marine, and
Surface. Each of these fields has been allocated a range of file numbers; for example,
marine (now called Marine Group) records are located within the numeric file number range
7500-9816. Within this range, the records are further sub-divided according to operational
service or subject. Thus, files 7500-7599 concern "Agencies and Depots"; files
8000-8099 "Aids to Navigation"; files 9200-9249 "Ships Measuring and
Surveying", and so on. The key subject file numbers in this system for the purposes
of shipwreck research are 9704 and 9702. Subject file 9704 refers to "Wrecks,
Casualties and Salvage - Investigations"; subject file 9702 refers to "Wrecks,
Casualties and Salvage - Cargoes, Wrecks and Anchors". Researchers should also
recognize a third subject file number belonging to the old Transport Canada classified
central registry (files with a security classification of secret and above). Although no
longer in use, subject file number 500 was used to organize shipwreck investigation files
within the classified registry system (see especially RG 12, Accession 86-87/146). Also
available under subject file 8117 are a number of official reports related to losses of
individual Canadian vessels as a consequence of enemy action during World War II.
* * *
The vast number of marine casualty investigation files preserved in RG 42 and RG 12
precludes any sort of inventory of references here, particularly as these files are not
conveniently gathered in large volume ranges but rather are spread throughout both record
groups. Card indices and file lists are available as finding aids for research
consultation, and both past and current Transport Canada subject file classification plans
are also available. In the event of difficulty, researchers are advised to consult the
archivist responsible for these records.
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5. SHIPPING REGISTERS, 1787-1966
The Government Archives Division has in its custody a large collection of shipping
registers for Canadian ports of registry. These records include first registers, registers
of subsequent transactions, and mortgage registers. First registers normally contain basic
ships' information (type, dimensions, tonnage, official number, port number, builder, date
of construction, particulars of motive power, etc.) as well as the details of ownership
and the vessel's ultimate disposition. Registers of subsequent transactions and mortgage
registers sometimes provide ships' information (usually for identification purposes), but
normally contain only details of ownership and disposition.
There are two finding aids for these records available in the Government Archives
Division. First, there is a card index comprising approximately 70,000 cards arranged
alphabetically by name of ship. These cards contain several elements of basic ships'
information for the purposes of identification (official number, port of registry, year of
construction, etc.). These link the researcher to the original record by providing the
appropriate reference. There exists a card for every registration record entry in our
custody, including all multiple entries.
A second card index of approximately 16,000 cards has been prepared from notations in
the shipping registers, and is arranged by name of ship lost or wrecked in each year.
Note - When consulting the ships' registration records, researchers should be
aware of the following:
(a) The shipping registers constitute the only records available in the Government
Archives Division where one might find information related to shipping losses that
occurred prior to Confederation (1867).
(b) The Government Archives Division does not have custody of all the
shipping registers relevant to both pre and post- Confederation Canadian ships. A list of
shipping registers organized by name of port is available for consultation.
In fact, individual shipping registers are still considered to be operational documents
by Transport Canada until such time as all ships have been struck from the register
proper. Consequently, there are few registers available in GAD of a vintage more recent
than 1930, since many of the vessels from the inter-war era are still afloat. To
compensate for this, researchers are able to consult the Registers of Ships Closed Out
for the years 1904-1964 (see below, No.6). In cases where the registration record of a
twentieth century vessel cannot be located in GAD, researchers should contact directly the
Registrar of Shipping at the relevant port (in 1982, there were 61 ports of registry in
Canada), either through the local offices of Transport Canada or Customs & Excise
(Customs & Excise, Revenue Canada, sometimes acts as Registrar of Shipping on behalf
of Transport. The Port of Ottawa, Ontario, represents a good example of this).
(c) The Government Archives Division has custody of registration records for Canadian-registered
ships only.
References: RG 42, Volumes 737-939, 966-996, 1036, 1083-1128, 1200- 1705; RG 12,
2971-2978, 3087-3090, 3169-3175. Note - RG 42, Volumes 1200-1705 must be consulted
on microfilm, as the original registers have been withdrawn for conservation purposes. A
microfilm conversion list for these volumes is available. Researchers should also read in
their entirety the instructions for the use of the ships' registration index cards before
consulting the microfilm copies of the registers.
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6. REGISTERS OF VESSELS CLOSED OUT, 1904-1964
In Canada, owners of ships are required to notify the federal government whenever a
vessel is sold abroad, is physically altered such that re- registration is required, is
lost, or is broken up. From 1904 to 1964, officials responsible for ship registration in
the Marine Branch and later Transport Canada kept track of these ships by maintaining a
series of registers of vessels officially closed out or struck off the registry. The
registers record the name and registration details for these "closed out"
vessels, and often include a brief notation about the ship's disposal. These records
complement the official shipping registers described above in No. 5, and in many instances
document a vessel that is not included in our register holdings.
The registers of closed out vessels were compiled on an annual basis, and within each
year the documentation is arranged in alphabetical order by name of vessel.
Reference: RG 12, Volumes 3004-3086
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7. ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY (RG 24 D)
Records created by the Royal Canadian Navy are found in series D of RG 24 and consist
of subject files created at Naval Service Headquarters (D 1) and in the various Commands
as they existed during the Second World War, i.e., Atlantic (D 10), Pacific (D 11) and
Newfoundland (D 12). In each of these series, researchers will find files on the subject
of shipping losses in Canadian waters, especially for the period of the Second World War.
The Headquarters (D 1) records include subject files on collisions, groundings,
sinkings and U-boat activities. Collisions and groundings involving naval ships are
documented in RG 24, volumes 6759-6771, file block 8180; similar files for merchant
vessels are found in volumes 6772-6779, file block 8181. Naval and merchant vessels
damaged in enemy action are described in volumes 6790-6791, file blocks 8340 and 8341
respectively.
Although the losses were not confined to Canadian territorial waters, files relating to
the sinking of Canadian warships can be located in volumes 6889- 6890, file block 8870
(including files on Allied and enemy warships which met a similar fate). Additional files
on naval vessels lost in action (including board of inquiry records, casualty lists and so
on) can be located by consulting the "RCN Vessel Index" available in Government
Archives Division. The sinking of merchant vessels, not only on the Atlantic convoy routes
but also in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf are well documented in volumes 6890- 6894,
file block 8871. Researchers interested in the U-boat war in the St. Lawrence should also
consult Michael Hadley, U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters
(Kingston and Montreal: McGill- Queen's University Press, 1985) and W.A.B. Douglas, The
Creation of a National Air Force: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force,
Volume II (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1986), especially Part IV.
Command records (Atlantic, Pacific and Newfoundland) also contain subject files
relating to losses both of naval and merchant vessels in their respective jurisdictions.
For example, both Atlantic and Newfoundland Command records include files relating to the
sinking of the passenger ferry CARIBOU in October 1942.
While the best documentation for shipping losses in RG 24 D dates from the years of the
Second World War, the Navy records also include some files relating to similar incidents
from 1910 to 1939 and in the post-war era to the mid-1960's.
Detailed finding aids are available for all Navy records in the custody of GAD.
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8. OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
In addition to the major sources described above, researchers interested in
shipwrecks and other marine casualties should be aware of the following related sources:
For the years prior to Confederation, there are several sources worth noting. The
Manuscript Division of the National Archives has in its custody the Eric Heyl Papers (MG
31, Series A3), which includes a list of ships lost and/or damaged on the Great Lakes
during the years 1847-1858 inclusive and in 1864. The list was apparently compiled from
contemporary Buffalo, NY newspapers. Manuscript Division has also custodial responsibility
for Record Group 4, Records of the Provincial and Civil Secretaries' Offices, Quebec,
Lower Canada, and Canada East, 1760-1867, and Record Group 5, Records of the Provincial
and Civil Secretaries' Offices, Upper Canada, Canada West, 1791- 1867. Both record groups
contain references to shipwrecks in the numbered file sequences and letterbooks for Canada
East and Canada West (1841-1867) from the mid-1850's forward, as the Canadian government
improved its demarcation of responsibilities and took up new ones, including the local
administration of the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act
(1854). An extensive list of vessels wrecked, stranded or damaged on the Canadian shores
of Lakes Huron and Erie between 1858 and 1868 is also available in Record Group 11,
Records of the Department of Public Works, Volume 206, File 5246.
For the years following Confederation, there are a number of alternative sources in the
Government Archives Division which contain some records related to shipwrecks and maritime
matters in general. These include the following:
RG 2, Records of the Privy Council Office, Series A.1, Office of the Clerk of
the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Orders-in-Council, 1867-1983 (primarily
nineteenth-century and related to claims in consequence of wrecks)
RG 7, Records of the Governor General's Office, Series G.21, Central Registry
Files, 1818-1941 (primarily late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - individual
case files related to sinkings and international matters)
RG 13, Records of the Department of Justice, Series A.1, Indexes and Registers,
1859-1934, and A.2, Central Registry Files (primarily late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries and related to proceedings and claims in consequence of wrecks)
RG 25, Records of the Department of External Affairs, Series A.3.a, A.3.b,
Canada House, London, Local Correspondence; B.1.A, Canada House, London, Correspondence
with Canadian and British Government Departments, 1880- 1903; B.1.B, Canada House, London,
Correspondence with Canadian and British Government Departments, 1904-1927; B.1.E, Canada
House, Subject Files, c.1930- 1940 (individual case files primarily related to sinkings in
international waters or involving foreign vessels or foreign nationals)
RG 43, Records of the Department of Railways and Canals, Series C.VI.2.k.,
Welland Canal, Vessel Registers, 1854-1867, 1875-1893, 1904-1908, 1913-1928, Vols.
2403-2421 (lock journals recording various details pertaining to vessels passing through
the canal, including date, name of vessel, destination, and cargo)
Note: Researchers interested in obtaining further information concerning the
operational activities of individual merchant vessels may consult various articles of
agreement and ships' logs which provide crew lists and voyage records. The Government
Archives Division has a fairly extensive collection of these for the twentieth century,
especially after 1936. (References: RG 12, Series B.14.a, Canadian Marine
Transportation Administration, Central Registry of Seamen, Shipping Master, Port of
Montreal, Articles of Agreement and Ships' Logs, 1900-1946, Volumes 3308-3593; RG 12,
Accession 85-86/164, Canadian Marine Transportation Administration, Canadian Coast Guard,
Ship Safety Branch, Central Registry of Seamen, Ships' Logs, 1937-1969, Boxes 1- 175; RG
12 Accession 85-86/175, Canadian Marine Transportation Administration, Canadian Coast
Guard, Ship Safety Branch, Central Registry of Seamen, Ships' Logs, 1950-1953, Boxes 1-40;
RG 12, Accession 87-88/133, Canadian Marine Transportation Administration, Canadian Coast
Guard, Ship Safety Branch, Central Registry of Seamen, Articles of Agreement and Ships'
Logs, Wartime Service Years 1939-1947, Boxes 1-113); RG 12, Accession 89-90/011, Marine
Group, Canadian Coast Guard, Ship Safety Branch, Central Registry of Seamen, Articles of
Agreement, 1936-1938, 1948-1958, Microfilm Reels T8542-T8606.
When seeking information related to vessels owned and operated by the Canadian
Government, researchers should also bear in mind that (1) the majority of these vessels
are registered at the Port of Ottawa, and (2) individual or fleets of government ships
operationally belong to individual government departments. Consequently, records
pertaining to vessels both formerly and currently operated by the Canadian Hydrographic
Service are found in RG 139, Records of the Canadian Hydrographic Service; records of
Preventative Service vessels are found in RG 18, Records of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police; records of passenger ferries, marine service and coast guard vessels are found in
RG 42, Records of the Marine Branch, and RG 12, Records of Transport Canada; records of
the Canadian Government Merchant Marine, the Canadian National Steamship Company and
Canadian National (West Indies) Steamships are found in RG 30, Records of the Canadian
National Railways; etc.
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9. OTHER INSTITUTIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ADDRESSES FOR FURTHER HISTORICAL
RESEARCH
Judicial, Fiscal, and Social Branch
Civil Archives Division
National Archives
Washington, D.C. 20408
U.S.A.
(Historical shipwreck sources at the National Archives of the United States, including
Record Group 26, Records of the United States Coast Guard; Record Group 36, Records of the
United States Customs Service; and Record Group 41, Records of the Bureau of Marine
Inspection and Navigation)
Records and Publication Branch
Merchant Vessels Documentation
United States Coast Guard Headquarters
21200 2nd Street South West
Room 1312
Washington, D.C. 20593
U.S.A.
(Current U.S. vessel documentation and registration)
The Public Record Office
Ruskin Avenue
Kew
Richmond, Surrey TW9 W9U
England
United Kingdom
(Historical records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, including ships'
registration records and personnel records related to marine service)
The Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen
Llantrisant Road
Llandaff, Cardiff
South Wales CF5 2YS
United Kingdom
(Current U.K. vessel documentation and personnel records)
The Scottish Record Office
HM General Register House
Princes Street
Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 3YY
United Kingdom
(Historical records of shipbuilding on the upper and lower Clyde,
Ayrshire, and Forth
and Tay estuaries)
The Maritime History Group
Department of History
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland
A1C 5S7
(Crew agreements for British Empire and Commonwealth, 1863-1938; registry data for
various Atlantic Canadian ports)
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston
55 Ontario Street
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 2Y2
(Historical records of Great Lakes shipbuilding; registry data for various Great Lakes
Canadian ports)
Institute for Great Lakes Research
Bowling Green State University
12764 Levis Parkway
Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
U.S.A.
(Historical records of Great Lakes shipbuilding; registry data for various Great Lakes
American ports)