ELECTRONIC RESOURCES FOR SHIP/SHIPWRECK RESEARCH
Nathan Richards
(Links checked 29 December 2021)
Useful Finding Aids
| Description | Source | Link |
| Maritime Library Guide | East Carolina University | http://libguides.ecu.edu/maritime_studies |
General search
| Description | Source | Link |
| Shipindex (login through ECU to get full search capability) | East Carolina University | www.shipindex.org |
Marine Insurance
| Description | Source | Link |
| Index to American Ship Registers (various registers, 1857-1900): | Mystic Seaport | https://research.mysticseaport.org/indexes/ship-registers/ |
| Index to American Yacht Registers (various registers, 1881-1912): | https://research.mysticseaport.org/indexes/yacht-registers/ | |
| Bureau Veritas (various years) | Google Books | Google Books [various years] |
| Lloyd’s Register of Ships online (1764-1960) | Lloyd’s Register Foundation | https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/lloyds-register-of-ships-online |
| Lloyds Register: Casualty Returns (1890-2000) | https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/casualty-returns | |
| Lloyds Register: Ships, Plans and Survey Reports (alphabetical | https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/ships | |
| Lloyds Register of Ships (1764-1940) alternative site | Maritime Archives | http://www.maritimearchives.co.uk/lloyds-register.html |
| ECU Lloyd’s Register Microfiche Collection (1776-1880) | East Carolina University | https://librarycatalog.ecu.edu/catalog/624896 |
| Index of Ships’ Official Numbers (below 99,999) | Mariners-L | http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/IBON-INDEX.html |
National Merchant Vessel Registers and Lists
| Description | Source | Link |
| Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States [1895-1965] | iBiblio.org/HyperWar Foundation | http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USMM/Annual_List/index.html |
| Mercantile Navy List/Register [1849-1920, not every year] | Maritime Archives | https://www.maritimearchives.co.uk/mercantile-navy-list.html |
| Mercantile Navy List/Register [1868-1938, not every year] | Memorial University of Newfoundland — Digital Archives Initiative | https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/mha_mercant/search |
Online Journals
| Description | Source | Link |
| Tributaries (1991-present) | North Carolina Maritime History Council | http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/search/searchterm/29464558/field/identi |
US Government Reports
| Description | Source | Link |
| Digitized Annual Reports (e.g. US Army Corps of Engineers, US Life Saving Service, US Lighthouse Service, etc…) | Archive of Americana, | https://lib.ecu.edu/databases/ |
| US Congressional Serial Set | ||
| US Coast Guard Publications | US Coast Guard Historian’s Office | https://www.history.uscg.mil/Historic-Documents/ |
| US Lifesaving Service Educational Materials | US Life-Saving Service Heritage Association | http://uslife-savingservice.org/education-resources/ |
| US Army Corps of Engineers Digital Library | US Army Corps of Engineers | http://cdm16021.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16021coll6/searchterm/%20Chief%2527s%20annual%20reports/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title |
Newspapers
| Description | Source | Link |
| International | Newspapers.com (Note: $$$) | https://Newspapers.com |
| USA | Newspapers.com (Note: $$$) | https://Newspapers.com |
| East Carolina University (many digitized) | https://lib.ecu.edu/databases/ | |
| Dare County Digital Heritage | http://daredigitalheritage.org/ | |
| UK | British Newspapers 1600-1950 | https://lib.ecu.edu/databases/ |
| Australia | Trove | https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper |
Modeling sources
Floating Drydock: https://floatingdrydock.com/
Taubman Plan Service https://www.taubmansonline.com/MainPage.htm
Ship Design Drawings at Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/ship-design-drawings
Webb, Volume 1 https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/65587
Webb, Volume 2 https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/62674
Military Records
Fold3 www.Fold3.com (subscription, but worth it!)
Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/
Biographical Information
Ancestry.com – http://ancestry.com (subscription, but worth it!)
Ships’ Logs
See series “Log of Logs” (emphasis on Pacific trade)
Navy, Coast Guard and Revenue Cutter ship logs www.oldweather.org; ; www.archives.gov
Maps and Charts
Charts: Booklet chart: https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/updates/?tag=booklet-charts
Current nautical charts: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/ChartCatalog/MapSelect.html
Historical charts: https://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/
Maps: TopoMap/Mapcard ($29.95/year) http://map-pass.mytopo.com/
Note for ArcGIS users, many layer files exist that include bandless topo maps, nautical charts, and other datasets useful for research.
USGS’s Earth Explorer https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ [need to setup account]
USGS maps http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/
NC LiDAR Collection Website https://rmp.nc.gov/sdd/ [need to setup account]
NOAA Digital Coast https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/
NOAA nowCOAST https://nowcoast.noaa.gov/
NCOneMap: http://www.nconemap.com/
NC County examples
Brunswick County: http://gis.brunsco.net/
New Hanover County: https://maps.nhcgov.com/
Dare County: https://www.darenc.com/departments/geographical-information-systems-gis
Miscellaneous
Ship Design and Construction Drawings, 1862 – 1909 held at the National Archives (USA): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/564989
Alphabetical Series of Ship Engineering Drawings, 1789 – 1967, held at the National Archives (USA): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/559623
Ship Engineering and Mechanical Drawings, 1862 – 1920 held at the National Archives (USA): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/563857
NC steamboats http://www.historync.org/steamboats.htm
Water Quality (USA only)
USGS: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/qw
Swimguide: https://soundrivers.org/swimguide/
Regional Resources
Great Lakes: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/search
Useful Journals
Historical Archaeology
International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology
The Journal of Transport History
International Journal of Maritime History
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
Journal of Maritime Archaeology
Australasian Journal of Maritime Archaeology (ex Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology)
Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History
The Great Circle (Journal of the Australian Association for Maritime History)
Tributaries (Journal of the North Carolina Maritime History Council)
Section 106 guidance https://www.achp.gov/protecting-historic-properties/section-106-process/introduction-section-106