# Dischage Book



## dogman (Dec 16, 2005)

Could anyone throw a little light on what happens to a seamans discharge book after he dies.
My father was master of a ship on the Australian coast in 1966 when he died at sea. I have tried several times to find out what happened to his discharge book but have been shunted from place to place with no results of finding what happened to the book. Any ideas as to what happens under these cir***stances.

Thanks


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

It would probably have been handed in with the articles when they ended.
If you know the ship then you may be lucky and find the logbook which should give you some answers.
Regards


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## Binnacle (Jul 22, 2005)

If in the circustances the mate was promoted master then he would be responsible for landing your father's personal effects at a Mercantile Marine Office into the custody of the Marine Superintendent. A duplicated list of all these effects including Disharge Book and any Certificates of Competency would be handed over, unless instructions to the contrary had been received from the vessel's owner. The balance of any wages due to him would also be deposited unless wages were paid directly by owners. Enquiries should perhaps be made to the Registrar General Shipping & Seamen which was I believe at one time in Cardiff. This is only applicable to British flag vessels.


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## dogman (Dec 16, 2005)

*Thanks*

Thanks for your answer to my question it has given me another couple of routes to try.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Dogman, was your father on a British ship sailing in Australian waters or was he on an Australian coastal ship?

Seamen on Australian registered ships may have had Discharge Books once but they were long gone by 1980 when I arrived here. We got a Discharge Certificate when paying off and had to present it when re-signing. Of course, if it had a "DR" on it, I imagine it would have been lost. The unions were big on not having a "continuous record of service". Eventually, the conduct and ability sections were removed from the Discharge Certificates too, but quite a few years after they disappeared from UK Discharge Books.

Major ports in Australia had "shipping offices" as in the UK and everything relating to Articles was handled by the Shipping Master. In smaller ports these procedures were dealt with by Customs. This applied to British ships too as I can recall in the early '70s taking the Articles ashore to get them endorsed when there were crew changes.

One would have expected in those cir***stances that your father's Discharge Book would have been sent home with his personal effects, but maybe burocracy (sp?) took over. Hope I haven't muddied the waters here, good luck.

John T.


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## Ray Mac (Sep 22, 2007)

British Seaman's discharge book: Fist Page (This discharge book is Your property)

never changed as far as I know!!!

Ray


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## dogman (Dec 16, 2005)

Hi trotterdotpom my father was master of the William G Walkey of Ampol fleet. This ship was registered in London but owned by Ampol in Australia. It was off the coast near Brisbane when he died. I have just received a letter from the Registrar of Merchant Shipping and Seaman in Cardiff informing me they do not have the book. Is it possible under the cir***stances it was sent to the Australian equivalent office ? It is getting a late now as he died in 1966 but I was told that all person information would remain classified under the thirty years rule. The only other possibility is a search at The National Archives in London.
Regards 
Roy L


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## OLD STRAWBERRY (Jan 20, 2006)

Wouldn't all seaman's records be held at the www.nationalarchives.com at Kew. Worth a try. I managed to get My Uncles MN ww2 records. They may not actually have His DB but records will show ships served in and His DB number.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Hello Roy, AMPOL (Australian Motorists' Petrol Company - sounds very "co-op", doesn't it?) was formed in the '50s. In the mid-90s it merged with Caltex and is now known as "Caltex", would you believe it? I have found that "William G. Walkley" was built in Blyth for AMPOL and sailed on the Australian coast but was registered in London. She was AMPOL's first ship, named after the founder of the company. One story is that she eventually changed to Australian flag, but, before that, she was managed by a company called J. Patterson of London. It seems hard to believe that a ship on the Australian coast carrying Australian cargoes would be manned by non-Australians, but who knows what was going on back in '66. These days there doesn't seem to be any Australian seafarers who don't come from the Ukraine.

Was your father an Australian resident while he was Master of the ship or what? What happened to his other effects after he died?

I have found someone on another website (Oceania Shipping) who sailed on the ship at one time and have emailed him to find out what the score was with Discharge Books, etc. Have to wait until I hear back about when he was on board the ship. With luck he might be able to help out.

I used to know a couple of people who were long time AMPOL employees, but unfortunately have lost contact with them.

In the meantime, there is more info on SN somewhere about finding information about British seafarers and it turns out that a lot of the shipping stuff was sent from Kew to Newfoundland (????) - what a good idea. Not sure where the info is though, sorry.

John T.


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## John Hebblewhite (Jul 9, 2009)

Hi there..my father was on the Australian coast trade with a British discharge book and all discharges were of the paper type. We still have the discharge book with the paper discharges as it is the property of the owner. Most likely still in the offices of his last company or in the Marine offices of the first port after his death when reported officially and I think you should try there.

Good Luck John


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## ernhelenbarrett (Sep 7, 2006)

I sailed on the P J Adams of Ampol in the 60's, she had an Aussie Callsign but I used my UK Discharge Book then and by the 80's all Discharges were of the paper variety, there have been so many Govt Dept changes down here I dinna ken who is running the Marine Depts now, think its something like AMDA or something
Ern Barrett


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## reefpilot (Aug 1, 2006)

dogman said:


> Could anyone throw a little light on what happens to a seamans discharge book after he dies.
> My father was master of a ship on the Australian coast in 1966 when he died at sea. I have tried several times to find out what happened to his discharge book but have been shunted from place to place with no results of finding what happened to the book. Any ideas as to what happens under these cir***stances.
> 
> Thanks


I worked on Ampol ships from 1962 to 1986, starting as deck cadet and finishing up as Master. Thus I knew and respected your father; he was a fine man.
At that time we did not have discharge books on Australian ships. Crew changes were conducted before the Shipping Master in major ports and entries made in the Official Log carried by the ship. All business is conducted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) these days and I imagine that they have access to such material as the Official Logs.
May I wish you well if you are still searching.


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## dogman (Dec 16, 2005)

Thanks Reefpilot I seem to draw a blank at every turn. I have been in touch AMSA and they said it would have been sent to London as he was a British Citizen. I keep trying when something comes up. I have traced all the ships he served on since 1942 until he died. Those before then were destroyed or lost prior to 1942.
I have found out something concerning his death which I have not pursued because of the time involved and nothing would change.


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