Lloyd's of London Missing Vessels Books
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Efforts to digitise The Missing Vessel Books for online use have been made possible through a collaboration between Lloyd's Register Foundation and Lloyd's of London.
What are the Missing Vessel Books?
These books are a unique manuscript resource listing all the ships posted as missing to Lloyd's of London. They were originally used to settle insurance claims, and the earliest volume to survive covers the years 1874 to 1875. The books were produced until 1954 and state details of the ship at the time of her disappearance, including the port of registry, voyage, and cargo. At times, the books also contain the names of the insurers or cuttings from Lloyd's List. The fourteen books are arranged chronologically, each volume covering an irregular number of years, with the ships recorded listed in alphabetical order.
The Missing Vessels Books provide a glimpse into the common issue of disappearing ships at sea. Little to no information is known about what happened to these ships and their crews, primarily because there were no survivors to tell the story. However, modern technology is helping maritime archaeologists and others involved in seabed mapping and exploration to locate multiple of shipwrecks, and the Missing Vessels Books can assist in their identification.