CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum
When one of Her Majesty's Canadian (HMC) Ships sails today, the ship's Coxswain (Cox'n) is responsible for taking an updated Next of Kin (NOK) box and storing it with the Regional Joint Operations Centre in the Dockyard of the applicable home port. This box contains the white copies of the NOK form CF form 742 - in effect, a nominal roll of the ship's company.
A second NOK box is kept in the Cox'n's office on board and when the ship is away from her home port, the forms are updated in accordance with procedures laid down in Maritime Atlantic and Maritime Pacific Command Orders, number 26-5.
The idea that the Cox'n maintained such a listing was impressed upon me as a first year officer cadet in HMCS FORT ERIE in the summer of 1961 when I filled out two copies of the RCN version of CF 742. I recall they were orange forms measuring about 5 x 8 inches.
I volunteer at CFB Naval & Military Museum, and I am frequently asked about such lists. As seen on various naval web sites, and particularly with reference to the Second World War, many people are looking for Crew Lists or Nominal Rolls. There is a difference between the two types of lists.
Nominal List (or Roll) is a listing of the entire ship's company for one specific date.
Crew List is a list of all the officers and men who served in a given ship during her entire service in the Royal Canadian Navy. This type of list is often made up post-war by a reunion committee.
Officers can generally be located in the Canadian Naval Listsfound in many museums. (CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum has copies available for reference). Naval Lists were published "from time to time." Enlisted personnel, however, are only to be found in either Crew or Nominal Lists.
In June 2007, during a visit to the National Archives of Canada (NAC) in Ottawa, I set out to discover if such lists existed, if they were readily available to the general public, and to ascertain the war years covered by such lists.
A search of Canadian Naval Orders and Confidential Canadian Naval Orders (found in the Directorate of History and Heritage, Holly Lane, Ottawa) found no orders or instructions governing the production, handling or saving of nominal lists. The only reference is to Naval Order 1767 (undated).
This order is mentioned in a letter from the Naval Secretary to CinC (Commander-in-Chief) Canadian Northwest Atlantic, Flag Officer Newfoundland, RCN Depot Halifax, Senior Canadian Naval Officer in London, and HMCS NIOBE in Scotland. This May 1944 letter states in part that: " ... to maintain up to date records of Canadian Naval personnel in the United Kingdom, administrative authorities are to instruct H.M.C. Ships ... to forward a nominal list ... to H.M.C.S. Niobe ... immediately upon arrival.. .. " "These lists ... are to include full Christian names and surnames, rank or rating, officer number and non-substantive rate as applicable." 1
This file also contains mention of a new (1 May 1944) Nominal List Report Form. The columns in this form are noted as follows: Name, Official Number, Rating, Non- Substantive, Recommended for, and Remarks. The "Recommended for" column referred to such items as trade courses, promotions and advancements, and future service in the Pacific Fleet. These columns show up in a specially printed booklet but not all ships employed such a booklet. In fact, a second and different format booklet was also seen in the National Archives files, again not used by all ships.
In July 1944, the Canadian Naval Mission Overseas (e.g. CNMO in London), issued a Basegram to all ships in UK waters which stated that commencing immediately, " ... Nominal Lists are henceforth to be rendered quarterly on 15th days of January, April, July and October."2
To determine the availability of such lists, 22 ship names were randomly selected from the following series in the National Archives: RG24, D 13, Volumes 11715, 11722, 11725, 11729, 11732, 117239, 12006, and 12007. Each volume contained several files. Some ships had one or two files on various subjects but according to information in NAC search aids, all ships were to have some nominal rolls.
Some conclusions may be drawn from my search of the National Archives records e.g.
1. only a few ships have nominal lists in their NAC files that date from 1943;
2. none of the files surveyed had any lists earlier than 1943;
3. most ships have nominal lists for 1944 and 1945; but
4. some ships have no nominal lists.
(See footnotes 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)
CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum currently holds a Nominal List for HMCS PRINCE ROBERT dated late 1940. No other list is held for this period nor for 1941 or 1942. In his travels, the author has located and copied several nominal lists for various periods as well as post war crew lists. These include:
Nominal Lists:In summation, a selection of nominal rolls have been filed away in NAC in Ottawa. To see such lists, one must make a personal visit to the archives on Wellington Street, or hire someone in the Ottawa area to do the required search on your behalf.
Readers who may have in their possession - or know of the existence of - a nominal roll or crew list for any of HMC Ships from 1910 to 1946, are asked to contact the author c/o this web site or the Naval and Military Museum, CFB Esquimalt, PO Box 17000 Stn Forces, Victoria, BC, V9A 7N2.
