ShipIndex.org is a website like no other. Last post I highlighted the emigrant port of Antwerp; for this post I’ll tell you where to learn about the ships on which the immigrants sailed to America.
Peter McCracken is a librarian by profession and founder of www.ShipIndex.org. This is a free database “of any named vessel mentioned in an English speaking source.” The database can include vessels to/from other countries IF the source is in English. Currently, there are nearly 1300 resources in the database, with over 600,000 named vessels there.
McCracken (through the website) recently offered a free webinar. He opened the lesson with “How to do maritime history research?” He then explained that most Americans have immigrant ancestors and he rightly guessed that most would love to find information on the ship that carried their ancestor to America. “ShipIndex offers that sort of help,” he proudly explained.
Folks might use the database for other than immigrant research. “Wouldn’t you like a picture of the ship your parents honeymooned on? Or vacationed on? Or did military service on? Or was transported to war on? Or maybe took a ferry ride on?
You must know the NAME of the ship in order to find information.
My husband served on the nuclear submarine SSBN Alexander Hamilton, 617. Cool, eh??? Thank you, ShipIndex and Peter McCracken!!
