A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of
naval
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country.
Background
A Navy List fulfills an important function in
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
in that warships are required by article 29 of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...
to be commanded by a
commissioned officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
whose name appears in the appropriate service list. Past copies of the Navy List are also important sources of information for historians and genealogists. When a ship is removed from the navy list of any country, the ship is said to be "
stricken" (from the list).
The British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
publishes annual lists of active and reserve officers, and biennial lists of retired officers. In 2016 ''The Navy List'', which had been officially published under that name since 1814, was renamed ''The Navy Directory''.
The equivalent in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
is the ''
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
'', which is updated online on a continuous basis.
See also
*
Army List
The ''Army List'' is a list (or more accurately seven series of lists) of serving regular, militia or territorial British Army officers, kept in one form or another, since 1702.
Manuscript lists of army officers were kept from 1702 to 1752, the ...
* ''
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
''
Citations
References
*
*
External links
*
* {{cite web , title=Resources and Information , url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/resources-and-information , website=Royal Navy , access-date=3 January 2025
Directories
Royal Navy
Ship registration
United States Navy