Finding Shipmates and
How to obtain personnel
records-
One method for finding Shipmates is to contact
the ship/unit reunion group. Many of these groups maintain
information on individuals from command muster rolls or current and
past memberships lists.
There are also other military-oriented
periodicals that can be contacted regarding placing announcements to
locate persons.
- The “Veterans of Foreign Wars
(VFW)” offers a vet/retired locator service. For a small fee
they will send a list of matching names and supply facts about a
person’s military history. If the service is unable to find a
matching name, you will get your money back. You can write
to:
Vets National Archives
Finders/Seekers
1809 Vandiver Dr.
Columbia, MO 65202-1916
- Navy Times has a locator section. The address
is:
Navy Times
6883 Commercial Drive
Springfield, VA 22159-0170
- The “Armed Forces World-Wide
Locator” will forward letters to former members of the Navy who
receive “retired pay, or pay for active duty or reserve
service”. For this assistance you should place the letter in a
stamped envelope with just the name of the retired serviceperson on
the front with no return address and send to:
Naval Reserve Personnel Center
4400 Dauphine Street
New Orleans, LA 70149
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Ships Muster Rolls or Deck Logs:
Revised 11 January 2000
To obtain information from historical muster
rolls or deck logs, write to the appropriate repository given below:
For muster rolls from 1801 to 1938 or for deck
logs from 1801 to 1940, write to:
National Archives
Archives I
Washington, D.C. 20408
For muster rolls from 1939 to 1971 or for deck
logs from 1941 to 1961, write to:
National Archives
Archives II
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, Md. 20740-6001
For muster rolls for the period 1972 through
1975, write to:
Department of the Navy
Naval Personnel Command (Pers
312)
5720 Integrity Drive
Millington, TN 38055-3120
For muster rolls for the period 1976 through
the present, write to:
Commanding Officer
Enlisted Personnel Management Center (Code
311)
New Orleans, La. 70159-7900
ATTN: Personnel Accounting
For deck logs from July 1962 through the
present, write to:
Naval Historical Center (DL)
Washington Navy Yard
901 M Street S.E.
Washington DC., 20374-5060
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How to obtain personnel records:
Notice — By law records can only be
released to the individual whose records they are, or if that
individual is deceased, their next of kin.
Records of personnel separated more than 15
months ago
The Navy does not maintain the service records
of individuals who have separated more than 15 months ago. These
records are held by the National Personnel Records
Center
The National Personnel Records Center holds the
official individual personnel records of:
Navy commissioned officers separated after
1902
Navy enlisted personnel separated after 1885
What is in these records
These records include
the full name of the serviceman
next of kin (at the time of service)
date of enlistment
date retired or separated
units with which served
and any medals and awards to which the veteran
was entitled.
How to obtain these records
Information from these records is available to
the individual, or if deceased, to the next of kin. A separate
request should be sent for each veteran. If signed by the next of
kin, the relationship to the veteran must be specified and proof of
death presented.
To expedite, getting information on an
individual's naval career, you need download the Standard Form 180
[This is a .PDF file. To view and print this file, obtain the
free Adobe Acrobat reader if you don't have it.]
Fill in the Standard Form 180 (SF 180). You
will need to provide the following information: full name under which
service was performed, service number and/or Social Security number,
branch of service, dates of service, date and place of birth, and
grade or rank at time of separation/retirement.
If the service number is unknown, you can
usually locate it by sending the individual's name, his command, and
when he served in a letter to the Military Reference Branch, National
Archives, Washington, DC 20408. That office can usually determine the
service number from the command's muster rolls or the list of
officers in the deck log of a ship.
Send the completed form to:
The National Personnel Records
Center
9700 Page Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63132-5100
Phone: (314)
538-4141/3135/3071/3132
Record retrievals are an arduous process and
may take a while.
More information may be available at the
National Personnel Records Center's web site.
For the records of those who have separated
within the past 15 months
For records of former Navy members who have
served within the last 15 months, send the Standard Form 180 to:
Department of the Navy
Navy Personnel Command
Attn: NPC313C1 REC
5720 Integrity Drive
Millington, Tn 38055-3130
Phone: (901)874-3408