Merchant marine

This roll was compiled by Trevor Richards and lists the names of New Zealand-born or -resident seafarers who died during the First World War while serving aboard merchant ships. With the exception of the Belgian-registered Menapier, the ships listed sailed under the flags of British Empire countries or colonies (mainly the UK, New Zealand and Australia).

It’s hard to say for certain how many New Zealanders died during the merchant marine’s war. In those days shipping companies treated seafarers below officer rank as casual employees; the men – and they were overwhelmingly men – changed ships frequently and even New Zealand short-sea traders might employ people from many countries, often for just a single voyage. To make matters even murkier, the recording of personal information was far less comprehensive than it was for members of the armed forces.

This table can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet which includes ranks and extra notes for each seafarer.  If you have additional names and other information, please email: [email protected] or add a community contribution at the end of this page.

†Died after the end of the First World War on 11 November 1918. Ship likely in the process of being decommissioned from the Royal Navy.

Sources

This list has been compiled from a range of sources including the: Commonwealth War Graves Commission database; Publict Trust Office Notices of Deceased Estates; Papers Past; NZ Marine Department annual reports; NZ Army Reserve Rolls 1916-17; NZ Electoral Rolls - seaman voter lists; NZ War Graves Project; Births Deaths and Marriages; National Archives (U.K.), crew lists filed under designation BT99; uboat.net; and information kindly supplied by Errol Martyn of Christchurch.