British Seaman Records New on Ancestry

UK, Shipping and Seamen WWI and WWII Rolls of Honour, 1914-1945  is a new database with 110,993 entries at Ancestry listing "the deceased and missing presumed dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). Each of the eight volumes in this collection is organized in alphabetical order and includes details such as name of seaman, rank or rating, vessel name, and date of death or supposed death. In some volumes, details such as parents' or spouse's names and places of residence may be included as well."

The information is sourced from BT 339 at The National Archives of the UK, Kew.

Beware. I searched for Herbert Lionel Upton and found listings in 1917 and 1918 even though he was very much alive in 1940 as captain of a ship my father sailed on.

Ancestry have also updated UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, 1853-1928 which now has 829,176 entries sourced from ADM 188 at The National Archives of the UK, Kew.

Ancestry describes these as "record(ing) the service of seamen in the Royal Navy. Records include birthdate, birthplace, vessels served on, and dates of service. The registers include seamen who began their service as early as 1853, with dates of service up through 1928 for most records, though there are a few records with dates post-1928."