HMS Kent (CyberHeritage/Terry Phillips)

Parts, 3, 4, 5, 6 are in preparation 

Introduction

According to The National Archives, in World War 2, "the so-called ‘Pink List’, was compiled every three to four days and shows the stations and movements of ships. Vessels of the Royal Navy as well of those of Allied countries are included, with dates of arrival and departure recorded. .... the weekly ‘Red List’ was used to list all minor vessels in home waters. The Red List is arranged by commands, once again including vessels of Allied countries."

It is assumed similar arrangements were used in World War 1. At present, Naval-history.net only has access to the 1 November 1914 and 1 January 1916 Pink Lists, and for these our thanks go to US researcher Don Kindell. Even these two suggest that the Great War information was not as comprehensive as that in their World War 2 counterparts.

It would be good to assume that Admiralty-compiled lists were as accurate as they could be. However, the layout/format is not always as clear or even as complete as it should be. Also, at least two instances have been found of exactly the same information, down to dates of departure and arrival, being repeated in just these two lists, e.g. HMS Broke. How this could happen in lists separated by 14 months is a puzzle.

In short, these two Pink Lists at least, should be treated with some care.

It is hoped to obtain and analyse more Pink Lists as well as Red Lists in the future.

Parts 3, 4, 5, 6 are in preparation

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revised 28/11/14