Every sailor who ever stood watch, ran drills, or deployed aboard a Navy vessel served on a ship with a history that extends far beyond their own time on it. For many veterans, curiosity about that larger story only grows with time. Where was this ship before I reported aboard? What did it do in previous conflicts? What happened to it after I left?
Those answers exist. They’re free to access. And most Navy veterans — and the families who want to honor them — don’t know where to look.
Ivan Buxton Gay Jr. served aboard the USS Forrestal, one of the most storied carriers in Navy history. That ship launched in 1954, deployed across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and suffered one of the worst peacetime disasters in the Navy’s modern era before Ivan ever set foot on its flight deck. Knowing that history adds layers to what service aboard her meant. This guide covers the resources Ivan Buxton Gay Jr. recommends for any veteran — or the families of veterans — who want to do the same for their own ship.
Start With the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
The first stop for any ship history research is the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, maintained by the Naval History and Heritage Command. The DANFS covers Navy ships and small craft from the War of Independence to the present day. Each entry includes a ship’s commissioning date, hull classification, key deployments, battle participation, and final disposition.
It’s searchable by ship name and is entirely free. For veterans researching a carrier, destroyer, submarine, or support vessel, this is where the narrative history lives — written by naval historians, sourced from official records. It’s the place to understand what a ship did before and after you served on it.
Use the Naval Vessel Register for Official Records
For official technical and administrative records, the Naval Vessel Register is the authoritative source. The NVR contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy, covering the full lifecycle from authorization through disposal. It is maintained by the Naval Sea Systems Command on behalf of the Chief of Naval Operations.
The NVR is particularly useful for finding hull numbers, class designations, and disposition dates — the kind of technical detail that helps a veteran confirm exactly which vessel they served on and trace its official record. It’s more administrative than narrative, but it complements the DANFS well.
Dig Deeper With the Naval History and Heritage Command
Beyond the DANFS, the Naval History and Heritage Command holds an enormous collection of primary source material. NHHC archivists catalog deck logs, organizational records, and command operations reports. The command’s research support includes access to 182,000 books, 374,000 manuscripts, 27,000 cubic feet of official records and personal papers, 5,000 reels of microfilm, and over one million still photographs and negatives, with a good portion available online.
For veterans or families looking to go beyond a summary history — to find photographs of a specific ship during a specific deployment, or to read the deck logs from a particular year — this is the resource that makes that possible. The NHHC also maintains an oral histories collection and a photo archive, both searchable online.
Search the Navy Log for Shipmates
Once a veteran has researched the ship itself, the Navy Log at the Navy Memorial offers something different: the people who served on it. The Navy Log allows veterans to search by duty station and year, which means it’s possible to find other sailors who served aboard the same vessel during the same period — and to add your own entry to that record.
For families researching a deceased veteran’s service, the Navy Log accepts entries submitted on behalf of those who can no longer record their own history. It’s one of the few places where the human experience of serving aboard a particular ship gets documented alongside the official record.
Request Deck Logs and Service Records
For veterans who want original documentation — official deck logs, cruise books, or individual service records — the NHHC and the National Archives both hold these materials. Deck logs can be requested directly through the NHHC’s archives. Individual service records for veterans are held by the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and can be requested through the National Archives’
These requests can take time, but for veterans building a complete picture of their service — or for families honoring a veteran’s legacy — they’re worth pursuing.
A Note on Cruise Books
One resource that often gets overlooked: cruise books. These are the yearbook-style publications produced by ships at the end of a deployment, and they’re full of photographs, crew rosters, and firsthand accounts of where the ship went and what it did. The Navy Department Library maintains a collection of cruise books that can be browsed through the NHHC website. Not every ship produced one for every deployment, but for major carriers and surface combatants, they’re often available — and they offer a window into shipboard life that no official record can replicate.
For full access to all of these resources, start at history.navy.mil — the central hub for Navy historical research, and a site every veteran and military relative should have bookmarked.
