Research Guides

Using our collections for research

All you need to know to help get started

The Heritage & Education Centre have a wide range of material from Register Books and ship survey reports, to maps, artwork, surveyors’ equipment and letter books. You can access our collections for free, either online or in person by visiting our library and archive at 71 Fenchurch Street. 

If using our materials and data please adhere to our Terms of use and Licensing policies, which include individual research and commercial research terms. 

Although the collection was formed during the development and evolution of ship classification, it can be used for a diverse range of research projects. Learn more browsing our current Case Studies

Register of Ships

A central part of the collection is the Lloyd’s Register of Ships, an invaluable tool for checking vessel histories and registered ownership details, tracing ship builders, yard numbers, technical changes and more. The earliest surviving edition is from 1764. Find out more and view the online collection of the Register Book here.  

Archive Collections

As well as the ship plan and survey report collection, we also have a corporate archive which is held at 71 Fenchurch Street. The Aim25 website outlines our corporate archival holdings in detail. The dedicated webpage for the Ship Plans and Survey Reports collection provides a database featuring more than 1.1 million downloadable documents.