# History of a ship

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176 "2012-02-17T20:05:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/1 "2012-02-17T20:05:03Z")

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Is there any site that you can go to to trace the history of a military ship that you served on (when it was commissioned, in service, decommissioned, possible photographs, etc.)?

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/2 "2012-02-17T20:06:34Z")

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Wikipedia wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/3 "2012-02-17T20:18:23Z")

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US Navy?

[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/](http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/)

Or are you looking for something put together by the Defense Department?

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**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/4 "2012-02-17T20:27:43Z")

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Or [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/](http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/)

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/5 "2012-02-17T20:28:16Z")

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Try this for pictures:

[http://www.navsource.org/](http://www.navsource.org/)

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/6 "2012-02-17T20:31:14Z")

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> [@shiftless](#):
>
> Or [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/](http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/)

That too.

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**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-a-ship/613176/7 "2012-02-17T20:39:00Z")

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> [@mlees](#):
>
> Try this for pictures:
> 
> [http://www.navsource.org/](http://www.navsource.org/)

That’s a good one.