Registers review

In 2013, National Historic Ships UK carried out a public consultation on plans to review the National Registers using a new assessment methodology. You can read more and see the summary of responses.

Following this, funding proposals were submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) for grant aid to enable a dedicated project team to undertake a full-scale review.  Unfortunately, due to the economic climate, it has not yet been possible to secure the level of financial support needed to undertake this work within a set timeframe.

The Review is currently being carried out in-house by a working group comprised of NHS-UK staff, volunteers and co-opted vessel specialists. It is an ongoing process, with vessels assessed on a group-by-group basis, starting with those built as service craft.

Rescue Group

During 2021-2024, the Registers Review working group assessed and scored 157 historic lifeboats which comprise 8% of all vessels on the National Registers.  These included both RNLI lifeboats and private rescue craft.  A total of 15 lifeboats are now listed on the Fleet following this Review, five of which have retained their existing status and ten of which have been newly assessed as being sufficiently significant to merit this recognition.

To read a summary of this piece of work, our research and findings, plus a breakdown of all vessels in the rescue group, please download our Report.

Tugs Group

With work on the Rescue Group completed, in early 2024 the NHS-UK team began their assessment of the next set of vessels within the service category which is ‘Tugs’.  79 tugs have been identified as currently listed on the National Register and preliminary scoring has been undertaken on 30, with visits to 12. A full report will be published on the ‘tugs group’ once all assessments have been completed. In the meantime, we encourage any tug custodians to ensure their vessel entries on the Register are accurate and up to date.

Revisit this page for the latest news on the Registers Review, as well as any requests for information from the working group.

Please note, if you do not own a vessel in the group currently under review, we will not be able to undertake an assessment for the National Historic Fleet until such time as your vessel type comes up for consideration.  This is because we assess vessels within groups of like craft rather than on a case-by-case basis.

If you wish to ensure your vessel record is ready for assessment in due course, we encourage you to work with us to produce a statement of significance to our guidelines.  We appreciate your patience whilst the Review is ongoing.