The records of one million early 20th century merchant navy seamen – from boys aged 12 to old salts of 78 – went online for the first time yesterday.

Covering the period 1918 to 1941, the records also include rarely-seen photographs of mariners.

One seaman, Henry Duncan Abbot from Dundee, was listed as having a Chinese death-head tattoo on his right forearm with the inscription “Death is Glory”. The youngest in the records is Archie Kerr, 12, from Beith in Strathclyde, Scotland, who was an ordinary seaman.

The oldest is George Field, 78, a Londoner, who was a steward.

Published by findmypast.co.uk in partnership with the National Archives, the records also show that many crews had an international flavour, with seamen coming from such areas as Scandinavia, Japan and the West Indies.

The records show that ships were not exclusively male, with details given of a Doris Abbey, from Liverpool, who was born in 1899 – a five-foot four-inch manicurist with hazel eyes, brown hair and a medium complexion.

Janet Dempsey, marine and maritime record specialist at the National Archives. said: “The records cover a very significant era in nautical history commencing at the very peak of the popularity of ocean travel, in the time of the great ocean liners, when overseas tourism meant taking to the seas.

“The years that followed saw the end of this period of prosperity, and the start of the Great Depression. For mariners this was a time when work on board was hard to get, and many men were forced to take other work between voyages to make ends meet.”