The Répertoire Générale

 

(added January 2008)

 

Not all software reads accents on letters correctly especially if you copy between software. If the “Répertoire Générale”  reads incorrectly the second letter of Répertoire and the second and fourth of Générale should read e acute (ie: forward slanting dash over the e).  

 

The Répertoire Générale (RG) was the only international source of world shipping statistics from 1870 to 1885 and the alternative to Lloyds’ Register statistics from 1885 to ?1939. It included relatively little information about individual ships but it covered more of the world shipping fleet than did Lloyd’s into the 1890’s, and beyond that for merchant sail.

 

Though also compiled and published by Bureau Veritas of Paris, the Répertoire Générale is quite distinct from the Bureau Veritas counterpart to the standard Lloyd’s Register. It is little known in NZ and British and American maritime research circles generally and is often confused with the Bureau Veritas register.

 

When Lloyds themselves sought a statistical time series for their 1901 General Report they turned to the Répertoire Générale data as the source in order to cover a longer period (refer Lloyd’s General Report, Henry M. Hozier and E. Puttock, London, 1901, p. 55).

 

Items R2 and R3 of my website compare the coverage of the two statistical series over the period of the transition from Sail to Steam (see also R6). Different thresholds were applied for inclusion in the two series. Lloyd’s applied a criterion of 100 tons, but gross tons for steam and net for sail. The Répertoire Générale data available to me are less fully labeled but the 1888-89 and 1889-90 volumes indicate the criteria as 100 tons net for steam and 50 tons net for sail. The time series either side do not suggest any radical change in the RV criteria. (Note that by 1890 the RG was including some vessels below the criteria but compiled their statistics separately so as to maintain statistical continuity.)

 

It would be surprising if Bureau Veritas has never compiled time series of its world shipping statistics but in several years of looking and asking I have been unable to find one.

 

I have constructed a fairly-complete set of tables of Répertoire Générale statistics for the period 1870-1921 by combining the figures reproduced in the world statistics section of the annual reports of the United States’ Commissioner of Navigation (Report of the Commissioner of Navigation…etc) supplemented by some from the original publications with the kind assistance of Luc Van Coolput and Paul de Keijzer. The tables cover world totals, sail and steam with breakdowns for larger and some smaller countries. They are in MS Excel format on my website at R7WorldStats2.xls  Technical details are at RG technicalities.

 

This spreadsheet can be saved to disk using the Save As option of the File menu of your internet screen. Alternatively, you can select individual worksheets and copy to an open Windows-based spreadsheet on your computer or even a text file that is wide enough (though you may lose some formatting).

 

I am unable to complete some years and countries or hunt down all the identified typographic transcription errors because of the stage of my illness. I invite anyone with the necessary access to the missing data to copy these tables and complete them especially if you put the result in the public domain.

 

Even when all gaps are filled and all typographic errors corrected the resulting statistics will still require analysis and interpretation. While the general trends are clear they may mislead in specifics. The exact point at which the world sailing ship merchant marine peaked is still a matter for interpretation as are the trends of many nations for the 1870’s relative to the 1860’s and the 1880’s.

 

Most nations radically changed their tonnage measurement systems during the 1870’s. Only the British Empire (from 1855) and the United States (over 1864-1867) had already introduced the system of tonnage measurement adopted internationally during that decade. The RG figures for the early 1870’s must therefore involve conversions from commerce lasts (northern European) or other tonnage measurements or else a mixture of measurements. The way to find out is to track the figures for particular ships of various nations through the RG, year by year, over the transition period (which may also indicate any conversion factors used). Nations may well have introduced the change over a number of years with further implications for the consistency of aggregated world statistics.

 

Much detailed work on national statistical series that span both the 1860’s and the 1870’s will be necessary before it will be possible to analyse fully the effect on the statistical trends of changes in tonnage measurement methods. It is even possible that the true peak of world sailing ship tonnage occurred somewhat later than 1870 even though taking the Répertoire Général statistics at face value would indicate that the peak was in 1870 or earlier. The fact of decreasing numbers of sailing ships does not necessarily mean that aggregate tonnage must have fallen from the same year because the average size of sailing ships increased during the latter half of the 19th century.

 

Compilation and analysis of national shipping statistics will provide an indication of the changing size of the world merchant marine before 1870 but will still be limited by the consequences of the mixture of tonnage measurement systems in use at different times. The effects of the simultaneous use of a mixture of tonnage measurement systems can only be fully analysed by comparing measurements for individual ships for which alternative measurements are available and using that information to adjust the aggregated national statistics.

 

The addition from national registers and statistics of ships below the inclusion criteria (50 net tons for sail and 100 net tons for steam in the case of the RG) would of course add to the numbers and even a significant percentage to the total tonnage. Some sizeable ships above the criteria will also not be included as the Répertoire Général covers only sea-going vessels. A large fleet operated on the North American Great Lakes under both the American and British flags and many large river vessels and barges have operated in many countries.

 

A further consideration is that both the Répertoire Général and Lloyd’s Register cover generally only ships of “European” type under formal systems of registration. There will also have been a substantial number of vessels of other types and hybrid types particularly in Asia. In combination, these must have represented a significant addition to world tonnage. (How many dhows, junks and pinisi do the international shipping registers exclude?)

 

I know of no copies of the Bureau Veritas register itself in New Zealand earlier than the 1930’s (in NZNMM and Auckland Public Library). Bureau Veritas registers (but not the Répertoire Générale) are available commercially on microfilm (NB: not microfiche). A set is held by the Australian National Maritime Museum.  

 

 

The statistical tables are in MS Excel format at R7WorldStats2.xls 

 

Technical details are at RG technicalities.

                                                                                 

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