View source for US Immigration Ship (Vessel) Arrival Records

=== Colonial Period  ===

The arrival of European ships at Colonial American ports can be reconstructed through a variety of sources. Customs paid by ship masters at ports were recorded. Announcements of goods for sale in colonial newspapers. Court disputes at the county, colony, and High Court of Admiralty level often identify voyages. 

==== Dutch Ships  ====

==== English Ships  ====

Peter Wilson Coldham created a detailed list of convict ships sent from England to America in the eighteenth century. Maryland and Virginia were the most frequent destinations. The list is published as an appendix to: 

*Coldham, Peter Wilson. ''British Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1788''. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. {{FHL|1210004|item|disp=FHL&nbsp;CD-ROM no. 2150}}.

==== German Ships  ====

Dr. Marianne S. Wokeck created a detailed list of "German Immigrant Voyages, 1683-1775" to Colonial America. The ships she tracked docked in Pennsylvania, Halifax, Boston, New York, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and the West Indies. She published the list in an Appendix to: 

*Wokeck, Marianne S. ''Trade in Strangers: The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America''. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999. {{FHL|1023023|item|disp=FHL&nbsp;Book 970 W2w}}.

==== Irish Ships  ====

Griffin identifies known voyages between what is now Northern Ireland and Colonial America in: 

*Griffin, Patrick. ''The People with No Name: Ireland's Ulster Scots, America's Scots Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689-1764''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.

==== Scottish Ships  ====

==== Ships of Unknown National Origin<br>  ====

'''''Two Brothers''''', 250 tons,<ref>Advertisement, The Pennsylvania Gazette, 15 Oct 1747, number 983, p. 3, col. 2, Genealogybank.com.</ref> 14 guns,<ref>Ibid.</ref> sailing ship, captain: Arnot.&nbsp; "Captain Arnot carried Germans to [Philadelphia] seven times from 1747-1753 in the ship ''Two Brothers'', tied for second for the most passages for a particular ship. By the end of his career in 1771, Captain Arnot had the most passages of any captain who brought Pennsylvania Germans to Philadelphia."<ref>Richard W. Tobin II, The Kesler Family: THEIß KEßLER of Westerburg, Germany and some of his descendants 1665-2013 (Phoenix: Snowfall Press, 2013), p. 19, footnote 15, citing Strassburger, Ralph B., edited by William J. Hinke. Pennsylvania German Pioneers.  Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 2002, vol. 1, various pages, used with permission, may be freely used for non-commercial purposes, attribution requested.</ref>&nbsp; On its passage to America in 1754, ''Two Brothers'' sank with the loss of the 300 German passengers on board.&nbsp; The Second Mate drowned as well, however Captain Arnot survived the sinking of his ship and continued to bring Germans to Philadelphia until 1771.<ref>“LONDON. … August 7.  The Two Brothers, Arnot, from Holland for Portsmouth and Philadelphia, was lost on the Overfalls coming out; the Second Mate and 300 Palatine Passengers were drowned, but the Captain and rest of the Crew were taken up by Capt. Harrison, bound for the Coast of Guiney, who took them on board, and landed them at Helvoetsfluys, and then proceeded on his Voyage.  A Dutchman was in Sight, and tho’ sensible of their Distress, kept his Course.”  “LONDON.”, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Thursday, 26 Sep 1754, number 1344, p. 2, col. 2, Genealogybank.com. Tobin, The Kesler Family, p. 25,footnote 33, no copyright claim made.</ref><br>