World Ship Society (WSS), translated as the World Ship Society, is an international community devoted to maritime and maritime history. Founded in 1946 as the Ship News Club to distribute shipment information to reporters, the association now has thousands of members in dozens of branches around the world. It publishes the monthly Marine News magazine and the quarterly Warships magazine for its membership.

History of the World Ship Society

In 1946, Michael Crowdy started a mailing list in the UK. To share an increasing amount of information on ships, Crowdy founded the Ships News Club. He then published two news lists covering all ships in alphabetical order. These two lists, published in 1947, were recognized by the World Ship Society as the first two editions of Marine News.

At the beginning of 1947, there were fifty reporters. Ship News Club had 200 members by the end of the year in July 1948. Later, 330 members formed its membership. Among its first members are Francis McMurtrie, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, and maritime historian Oscar Parkes. By February 1949, members from around the world, as well as Europe and New Zealand, joined. The club's first annual general meeting was held on 23 September 1949 at HMS Wellington in London. There it was decided to change the name of the club to the World Ship Society.

World Ship Society Library

World Ship Society Limited (WSS) has a large library of negatives, photo prints, slides, and digital images, graciously donated by members or from other sources such as a bequest. This library is known as the World Ship Photo Library (WSPL). It contains pictures of black and white and colored ships from the first days of photography to the present day. The owner of the image holds the copyright of the image.

After donating the image to WSPL, the owner of the image grants WSS and WSPL the non-exclusive right to publish and reproduce the image in WSS journals, publications, calendars, our website, and other existing and new products and services. These rights also include photo offers offered for sale from time to time. WSPL specifically provides prints, slides, and digital images of existing ships to illustrate the monthly Marine News magazine. The World Ship Society library is dependent on the members who provide them.