Britannia Royal Naval College
| Britannia Royal Naval College | |
|
Devon | |
|---|---|
 The Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth | |
| Type: | Royal Naval college |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX87505201 |
| Location: | 50°21’26"N, 3°34’58"W |
| Town: | Dartmouth |
| History | |
| Built 1902-1905 | |
| By: | Sir Aston Webb |
| Royal Naval college | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | The Crown |
Britannia Royal Naval College is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is stands on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth in Devon, and the College is consequently commonly known in the service as 'Dartmouth'.
Royal Naval officer training has taken place in Dartmouth since 1863. The buildings of the current campus were completed in 1905. Earlier students lived in two wooden hulks moored in the River Dart.
Since 1998, the Britannia Royal Naval College has been the only centre for Royal Naval officer training.
History
The training of naval officers at Dartmouth dates from 1863, before which a Royal Naval Academy (later Royal Naval College) had operated for more than a century from 1733 to 1837 at Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy to this day. In 1863, the training of cadets came to Dartmouth when the wooden hulk HMS Britannia was moved from Portland and moored in the River Dart to serve as a base.[1] In 1864, after an influx of new recruits, Britannia was supplemented by HMS Hindostan.[1]
The original Britannia was replaced by the HMS Prince of Wales in 1869, which was renamed Britannia.[2]
The foundation stone for a new building at the college was laid by King Edward VII in March 1902.[3] Sir Aston Webb designed the shore-based college at Dartmouth, which was built by Higgs and Hill[4] and practically completed in 1905.[5]
The first term of cadets entered at the R.N. College Osborne were transferred to Dartmouth in September 1905.[5]
| “ | The Britannia training establishment was closed at the same time. The cadets under instruction were embarked on two cruisers to complete their programme under the old system. The headquarters of the cruisers was established at Bermuda, where suitable arrangements had been made to house the cadets. The cadets entered in September under the old system, and those entered in January 1906 (the last to be so entered), were received at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, where they were instructed, as far as possible, side by side with the cadets transferred from Osborne. | ” |
The college was originally known as the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. As a Royal Naval shore establishment, it was later known also by the ship name HMS Britannia. The college received the new ship name HMS Dartmouth) in 1953, when the name Britannia was given to the newly launched royal yacht HMY Britannia. The training ship moored in the River Dart at Sandquay, currently the former Sandown class minehunter HMS Cromer, continues to bear the name Hindostan.
Cadets originally joined the Royal Naval College, Osborne, at the age of 13 for two years' study and work before joining Dartmouth. They studied there for four years there before starting sea training at age 17. RNC Osborne closed in 1923. The entry age for the Naval College was changed to 16 in 1948, and to 17 and 6 months in 1955. Until 1941, Dartmouth was in effect a specialised boarding school, with parents paying fees for tuition and board.
During the Second World War, after six Focke-Wulf aircraft bombed the College in September 1942, students and staff moved activities to Eaton Hall in Cheshire until the autumn of 1946. Two bombs had penetrated the College's main block, causing damage to the quarterdeck and surrounding rooms.[6][7]
The college today
In the early 21st century, officer cadets, as they are known until passing out from the college, can join between the ages of 18 and 32. While most cadets join Dartmouth after finishing university, some join directly from secondary school. All spend between 30 and 49 weeks at the college, depending on specialisation. A large contingent of Commonwealth and foreign students are part of the student body. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary sends its officer cadets to Dartmouth for an 10-week initial officer training course,[8] before they start at a maritime college.
Following the closures of the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, in 1994 and the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1998, BRNC is the sole naval college in the United Kingdom.
Slightly removed from the main buildings is Sandquay, which is below the college on the River Dart. It is primarily used for seamanship and boat handling training. Cadets are required to know that there are 187 steps from the college to Sandquay.[9]
Royal cadets
King George V and King George VI were naval cadets at Dartmouth. The first "significant encounter" between Prince Philip of Greece and the then Princess Elizabeth took place at Dartmouth in July 1939, where Philip was a naval cadet.[10][11] The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York also attended Dartmouth. Prince William spent a brief period at the College after leaving Sandhurst as part of his training with all three of Britain's Armed Forces.
Sheikh Mubarak Ali Yousuf Suoud Al-Sabah of Kuwait, attended the Royal Navy Young Officer Course at Britannia Royal Naval College in 2002.[12]
Pictures
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The college taken from the other side of the Dart at Kingswear -
Foreign exchange cadets on the main steps. -
Cadets at the College participate in a team problem-solving exercise. -
The Britannia Royal Naval College from the town quay
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Britannia Royal Naval College) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Walker 1938, p. 39, 40
- ↑ Lambert 1984, pp. 122, 127–128
- ↑ 'The King and Queen in Devon': The Times issue 36710, Saturday 8 March 1902, page 12
- ↑ Lambeth: Southern area - Survey of London Volume 26 pages 1–17: 'General introduction'
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth: First Lord's Statement explanatory of Navy Estimates, 1906-7, 26 February 1906 in The Naval Annual 1906 page 370
- ↑ Harrold, Jane and Porter, Richard: 'Dartmouth' (Richard Webb, 2005) ISBN 978-0-9536361-3-6
- ↑ Article by Jane Harrold and Richard Porter in The Britannia Magazine 2004, Crest Publications, pp. 6–7.
- ↑ "RFA Training". Royal Navy. https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/rfa/training-progression-and-development. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ↑ "PPRuNe Archive". http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-117026.html. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ↑ Pimlott, Ben (2012). The Queen: Elizabeth II and the Monarchy. Harper Collins. p. 86.
- ↑ "History, Prince Philip". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/prince_philip. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ↑ "Sheikh awarded honorary doctorate". 25 September 2010. http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Sheikh-awarded-honorary-doctorate/article-2684738-detail/article.html.
- Lambert, Andrew (1984). Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815–1860. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 9780851773155.
- Walker, Charles Frederick (1938). Young Gentlemen. Longmans, Green and Company. OCLC 500034862.