A Ship Ashore
A Ship Ashore
It was 145 years ago in 1863 that Dartmouth was declared a safe and ideal town to prepare young men for the naval service away from the distractive temptations of naval ports like Portsmouth and Plymouth.
Young boys of thirteen were sent by their families to live aboard two training hulks, firstly Britannia and joined a year later, by Hindostan. They were moored off a hilly peninsular known as Mount Boone which was, in the main, owned by the estate of Sir Walter Raleigh. On the waterfront was an area of warehouses, docks and piers known as Sandquay and the training ships needs were serviced through this area.
The cadets led a very spartan life by today’s standards with hammocks strung over their sea chest below. Boys being boys they tried to have a little fun but it can be seen from a punishment book surviving from that time that they paid a price for ‘being in the possession of a catapult’ and ‘speaking after lights out’.
Although the cadets’ moral health was apparently safe in Dartmouth, their physical health was another matter. Living on a river in summer might be more pleasant than in the depths of winter, but with overcrowding and little in the way of proper sanitation they did suffer epidemics of smallpox, scarlet fever and influenza. Resulting questions in Parliament over the unhealthiness of the site meant that after forty years of a river based regime, a shore based establishment was deemed a necessity.
The Admiralty, with Parliamentary approval, compulsorily purchased over 160acres of land from the Raleigh estate under the National Defence Act. The architect famous for designing Admiralty Arch and the East Front of Buckingham Palace, Sir Aston Webb, was commissioned to create ‘A Ship Ashore’. This he did incorporating a central Quarterdeck where formal parades would take place (the present parade ground was garden until 1926) with Poop deck above, messrooms and gunrooms. The building contract was put out to tender and eventually awarded to Messrs Higgs & Hill Ltd who proposed a finished building in three and a half years for a cost of £220,600.
With land levelling work commencing in 1898 and the foundation stone being laid by King Edward VII on 7 March 1902 the contract did overrun but not due to the builders who were actually working on their first major contract! The first part of Webb’s plan to rise from the hillside was the infirmary so that they could get the sick boys off the hulks. Then, whilst the rest of the College was being built, a new education scheme was bought into practice giving each cadet four years of education before joining the Fleet.
That meant the college was already too small to accommodate the demands on it before it was even finished.
It was necessary for an additional block to be built behind the one already planned but even so, it would still mean that the first two of the four years of study were going to have to be done at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. This continued to be the case until after the First World War when there was a reduction in the size of the Navy. Also Britannia, still moored on the Dart, was used to provide accommodation for ship’s company ratings until 1914.
Hindostan had been taken to Plymouth in 1905 to provide a training base on the River Tamar.
The College opened in September 1905 and was effectively a specialised boarding school but when the First World War broke out the cadets were mobilized and sent to the Reserve Fleet. Over the years since ideas have changed and different practices followed. The cadets remained at the College when war broke out again in 1939 one of them being Prince Philip of Greece. It was at BRNC that Philip and the Princess Elizabeth first met when she accompanied her parents to a Passing Out Parade. Unfortunately BRNC was involved in World War II taking a direct hit and suffering major structural damage on 18 September 1942. Subsequently the cadets were evacuated to Eaton Hall in Cheshire and the following year it was taken over by the American forces in preparation for the D-Day landings.
Entry age has steadily risen from 13 to 16 to 17½ & now to 18 - although most join the College in their 20’s after finishing a degree course at university. HRH The Prince of Wales joined the College as a post graduate cadet in the Autumn term of 1971 and his brother Prince Andrew followed in September 1979. Female cadets entered on equal status in 1990 and courses moved from Greenwich to Dartmouth in 1996. International cadets train along side British naval cadets and the training staff at BRNC now includes staff officers from the USA, French and German navies. Staff officers from the Army and the Royal Air Force ensure that tri-service understanding and co-operation starts from day one at the College.
German U-boats and Russian naval ships in the Dart visiting BRNC, exchange cadets with Japan, visits from Chinese naval delegations – all these might have seemed impossible less than fifty years ago. The College mission statement is “To train and educate Young Officers to meet the challenging standards of the front line.” The key to success is not just the technology, but the quality of the men and women in the ship’s company. A well-led crew can overcome many difficulties. It is the business of Britannia Royal Naval College to train the young officers who will be the leaders of tomorrow and it has been forging ahead with plans to establish itself as an internationally renowned Centre of Leadership Excellence.
The College has changed markedly over the century since it first opened its doors. What has not changed is the ethos of the establishment. It is here to change young men and women from civilians into fit, professional and compassionate leaders, proud of themselves, the uniform they wear, and the tradition they represent. They will leave the College to become the next generation of Royal Naval officers.
First Published September 2008 By The Dart