Chapter XLI: Part VIII (7)

In 1857 the Admiralty adopted the plan of a Training Ship for naval cadets. The candidate was to be from thirteen to fifteen years of age, and to pass an examination in Latin or French, Geography, Arithmetic, including Proportion and Fractions, Algebra, to Simple Equations, the First Book of Euclid, and the Elements of Plane Trigonometry. At the end of twelve or six months, according to age, spent in study and practice on the Training Ship, the cadet was examined in the studies before enumerated with the addition of Involution and Evolution, Simple Equations, the Elements of Geometry, and of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, the simple rules of Navigation, the use of Nautical Instruments, Surveying, Constructing Charts, and the French language, besides an elaborate course of Seamanship, and attendance on lectures on Chemistry, Physics, Hydrostatics, &c. If this examination was satisfactory, the cadet was appointed to a sea-going ship, and at the expiration of fifteen months’ service he was eligible for the rating of midshipman upon passing a further examination. The course in the Training Ship (first the “Illustrious,” and subsequently changed to the “Britannia,” first in Portsmouth harbor and more recently at Dartmouth,) proved too extensive for mastery in one year; and in 1861 the conditions for admission were lowered, the examinations in the school were made quarterly, and competitive, and if passed creditably at the end of a year, according to a fixed standard, (3,000 being the number of marks attainable, and 2,100 giving a first class certificate,) the cadet is rated at once as midshipman, and credited a year’s sea-time. If he receives a second class certificate (1,500 marks,) he must serve six months at sea, and pass another examination before he can be rated midshipman. The cadet with a third-rate certificate (1,200 marks,) must serve twelve months at sea, and pass another examination for his midshipman’s rating. Prizes and badges are also given, and the stimulus of competitive examination is applied as shown in the grading of certificates.

_Gunnery Instruction._

In 1832 a uniform and comprehensive system of gunnery instruction was provided on the “Excellent,” under command of Captain (now Sir Thomas) Hastings. To give such officers who were found deficient in the scientific knowledge requisite for a full understanding of the theory of gunnery, the Naval College was re-opened in 1839, under the general superintendence of the Captain of the Excellent, with Professors of Mathematics, Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, Steam Machinery, Chemistry and Marine Artillery. Accommodations were provided for twenty-five half-pay officers, (captains, commanders, and lieutenants,) and a certain number of mates on full pay, for whom a special course of study was instituted. The time allowed at the College was a clear year’s study, exclusive of vacations, and those who have completed the course rank among the most distinguished officers of the profession.

_Instruction in Steam and the Steam-Engine._

When steam vessels came into use in the Navy, to qualify officers for special service in them they were encouraged to resort to Woolwich Dockyard, and afterward to the Portsmouth yard, where an instructor was appointed and facilities for observation, study, and experiments were provided. Many officers repaired to private factories, and worked at the lathe, in stoke-hole and the engine-room, and thus acquired a practical knowledge of this department of their profession. When the Naval College was established on its present footing, a small steamer, the “Bee,” was built and attached under the charge of the instructor in steam-machinery. And now the greater part of the captains and commanders on the active list have obtained certificates of having passed the course in Steam and the Steam-engine.

_Admiralty Order respecting Naval Cadets and Midshipmen, dated April
1, 1860._

CADETS.

“I. No person will be nominated to a Cadetship in the Royal Navy who shall be under 12, or above 14 years of age, at the time of his first examination.

“II. Every candidate, on obtaining a nomination, will be required to pass an examination at the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, within three months of nomination.[3] In the special cases of nomination granted to the sons of natives of the colonies a candidate will be allowed to pass a preliminary examination on board the flag or senior Officer’s ship on the Station. But such an examination must be passed in strict accordance with these regulations, and should the candidate be found qualified, it will still be necessary that he should be sent to England, to be entered on board a training ship, where he will be subject to the same regulations as other Cadets.

[Footnote 3: These examinations will take place on the first
Wednesdays in the months of March, June, September, and December.]

“III. The candidate must produce a certificate of birth, or a
declaration thereof made before a magistrate.

“IV. Must be in good health and fit for the Service--that is free from impediment of speech, defect of speech, rupture, or other physical inefficiency.

“Candidates will be required--1. To write English correctly from dictation, and in a legible hand. 2. To read, translate, and parse an easy passage from Latin, or from some foreign living language--the aid of a dictionary will be allowed for these translations.

“And to have a satisfactory knowledge of--3. The leading facts of Scripture and English history. 4. Modern geography, in so far as relates to a knowledge of the principal countries, capitals, mountains and rivers. To be able to point out the position of a place on a map, when its latitude and longitude are given. 5. Arithmetic, including proportion, and a fair knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions. 6. A knowledge of the definitions and axioms of the First Book of Euclid.

“As drawing will prove a most useful qualification for Naval Officers, it is recommended that candidates for the Service should be instructed therein.

“V. Candidates will be allowed a second trial at the next quarterly examination. Should he not pass this second examination he will be finally rejected.

“VI. If the candidate succeeds in passing the required examination he will be at once appointed to a training ship, for the purpose of instruction in the subjects contained in Sheet No. 1,[4] as well as in the rigging of ships, seamanship, the use of nautical instruments, &c.

[Footnote 4: The examination on leaving the training ship will
embrace all the subjects of the former examination, except Latin,
and in addition to them it will include, in algebra, simple
equations; the elements of geometry, plane trigonometry, and the
solution, &c., as in the Circular No 288, dated Feb. 23rd, 1857;
and in addition the use of the globes with correct definitions of
latitude, longitude, azimuth, amplitude, and other circles of the
sphere, and drawing.]

“VII. Quarterly examinations will be held on board the training ship, when any candidate may be examined in the subjects contained in Sheet No. 1, and also, in the course of instruction, in the rigging of ships, seamanship, &c.

“VIII. If a candidate be found at the quarterly examinations, not to have made sufficient progress, or if, by indifferent conduct or idle habits on board the training ship, he shall show his unfitness for the Service; it will be the duty of the Captain to make a special report thereof to the Admiralty, in order that the Cadet may be at once removed from the Navy.

“IX. When the candidate shall have completed twelve months’ instruction, exclusive of vacations, in the harbor training ship, he will be examined, and should he obtain a certificate of proficiency, he will be discharged into the sea-going training ship. A first-class certificate will entitle him to count twelve months’ sea time; a second-class, will entitle him to count six months’ sea time; a third-class, will entitle him to count six months’ sea time. But should he not obtain a certificate, he will be discharged as unfit for the Service.

“X. On leaving the harbor training ship, it is intended that the Cadet shall pass three months in a sea-going training ship, for practical instruction in seamanship and navigation, which period will count for sea time, and at the end of this period, if his conduct has been satisfactory, he will be appointed to a ship with the rating of a Midshipman.

MIDSHIPMEN.

“To qualify a Midshipman for a Lieutenant’s Commission he must have attained the full age of 19 years, and have completed 5½ years’ actual service in Her Majesty’s Navy, including the time awarded to him on leaving the training ship.

“XI. All Midshipmen, until they have passed their examinations for Lieutenants, are to keep a book in which the ship’s reckoning is to be worked out and noted; at sea, this book is to be sent in every day to the Captain, instead of the slip of paper containing a day’s work. It is also to be produced at their examinations; and during the last six months of their service as Midshipmen, it must contain the working of the observations.

“XII. A Midshipman when he shall have served two years and a half in that rank will be required to pass the following examination:--1. In practical navigation, showing that he understands the principle of navigating a ship from one distant port to another, by dead reckoning and by his own observations; and that he can explain the principles of the same; and that he can also take and work a double altitude and azimuth. 2. A sufficient knowledge of a chart to enable him to place thereon the position of the ship by observation as well as by cross bearings; and to lay off the true and compass courses. 3. Such knowledge of nautical surveying as may enable him to measure a base line and determine positions by angles, and the manner of ascertaining heights and distances. 4. If he has served in a steam vessel, an acquaintance with the different parts and working of the steam engine. 5. A proficiency in French to be attained if he has had an opportunity. 6. He must be a good practical observer, and his sextant must be produced in good order. 7. He must produce log-books kept by himself from the time of his entering into a sea-going ship, and certificates of good conduct.

“8. He will likewise be examined as to his progress in the knowledge of rigging masts, bowsprits, &c. He must also know the great gun and small arm exercise, the use of tangent sights, the charges for the guns of the ship, and be able to exercise the men at his quarters. A report of the progress he has made in each of the above subjects is to be made to the Secretary of the Admiralty in the half-yearly return.

“This examination is to be conducted by the Officer in command, not below the rank of Commander, and the next senior Officer in the ship, and the examinations in navigation in the presence of a Captain or Commander, by two Naval Instructors, when it may be practicable, or by a Naval Instructor and a Master, or, where there is no Naval Instructor, by two Masters; that in gunnery, by a gunner, or other competent Officer; and the candidate is to be made to take and work out his own observations for latitude, longitude, variation, &c., as the case may be. First or second class certificates are to be given according to the merit of the candidate, in the form A, page 8, or he is to be rejected if found incompetent.

“XIII. A Midshipman, having completed his term of service, and being 19 years of age, may be provisionally examined by the Captain or Commander of such ship or vessel with the aid of other competent Officers, Lieutenant, Master, or second Master, when no other ships are present; and if they find him to be duly qualified they are to give him a certificate to that effect, dated on the day of such examination, and the Captain may forthwith give him an acting order as Mate; but he must be re-examined, on the first opportunity that shall afterwards offer, by three Captains or Commanders, and if he passes successfully he will receive from the Commander-in-Chief, or senior Officer, an acting order as Mate, to take rank according to the first certificate.

“The examining Officers are to be most strict in their investigation of the qualifications of Officers, and they are to see that everything required by these Regulations has been complied with by the candidates, and that he produces certificates of good conduct from Captains he has served under from the time of his discharge from the training ship.

“XIV. All Acting Mates and Midshipmen will be required to undergo the following final examinations,--1. In Seamanship--On board the training ship at Portsmouth. 2. In Gunnery--On board the _Excellent_. 3. In Navigation and the Steam Engine--At the Royal Naval College.

“Acting Mates, who have already passed abroad, are to present themselves for examination, on board the training ship at Portsmouth, at the first examination day after their arrival in England, or after being paid off, and having passed in gunnery they are then at liberty to select either the first, second, or third examination day at the Royal Naval College.

“XV. Any Officer rejected on his first examination at the College will incur the forfeiture of three months’ seniority in his rank as Mate. He may present himself on the next examination day, but a second rejection will incur the forfeiture of three months’ more seniority; he may again present himself on the next examination day, but a third rejection will cause his name to be removed from the list of the Navy.

“XVI. Officers, when they have passed their final examination at the Royal Naval College, as provided for in these Regulations, will be confirmed from the date of their first certificate. The non-appearance of an Officer for examination at the Royal Naval College at the times required by these Regulations will be considered as an acknowledgment of his not being qualified, and he will be dealt with in the same manner as if he had been actually rejected, on each day on which he may have omitted to appear, unless under certified ill-health, to be duly reported at the time.

“XVII. Naval Instructors are to keep a school journal, or register, which is to be produced when required by the Captain of the ship or the examining Officers, and the Captain is to allow them reasonable access to the charts and chronometers, for the purpose of instructing the Officers in their use.

“XVIII. The Captains of Her Majesty’s ships are to take care that a convenient place is set apart and proper hours are fixed for instruction by the Naval Instructor; and all Acting Mates and Acting Second Masters, as well as all executive Officers under that rank, are to attend; and care is also to be taken that they are regularly instructed in practical seamanship, rigging, and the steam-engine, and a monthly examination day is to be established.

The subject of Education for Officers has been recently under discussion in Parliament, and some modifications of the existing system is now under the consideration of the Admiralty, looking to greater maturity of age and preparation for admission, a more extended and thorough course of scientific training in cadets, and continued opportunities of study with accompanying examinations for officers up to the grade of commanders.

II. THE ROYAL MARINE ARTILLERY.

In 1804 an artillery company was attached to each of the three divisions of the Royal Marine Corps, to supply the service of the bomb-vessels, and in time of peace, to drill the whole of the marines in gunnery. But they were soon made available for other purposes, and on the outbreak of the American war in 1812, a large body of the Marine Artillery, with a field battery and rocket equipment, accompanied the battalions of marines then formed for service in America. In 1817 this force was augmented to eight companies, and Sir Howard Douglass, while advocating the establishment of “Naval Depots of Instruction,” for the purpose of converting officers and men of the Royal Navy into efficient gunners, complimented the Marine Artillery as being “either a corps of good infantry, of scientific bombardiers, or expert field artillery men, well constituted, thoroughly instructed, and ably commanded.” It was not until June, 1830, that an Admiralty order directed that a school of gunnery should be established at Portsmouth, on board the “Excellent,” and with the intention of making this school the one means of instruction in this department, it was farther ordered, in December, 1831, that the Marine Artillery, as a distinct and separate corps, should be broken up, retaining two companies as a nucleus of a larger force, should such become necessary. And the necessity appeared; for the experience of a few years proved that it would be impossible for the school to effect, to any important extent, the results which were desired. In 1841, therefore, a third company of the artillery was ordered; in 1845, two more; and by subsequent additions, its strength was raised in 1859, to sixteen companies, with a total of 3,000 officers and men, who were formed into a separate division with its head quarters at Fort Cumberland.

The officers of the Marine Artillery were at first appointed from the marine corps, without any particular qualifications being required, but afterwards their appointments were made probationary and conditional upon the satisfactory completion of a prescribed mathematical course. In 1839 it was decided that a certain number of second lieutenants should be allowed to prepare themselves for examination on board the Excellent, and upon the re-opening of the Royal Naval College as an educational establishment for mates, it was arranged that the students for the artillery should be transferred to it, and that their success or failure, after a years’ further study, should decide upon their appointment to the artillery. Another and final modification took place upon the introduction of preliminary examinations for the marines, and the subsequent formation of a cadet establishment on board the Excellent. In case of vacancies in the artillery, those who had passed the best examinations upon first entering the corps, were selected for the College, and no officers were allowed to become candidates on any other terms, their final success depending as before, upon the progress they might make as students at the College.

The cadets have their periods of study limited to two years; it may be less, but can not be more. They have to acquire a competent knowledge in Arithmetic, Algebra, Euclid, including the first four books and part of the sixth, Plane Trigonometry, the use of the Sextant, Fortification, English History, and French. To this may be added a practical course of Naval Gunnery. Their studies are carried on under the direction of a mathematical instructor, and an instructor of fortification. A French master attends twice a week. If on obtaining his commission, the young marine officer is selected to qualify for the artillery at College, he must be prepared at the end of a year to pass an examination in Analytical Trigonometry, Differential and Integral Calculus, Conic Sections, Statics and Dynamics, Hydrostatics, and “Steam,” besides being required to have an increased knowledge of Arithmetic, Algebra, and Fortification. In a year little more than a superficial knowledge of these studies can possibly be attained, yet insufficient as this period clearly is, it has sometimes been the case that, when a large number of subalterns were required for the artillery, young officers have been appointed who have completed only half their term at College. Having thus gained his appointment to the artillery, his remaining in it depends upon there being a vacancy or not at the time when his seniority on the general list of the corps advances him to each successive grade of rank.

The men are volunteers from the light infantry divisions, possessing certain specified qualifications as to age, height, intelligence and character.

The course of training, which is with a few exceptions, common to both officers and men, is very comprehensive; it includes--

1. The usual infantry drills and musketry instruction.

2. The exercise of field guns and rockets, with such field battery movements as are of real practical importance.

3. The service of heavy ordnance, including guns, howitzers, and sea and land service mortars.

4. The naval great gun exercise.

5. Mounting and dismounting ordnance, with or without machines.

6. The various methods of slinging and transporting ordnance.

7. Knotting, splicing, and fitting gun gear, use of pulleys, &c.

8. A laboratory course, including:--use and preparation of tubes, rockets, and fuzes; making up cartridges; manufacture of port fires, Valenciennes stars, signal rockets, blue lights, &c., with instruction in the manufacture and effects of gunpowder and other explosive compounds.

9. A course of practical gunnery, comprising--instruction in the nature and uses of the various kinds of guns, howitzers, and mortars; in the natures, employment, and effects of the various projectiles; disparting and sighting ordnance; heating and firing red-hot shot; and such matters connected with the theory of projectiles as may have a practical application.

10. Practice from different natures of ordnance, with every description of projectile.

The system of instruction is so arranged that every officer and noncommissioned officer is qualified, as far as practicable, as an instructor, a registry being kept of each man’s progress and capabilities. A spirit of emulation has been created, attended with the happiest results, and the whole course is now gone through in less than twelve months, without the men being wearied or overworked.

III. SCHOOLS FOR WARRANT OFFICERS, SEAMEN, AND BOYS.

1. _Seamen’s Schoolmasters._

Schoolmasters for seamen are allowed on all ships having a complement of not less than three hundred men, and an allowance of £5 per annum is granted, in addition to the pay of any rating he may hold, to a qualified person doing this duty of the captain’s orders, in ships not having a seamen’s schoolmaster. An allowance is made for books, slates, &c. to all ships having schools. The success of the school to the boys and the men depends mainly on the interest shown in it by the captain and second officer in command, and especially on the character of the schoolmaster employed. The situation is too often filled by an old quartermaster, or sergeant of marines, who obtains the berth as a kind of retirement, or by some person who has a fancy for sea life, but who is fit for nothing on shore, much less for teaching under the difficulties of a ship at sea. It is found that when the schoolmaster is qualified for this special service, and is entered for continuous service, and being placed in regard to pay, pension, and good conduct badges on an equality with other chief petty officers, and when a log or register of attendance is kept, and frequent reports are made to superior authority, the result is highly conducive to discipline, and to the elevation of the seamen’s habits and character. One of the Commissioners recently appointed to examine into the state of popular education among every class of British subjects, speaking of the effect of this class of schools upon the men on board the ships, says: “After visiting the “Cambridge,” at Plymouth, as I walked with the captain through the lower deck, I found many, both boys and men, reading books with the greatest attention. In the evening of the same day, on the lower deck of the “Agincourt,” I found the same scene, while others were engaged in draughts, chess, or writing letters to their friends.” With the present scale of punishment on board of men of war, the school is an indispensable element of discipline. The Commissioners referred to, in their report to the Queen, recommend that schoolmasters of higher qualification be appointed, with an increase of pay, and promotion by merit, when their schools are reported favorably upon by any authorized inspectors, and with the same retiring pension as master-at-arms, and that in addition to an elementary general education, a knowledge of navigation, physical geography, and natural history be required of candidates.

2. _Schools on board of Ships in Harbor._

A second class of naval schools consists of Harbor Ships, into which boys entered for admission to the Navy, are received until they are drafted into the various sea-going ships. Four of these ships, the “Victory” and “Excellent,” at Portsmouth, the “Impregnable” and “Cambridge,” at Plymouth, are specially devoted to instruction. Boys remain in these ships for one year. The first part of this period is generally spent on board the ship, the latter part in the practising brig, in which during the summer months they are out at sea for five days during the week. There is a school under a seamen’s schoolmaster on board of each of these ships. The Commissioners report that the school time is necessarily subject to great interruptions, but that much valuable instruction might be given with better organization and methods. They recommend that an educational test for admission to these training ships be introduced, which would at once have a good effect upon the general education of the people resident in the seaport towns, and elevate the intelligence, morality and manners of the seamen.

3. _Royal Marine Schools._

There are four schools attached to the divisions of marines quartered in barracks respectively at Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth, and another to the division of marine artillery quartered at Portsmouth. These five schools are attended by the marines and their children. The attendance of the men is for the most part voluntary, with the exception of the non-commissioned officers, who are obliged to attend the school until they have passed a prescribed examination. In the marine artillery every man is required to read and write, and if deficient in these respects, he is obliged to attend the school until his requirements are reported to be satisfactory. The Commissioners recommend that a better class of schoolmasters be specially trained and employed, and that they receive better rank and pay, and more efficient assistance in the discharge of their duties, and that trained mistresses be employed as assistants in the boys’ schools, and have the exclusive charge of the girls’ schools, in all of which sewing should be taught and practised daily.

4. _Dock-yard Schools._

There are seven dock-yard schools, held in the respective dock-yards of Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Devenport, and Pembroke. They were founded in 1840, and are designed for the instruction of the apprentices employed in these establishments. The masters of them were originally foremen of the yard, men of good attainments, who had for the most part received their education in the School of Naval Architecture; but in 1847 a special class of schoolmasters was established, ranking as foremen of the yard. The object of these schools is to advance the education of the young men, since none are admitted as apprentices to become shipwrights until they have passed an examination.

Examinations for admission as apprentices to the dock-yards are held half-yearly, and about one-half are given to the lads who pass the best examinations, and the other half to nominees of the superintendent. These latter, however, are required to come up to a prescribed intellectual standard. The examinations are held under the Civil Service Commissioners, in the following subjects:--1. Dictation exercises to test Hand-writing and Orthography. 2. Reading. 3. Arithmetic. 4. Grammar. 5. English Composition. 6. Geography. 7. Mathematics, (Euclid, first three books, Algebra including Quadratic Equations, Arithmetical and Geometrical Progression.) The master shipwright and the schoolmaster are of opinion that the boys entered by competition are the best, and among the working shipwrights themselves the opinion is unanimous that the system of entering at least one-half by competition ought not to be done away. The effect in inducing parents to keep their children at school in order to fit their sons for examination is very manifest, and the justice of promotion by personal merit is felt and acknowledged by all.

For the first three years all the apprentices are compelled to attend, while those in the fourth year may volunteer to attend with others if they show an aptitude for study, and a disposition to profit by the opportunities afforded them. The fifth-year apprentices may attend after the hours of labor. So long as admission to the Central School of Mathematics and Naval Construction at Portsmouth, and an immediate appointment and regular advancement to the higher offices in the yard, after leaving the latter establishment, stimulated young men to the acquisition of knowledge, the attendance for the fourth year was numerous and regular. But the abolition of the School of Mathematics, and with it the consequent promotion of its graduates, operated very unfavorably both on attendance and habits of private study.

In 1859 the Admiralty adopted a supplementary course of study for such apprentices as have been diligent in their work, exemplary in conduct, and made satisfactory progress in acquiring a knowledge of their trade. This course, extending over two years for three hours a day, embraces Descriptive Geometry, Elementary Mechanics, and Hydrostatics, Logarithms, Calculations of displacement, Stability of ships, &c., Plane Trigonometry, Differential Calculus, with Analytical Geometry, Advanced Mechanics, Hydrostatics, and Dynamics. This class of apprentices perform the duty ordinarily devolved on mould loft apprentices, under the superintendence of the draughtsmen in the mould loft. Scholarships of twenty pounds per annum are granted to such members of the class as show superior ability, attainments, and good conduct.

In the year 1859 there were 1,060 pupils in the five Dock-yard Schools, viz.: 461 apprentices, and 599 factory boys, the latter attending mainly in the evening.

The Commissioners pronounce these schools valuable institutions, both to the state and to the individuals, and they have demonstrated, according to the testimony of one of the master shipwrights, that the educated boy makes the superior workman, and the most moral and temperate man. They recommend that a better class of teachers be employed, and that their pay should be increased by half the amount of the scholarship accorded to the most proficient pupils of the advanced class, and that the intellectual part of the examinations for promotion should be conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners. To make this class of schools what they should be, much must be done to improve the education of the laboring classes, outside of the dock-yards.

5. _Greenwich Hospital Schools._

The Greenwich Hospital School for 200 pupils, the orphans and sons of disabled seamen, and known as the Upper School, was founded in 1715. In 1805 the Royal Naval Asylum (founded in 1798,) consisting of 600 boys and 200 girls, was removed to Greenwich, and in 1821, was united to the former, and was designated the Lower School, making in that year (1821) a total of 1,000 children. In 1828, the number of boys in the Lower School was reduced to 400, and the Upper to 600, one-third of the latter being the sons of commissioned and ward-room officers. In 1841, the girls’ school was abolished, leaving 400 in the Upper, and 400 in the Lower School.

The schools are supported partly by the income of a special endowment (£136,000,) and partly by the general funds of the Hospital. The total expenditure for the two schools in 1859 was £20,234, for an average attendance of 774 boys.

Boys are admitted to the Lower School solely upon the claims of their fathers’ services. Until quite recently admissions to the Upper School were by patronage, but by recent regulations all exclusive privileges of nomination have been discontinued, and all claims for admission into the school (the distinction of Upper and Lower School having been done away,) are decided by a Committee of Selection, according to a scale laid down. The 110 boys found to be best in the last examination of 1860, were constituted the Nautical School, admission to which is now gained by competitive examination among the other boys of the school. The instruction of this school (for a Nautical School had always existed, composed of the two first classes of the Upper School,) is confined to Mathematics and Navigation, and qualifies its recipients to rise in their profession as masters’ assistants in the Royal Navy, and as midshipmen and apprentices in the merchant service. A system of pupil teachers, selected on account of aptitude for teaching, and a willingness to adopt the profession of schoolmaster as their career in life, has been recently introduced.

The Commissioners referred to, recommend that a Normal School for the Navy be established at Greenwich, similar to that for the Army at Chelsea, that the present pupil-teachers who are above the age of eighteen form the nucleus of this school, and that others to the number of ten at first, be admitted after examination; that the course of their education be adapted to their future calling, and that at the close of their career they be examined, and receive a certificate of qualification. These teachers thus educated and trained, would be fitted to take charge of the Navigation Schools, under the Board of Trade; would enter the Dock-yard Schools, as assistants at first, and they would be appointed to masterships on board the Training Ships, both in the royal and commercial ports.

They also recommend that boys from the second class in the Ship Schools be selected to serve as pupil-teachers under the schoolmasters, and that a small allowance be made them, in addition to their pay, if they pass a satisfactory examination at the end of the year, and their conduct is reported to be satisfactory, and at the end of three years they be admitted, if found competent, to the Normal School at Greenwich, or that they be entered for continuous service as assistant schoolmasters, with rank and pay and pension of first class petty officers. At the end of two years this last class of assistants, if found competent, will be admitted to the practising school at Greenwich, for six months at the least, during which residence they will devote their time to the art of teaching, and to the study of Navigation, Physical Geography, and Natural History. On the completion of their training they will go out as Royal Navy Schoolmasters, and will be divided into three classes, viz.: 3d class, who shall have the rank and pay of chief petty officers, (continuous service,) and shall be entitled to the same pension. 2d class, who shall rank above master-at-arms, and shall receive the same pay and pension. 1st class, shall rank with third class warrant officers, with same pay and pension, and after long and approved service, masters of this class shall be eligible for further promotion to rank and pay of second and first class warrant officers. Schoolmasters in each of these classes shall be entitled to £10 per annum in addition to their pay, if they are recommended by the captain and chaplain, and their schools are certified to be in an efficient state when examined.

NAVIGATION SCHOOLS.

In 1853 the English Government constituted the Department of Science and Art, to extend a system of encouragement to local institutions of Practical Science, similar to that commenced a few years before in the Department of Practical Art, the two Departments being united in the course of the same year, and the united Department being administered at first by the Board of Trade, and in 1856, by the Education Department. To this Department of Science and Art, was assigned in 1853 the general management of a class of schools which had been instituted or aided by the Mercantile Marine Department of the Board of Trade, for the benefit of the navigation interests of the country. Instruction in navigation was given in the seaports by private teachers, without system, and to a very small number of those who should be well grounded in the principles of the art before being entrusted with the responsibilities of command, involving the lives and property of others. To introduce system, to give permanent employment to a larger number of well-qualified teachers of navigation, to elevate and improve the attainments and character of British masters, mates and seamen, and indirectly but largely increase the supply for the Royal Navy in time of war, the Government had determined to encourage local effort in establishing Nautical Schools. With this view the Marine Department of the Board of Trade had established two schools prior to 1853, one in London, and the other in Liverpool; and an arrangement had been made with the Admiralty, by which it was believed five or six pupil-teachers, who had completed their term of instruction at the Royal Naval School at Greenwich, would be able to attend the scientific courses in the Metropolitan Schools of Science and Art, and be instructed in those sciences which would better fit them to become masters of schools of navigation in the seaport towns. In 1854, the Trinity House[5] of Hull reorganized its old school of navigation, after the plan of the Royal Naval School at Greenwich, with two divisions, the lower for a class of boys who need elementary instruction, and the upper, for boys in the technical studies of a seafaring life. With the latter was opened an evening school for adult seamen. Similar schools, with a junior or lower division to revise and complete the general and preparatory studies, and a senior or upper school for special scientific and practical instruction in navigation and seamanship, were established at Yarmouth, Leith, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast, Dublin, Waterford, and other ports, fifteen in all up to 1862, giving instruction to over 3,000 persons, and all of them enlisting local co-operation and individual payment with governmental aid. As an example of this class of schools we cite a brief description of one of the earliest established, from a Report of the Inspector, Edward Hughes, one of the masters of the Greenwich Hospital Schools.

[Footnote 5: The Trinity Board of Hull was established in 1537, in
imitation of Trinity House, London, incorporated by Henry VIII in
1515, (but existing long before,) for the promotion of commerce
and navigation, licensing pilots, erecting beacons and
lighthouses, &c. Both were probably in imitation of Charles V who
established at Seville, in Spain, at the _Casa de Contratacion_,
lectures on navigation, and an examination of persons to act as
pilots and mariners.]

_London Navigation School._

_The London Navigation School_ is held on the upper floor of the Sailors’ Home Institution, situated in Well Street, London Dock, and consists of two separate apartments, occupied by the Upper and Lower sections.

The upper section is for the instruction of masters and mates of the
merchant service in the following subjects, viz.:

Sextant Observing. Chart Drawing. Geometry. Algebra. Trigonometry. The Sailings. Use of the Nautical Almanac and Mathematical Tables. Principle and Construction of Chronometers. Methods of determining the Latitude and Longitude. Nautical Surveying. Compasses and Magnetism of Ships. Theory of Winds, Tides, and Currents. Methods of taking and recording Meteorological Observations. Principle and Construction of the Steam Engine as applied to the Paddle Wheel and Screw Propeller.

The Lower section is for the education of seamen and apprentices. The
course embraces the following subjects:--

Reading. Writing. Dictation and Letter Writing. Arithmetic. Geography.
The Sailings. Sextant Observing. Method of Keeping Ships’ Books.

The hours of attendance are from 9 to 12 a.m., 2 to 4 p.m., and 6 to 9 p.m. on the first five days of the working week, and from 9 to 12 a.m. on Saturdays.

The fees are six shillings per week for masters and mates, sixpence
for seamen, and apprentices are admitted free.

The instruction of both sections is conducted by teachers who have been educated and trained in the Greenwich Hospital Schools, and who hold certificates of competency for teaching Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, from Mr. Riddle, the Head Master of the Nautical School.

As regards the students who at present attend the school, it is manifest that the masters and mates taught in the senior section come for the express purpose of learning to solve certain problems in Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, required for passing the examination of the Local Marine Board, and they are unwilling to devote any portion of their time to the other subjects that enter into the course of instruction. These, though essential to the education of every master mariner, are unfortunately not at present required of a candidate to pass an examination which proclaims him competent to take command of a vessel.

The lower section is composed of seamen and apprentices, who are for the most part employed during the day at their ships in the docks, and have acquired the rudiments of an English education before entering the school. They attend during their short stay in port from 6 to 9 in the evenings, and their chief object seems to be to acquire a knowledge of the sailings and the methods of keeping the books of a ship.

Both sections are taught the use of nautical instruments, and for this important purpose the Board of Trade has granted a liberal supply of requisites to carry out an efficient system of instruction, as will be seen by the list appended to this Report.

Those students who are sufficiently educated are accustomed to work out their own observations. None of them have been allowed to leave the school without receiving as great an amount as was possible of general information, in addition to the special instruction in the subjects for which they attended. Lectures have been delivered in the evenings upon the Steam Engine, Electricity, and Magnetism, with other branches of Natural Philosophy; and the Physical Geography of the Ocean has received particular attention.

The following statistics are given in the Report of Capt. Ryder, of the Royal Navy, in 1858.

The officers of the committee of management are:--

Chairman, Admiral Sir H. Hope.
Secretary, Captain George Pierce, R.N.
Head-Master, John Bowing, 1 certificate.

The total number receiving instruction in navigation in or through the agency of the school during 1858 has been 149, showing a total increase of 25 since last year. The total fees have been 46_l._ 15_s._ 6_d._

The entire number of adults and boys who have at any time paid fees during the year are, masters, 3; chief mates, 17; only mates, 2; second mates, 37; seamen, 62; apprentices, 28; total number of students, 149.

The following is the rate of fees paid by adults and boys per week:--In the day classes--Masters studying for extra certificates, 6_s._; chief mates studying for master, 6_s._; only mates studying for chief mates, 6_s._; second mates studying for chief mates, 6_s._; seamen studying for only mates, 6_s._; for second mates, 6_s._; apprentices studying navigation, 6_s._; those not studying navigation, 1_s._; seamen not studying navigation, 1_s._; boys learning navigation, 6_d._; boys not learning navigation, 6_d._ In the evening classes--Adults learning navigation, 3_s._; not learning navigation, 1_s._; boys learning navigation, 3_s._; not learning navigation, 6_d._

The average attendance at the classes has been:--

Day classes, morning, 7; afternoon, 6.
Evening classes, 6.

Grand total of fees, 46_l._ 15_s._ 6_d._

The amount of aid afforded to the school by the Department has been 43_l._ 16_s._ 4_d._, which sum includes the payments for the master’s certificate and other allowances, the payments to pupil-teacher, the cost of medals, &c.

_School Ships._

There is another class of nautical schools for destitute and endangered boys, which are aided by the government through the Ragged School Society, and are kept on board of ships, the practical seamanship of which might advantageously be incorporated into the navigation schools. The expense of these ships per day is thus given by Capt. Ryder, in his Report on Navigation Schools in 1858.

I have collected some statistics showing the expense of school ships. The Akbar, a frigate at Liverpool, is a reformatory, and has about a 100 boys. The Venus, also a frigate, is in charge of the Marine Society, and anchored near Woolwich; she is a school ship for destitute lads, and has about 140 boys. In the Akbar, supported, partly by local contributions and partly by the Government grant of one shilling a day for each boy, the expense of the establishment is probably reduced to as low a scale as possible. The Marine Society is a corporation which can afford to be more liberal in its arrangements. The Akbar was fitted out at an expense of 1,800_l._ but about 1,000_l._ is considered to be sufficient for a fit out, if the hull is in good repair. The Marine Society’s ships are always fitted out by the Admiralty without charge. The Akbar costs about 250_l._ a year for repairs, &c.

Estimate of Annual Expense per Boy, deduced from Report.

Akbar. Venus.
------ ------
£ _s._ £ _s._
Food, £10 0 £13 10
Clothes, 4 0 6 0
Management, &c. 10 0 10 10
------- --------
24 0 30 0

_Outline of Aims and Management of Navigation Schools._

In 1858, Captain Alfred P. Ryder, of the Royal Navy, was appointed to inspect the Navigation Schools connected with the Department of Science and Art, and report on their condition and future management. The statements and suggestions of this report harmonize so fully with the conclusions which we have reached respecting the need and mode of establishing and managing this class of schools in our own country, that we can not better express our own views than by making liberal extracts.

The Government is very anxious to raise the tone of the Commercial
Marine for the following reasons:--

(_a._) Because the Commercial Marine supplies even in time of peace a considerable number of men to the Royal Navy, and because in time of war we should have to rely upon it almost entirely to enable us to man our ships when our reserves were exhausted, which would soon be the case in a naval war.

(_b._) Because on the efficiency of our commercial marine depends to a great extent our position as a commercial country, and on our position as the greatest commercial country rests our supremacy among European nations.

(_c._) Because to the commercial marine is entrusted every year an immense amount of valuable property. Want of skill, intelligence, and readiness of resource largely increases the yearly loss of this property.

(_d._) Because to the commercial marine every year are entrusted the lives of a large and increasing number of Her Majesty’s subjects. Want of skill, intelligence, and readiness of resource largely increase the yearly loss of life at sea.

(_e._) Because the commercial marine consists of more than 200,000 persons, and is, therefore, an important portion of the nation, considering it numerically.

(_f._) Because the commercial marine represents England, its religion, laws, customs, and habits, in every foreign country, and it is desirable that our representatives should cease to exhibit (as is now frequently the case,) the worst side of the national character. Large numbers of the sailors in our commercial marine are at present neither good men nor good sailors, but are disorderly, addicted to drink, inefficient at sea and all but useless in harbor. Many of them who reach the rank of mate and master compare disadvantageously in general knowledge with the mates and masters of foreign vessels. There are of course numerous brilliant exceptions. They are to be found chiefly in the service of the large ship-owners. In knowledge of seamanship English masters and mates need not fear a comparison with those of any other nation.

The Government, anxious to raise the tone of the Commercial Marine, has endeavored to purify the stream at its source, by the creation or support of Navigation Schools, in order that as soon as possible, by the introduction of well educated lads, its character may be elevated and improved. The Navigation Schools referred to are supported by fees, by local subscriptions, and by aid from the Department of Science and Art. Their object is to offer instruction in the scientific branches of an Education specially adapted to the Nautical Profession.

In commencing an investigation into the present position and prospects of the Navigation schools, it is evidently advisable to ascertain the number of vacancies that occur annually in the commercial marine; these vacancies are occasioned by death, desertion, and change of profession. It is much to be desired that these vacancies should all be filled by well educated English, Scotch, and Irish lads, for in time of war we could only recruit from the Commercial Marine those sailors who are British subjects.[6]

[Footnote 6: According to the Registrar General’s Report for 1858,
there were 13,200 Foreigners serving in the Mercantile Marine in
1854, natives of the following countries:--Americans, (U.S.,)
3,888; Austrians, 532; Belgians, 198, Danes, 423; Germans, 319;
Greeks, 76; Hollanders, 1,(3); Italians, 110; Norwegians, 570;
Portuguese, 564; Russians, 44; Prussians, 563; Spaniards, 388;
Swedes, 1,512; French, 479; Various, viz., South Americans,
Chinese. &c., &c.. 2,499; total, 13,200.]

Capt. Ryder estimates the number of lads required to supply the annual vacancies by death in the British Commercial Marine at over 5,000, and by desertion and change of profession, by at least 1,000 more, or a total of over 6,000; and that schools for seamen and officers should be sufficient to give an annual supply of at least that number, and so accommodate 18,000 students. According to the Report of the Registrar General of Seamen, there were bound and registered at the several ports of the United Kingdom, in the year 1856, 7,410 apprentices. The 176,387 men (not including masters,) employed in the Home and Foreign Trade, were classified as follows: 21,204 mates, 13,232 petty officers, 83,682 seamen, 23,974 apprentices and boys, 12,640 other persons, 1,612 engineers, 4,896 firemen. Of this number 14,375 were foreigners, and 7,712 lascars. During the year 1856, examinations were passed for extra masters, 22; for ordinary masters, 1,223; for first mates, 689; for only mates, 12,223; for second mates, 940--a total of 4,097. Capt. Ryder calculates that the total number required every year to fill up the vacancies and meet the demands of an expanding commerce as follows:

Of those who leave the service, 6,690
Of those who are drowned, 1,300
Of those who die of disease, 2,660
The average annual increase by expansion of commerce, 3,365

Total supply required, 14,015

Capt. Ryder remarks that the system of nautical education should be broad enough and attractive enough to bring in all the boys of all classes who wish to go to sea, or may be required to meet the demands of the national and commercial marine. The education given should make athletic, intelligent, handy seamen, and impart such an amount of scientific knowledge of navigation and seamanship as will qualify a due proportion for a lower grade of officers.

The first point to be aimed at would apparently be the establishment of an adequate number of schools, so as to offer scientific instruction on the lowest terms to a sufficient number of boys, to supply the demand for educated young men to fill the vacancies in the ranks of masters and mates. Their knowledge of seamanship must of course be gained before the mast.

A commercial navy, fed by a supply of lads that had for three years attended the classes at a Navigation school would challenge comparison for general knowledge and information with any profession in England, and would soon cease to be the last resort of those idle, troublesome fellows, expelled from the agricultural class and the various trades, who are too old, too ignorant, or too profligate ever to make even indifferent sailors.

Having stated what appears to me to be the ground that may be beneficially covered by a network of navigation schools, I will proceed to state what, in my opinion, are the means by which a Navigation School may be rendered most attractive and efficient.

I. _A Navigation School assisted by the Government should offer sound
Instruction especially adapted to the Nautical Profession._

Although at first sight the number of subjects named hereafter may appear large, and the education of too high an order, these objections will vanish when it is remembered that lads are not acceptable on board merchant ships until they are 15-16, because they are of little use, and give trouble; and yet, as has been already stated, if not attracted to the Navigation schools at the age of 12-13, and induced to remain in attendance on the classes until they are 15-16, they will be drawn into some other profession.

The course of instruction which is adopted must necessarily therefore be sufficiently comprehensive to extend over _three_ years, and at the same time continue to the last to be specialty adapted to conduce towards the boy’s success in his profession.

The subjects which appear to be suitable for boys destined for the nautical profession and retained under instruction from 12-13 to 15-16 are as follows:--

* (1.) Reading and writing from dictation.
* (2.) First four rules of arithmetic.
* (3.) Grammar.
(4.) A complete course of arithmetic.
(5.) Algebra to quadratics, with application.
(6.) Geometry, Books of Euclid, I. II. III., and
a few propositions in Book IV.
(7.) Trigonometry, plane and spherical.
(8.) Navigation.
(9.) Nautical astronomy, including lunar double alt.
and Sumner’s method.
(10.) Practical use of the instruments used at sea.
(11.) Geography, descriptive, }
(12.) Geography, physical, }
{ especially as regards products, climates, &c.}
(13.) Chart drawing; surveying.
(14.) Free-hand drawing.
* (15.) History, particularly Scripture History and English History.
* (16.) Letter writing; book-keeping.
(17.) Mechanics and steam-engine.
(18.) Magnetism and electricity in relation to ships.
(19.) Laws of storms and tides.
(20.) Knowledge of the code of signals.
(21.) Mercantile laws and usages, as far as is necessary for
the master of a merchant ship.
(22.) Gymnastics.