Royal Navy training establishment
Military unit
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich , was a
Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's
staff college , which provided advanced training for officers. The equivalent in the
British Army was the
Staff College, Camberley , and the equivalent in the
Royal Air Force was the
RAF Staff College, Bracknell .
History
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was founded by an
Order in Council dated 16 January 1873. The establishment of its officers consisted of a President, who was always a Flag Officer; a Captain, Royal Navy; a Director of Studies; and Professors of Mathematics, Physical Science, Chemistry, Applied Mechanics, and Fortification. It was to take in officers who were already Sub-Lieutenants and to operate as "the university of the Navy".
[2] The Director of Studies, a civilian, was in charge of an Academic Board, while the Captain of the College was a naval officer who acted as
chief of staff .
[3]
The
Royal Naval War College , which had been established at Greenwich in November 1900 before being removed to first Devonport and then Portsmouth, transferred its activities to the college at Greenwich in 1914.
[4] During the
First World War the Royal Naval College was requisitioned as a barracks and for scientific experiments. The training of officers was not resumed until 1919.
[5]
On 30 October 1939 the college began to train officers of the
Women's Royal Naval Service .
[6] During the
Second World War , the College increased the number of officers of both sexes trained for an expanded Navy. Its major task was the training of fighting officers, and around 35,000 men and women graduated during that period. In 1943, the beautiful Admiral's House on the north wing of King Charles Court was damaged by a direct hit from a German bomb; another bomb hit the front of the building.
[7]
The Navy's Department of Nuclear Science and Technology opened on the college premises in 1959, and
JASON , the department's research and training reactor, was commissioned in the King William building in 1962.
[8]
In 1967
Queen Elizabeth II knighted
Francis Chichester on the river steps of the College, honouring his achievement in circumnavigating the world as a solo yachtsman, using the old route of the
clippers , becoming the first to do so. His was also the fastest such circumnavigation, taking nine months and one day.
[9]
The
Royal School of Naval Architecture , which had been part of the College since 1873, transferred to
University College London in 1967.
[10] The Royal Naval College continued to train women until 1976, when their courses were transferred to the
Britannia Royal Naval College .
[11]
From 1983 the relocated
Joint Services Defence College also occupied much of the King Charles building.
[12] With a shrinking Royal Navy, the decision was taken to close RNC Greenwich in 1998. All initial officer training is now carried out at the
Britannia Royal Naval College ,
[13] and the new
Joint Services Command and Staff College , created in 1997, took over the
staff college functions.
[14]
Buildings
The former chapel of the Royal Naval College
The college was established in buildings designed by
Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1696 and 1712, then intended to serve as the
Greenwich Hospital , a home for disabled sailors. This closed in 1869, when the pensioners were transferred to other places, leaving the buildings available for a new use.
[15] The site of the former hospital had once been occupied by the medieval
Palace of Placentia , or "Palace at Greenwich", begun by
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , in 1428.
[16]
After the Royal Navy departed in 1998 the buildings were opened to the public as the
Old Royal Naval College .
Presidents
See also
Category:Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The President of the College was a full-time post until 1982 when it became an honorary role held by the
Second Sea Lord (and from 1994 an honorary role held by the
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff ).
[17] Presidents included:
[17]
Directors of Studies
The following individuals served as Director of Studies:
Notable professors
Notable students
Rear-Admiral
Abul Kalam Azad , Bangladeshi Naval officer and current Chairman
Mongla Port Authority .
Commodore
Augustus Agar
VC (1890–1968)
[19]
Admiral of the Fleet
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871–1936)
George Richard Bethell (1849–1919), Royal Navy officer and Conservative politician
Admiral
Hugo Biermann (1916–2012), Chief of the South African Navy and the South African Defence Force
Basil Charles Barrington Brooke (1895–1983), admiral and first-class cricketer
Sir Henry Harvey Bruce (1862–1948), admiral
Admiral of the Fleet
Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883–1963)
Vice Admiral A. H. Asoka de Silva (1931–2006), Commander of the Navy of Sri Lanka from 1983 to 1986
Vice Admiral Henry George DeWolf (1903–2000), Canadian naval officer
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (1844–1900), after whom the Marquess of Queensberry Rules are named
Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer (1878–1956)
Admiral of the Fleet
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021)
Admiral
Sir William Wordsworth Fisher (1875–1937)
Prince Charles, Count of Flanders , Prince-Regent of Belgium
Admiral D. Basil Gunasekara (born 1929), Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 1973 to 1979
Admiral Henry Perera , Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 1979 to 1983
Hugh Alfred Vernon Haggard (1908–1991), Royal Navy submariner
Admiral of the Fleet
Lord Hill-Norton (1915–2004)
Vice Admiral Sir J. G. T. Inglis (1906–1972), Head of Naval Intelligence
Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse (1880-1923), of the Siamese royal family, a founder of modern Royal Thai Navy
Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin (1920–1999)
Rear-Admiral Simon Robert Lister (born 1959), Royal Navy officer, now Director, Submarines
Dudley Leigh Aman, 1st Baron Marley (1884–1952), soldier and Labour politician
Rear Admiral Sir David Martin (1933–1990), Royal Australian Navy officer and Governor of New South Wales
Vice Admiral
Mark Mellett ,
Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces
Admiral of the Fleet
Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979), last Viceroy of India, First Sea Lord, Chief of the Defence Staff
Lieutenant-General
Arthur Ernest Percival (1887–1966)
Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford (1893–1971), Chief of the Air Staff
Admiral
Sa Zhenbing (1859–1952), Premier of the Republic of China, Chief of the Republic of China Navy
Prince Arisugawa Takehito (1862–1913), of the Japanese imperial family, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy
Rear Admiral
David Watson Taylor (1864–1940), naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy
Admiral of the Fleet
Tōgō Heihachirō (1848–1934), Imperial Japanese Navy
Admiral of the Fleet
Lord Tovey (1885–1971)
Sir Patrick Wall (1916–1998), Royal Marines commando and Conservative politician
Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood (1872–1943), Liberal and later Labour politician
Since decommissioning
Now known as the
Old Royal Naval College , the college's former buildings are open to the public and are the home of three attractions; the
Painted Hall , the Chapel, and the Discover Greenwich visitor centre. The site has also been used as a film location, appearing in
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
[45] and
The Foreigner (2017)
[46] and as the setting for the final clash on Earth in
Thor: The Dark World .
[47]
See also
References
^ The Mariner's Mirror , vol. 52 (Society for Nautical Research, 1966), p. 150
^ J. R. Hill,
Bryan Ranft , The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy (2002), p. 269
^ Geoffrey Till, Bryan Ranft, The Development of British Naval Thinking (2006)
^ Hazell's Annual 1914 , p. 143
^ Kevin Littlewood, Beverley Butler, Of Ships and Stars: Maritime Heritage and the Founding of the National Maritime Museum (1998), p. 43
^ Marjorie H. Fletcher, The WRNS: A History of the Women's Royal Naval Service (1989), p. 115
^
The Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College
^
Jason casts a cloud over naval college sale in
The Independent dated 22 October 1995
^
1967: Sir Francis Chichester sails home at BBC.co.uk
^ J. R. Parkinson, The Economics of Shipbuilding in the United Kingdom (2011), p. 5
^
"Wrens: History" . Archived from
the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2013 .
^
"National Maritime Museum Archive" .
^ Robert Shannan Peckham, Rethinking Heritage: Cultures and Politics in Europe (2003), p. 18
^ Ian F. W. Beckett, Discovering British Regimental Traditions (Osprey Publishing, 2007),
p. 58
^ Ann Stewart Balakier, James J. Balakier, The Spatial Infinite at Greenwich in Works by Christopher Wren (1995), p. i
^ Guy McDonald, England (2004), p. 125
^
a
b
Royal Navy Senior Appointments
Archived 15 March 2012 at the
Wayback Machine at gulabin.com, accessed 9 October 2013
^ Note: The duties of Admiral President would have carried out by the Captain of the College, Captain John Cecil Davis, during these War years
^
a
b 'Agar, Captain Augustus Willington Shelton', in Who Was Who 1961–1970 (London: A. & C. Black, 1979 reprint,
ISBN
0-7136-2008-0 )
^ 'Cairns, 5th Earl' in Who Was Who 1981–1990 (London: A. & C. Black, 1991,
ISBN
0-7136-3336-0 )
^ 'Gordon Lennox, Rear-Adm. Sir Alexander (Henry Charles)' in Who Was Who 1981–1990 (London: A. & C. Black, 1991,
ISBN
0-7136-3336-0 )
^ 'McGeoch, Vice-Adm. Sir Ian (Lachlan Mackay)' in Who's Who 2007 (London: A. & C. Black, 2006)
^ 'Lucey, Rear-Adm. Martin Noel' in Who Was Who 1991–1995 (London: A. & C. Black, 1996
ISBN
0-7136-4496-6 )
^ 'Ellis, Rear-Adm. Edward William' in Who Was Who 2001–2005 (London: A. & C. Black, 2006,
ISBN
0-7136-7601-9 )
^ 'Bazalgette, Rear-Adm. Derek Willoughby' in Who's Who 2007 (London: A. & C. Black, 2006)
^ 'Cooke, Rear-Adm. Anthony John', in
Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^ 'Carlill, Rear Adm. John Hildred' in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^ 'Cassels, Adm. Sir Simon (Alastair Cassillis)', in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^ 'Fitch, Adm. Sir Richard (George Alison)', in Who Was Who 1991–1995 (London: A. & C. Black, 1996,
ISBN
0-7136-4496-6 )
^ 'Brown, Adm. Sir Brian (Thomas)', in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^
Admiral Sir Michael Livesay The Telegraph, 9 October 2003
^ 'Layard, Adm. Sir Michael (Henry Gordon)', in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^ 'Brigstocke, Adm. Sir John (Richard)', in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^ 'Blackham, Vice-Adm. Sir Jeremy (Joe)', in Who's Who 2013 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
^
Flood, Raymond ; Rice, Adrian;
Wilson, Robin (2011). Mathematics in Victorian Britain . p. 66.
^ NIVEN, Sir William Davidson (1992 reprint ed.). London: A. & C. Black. 1992.
ISBN
0-7136-3143-0 .
^
"Summary Guide" . kcl.ac.uk . Retrieved 7 October 2013 .
^
"Burnside, William (BNSD871W)" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge.
^ G. P. Sendeckyj, Int. Journal of Fatigue vol. 23 (2001), p. 347
^ Entry for Lyons, Peter Stanley, in Register of Twentieth Century Johnians, Volume I, 1900–1949 . St John's College, Cambridge.
^
"Laughton, John Knox (LTN848JK)" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge.
^ 'Lloyd, Charles Christopher', in
Who Was Who 1981–1990 (London: A. & C. Black, 1991,
ISBN
0-7136-3336-0 )
^ 'Professor Bryan Ranft: Historian of the Royal Navy', obituary in
The Guardian dated 25 May 2001
^ 'A. W. Reinold', obituary in Nature , issue 2687 dated 28 April 1921, vol. 107, p. 276
^
"Sherlock Holmes" . Movie locations. Retrieved 24 November 2018 .
^
"The Foreigner" . Global Film Locations. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2018 .
^
"Hollywood's rubbish Tube geography in Thor 2 is an unnecessary distraction" . New Statesman. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2014 .
Leadership Components
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Naval formations before 1707 Direction of Naval Finance Departments under the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary Direction of Naval Administration and the Admiralty Secretariat Branches and offices under the Permanent Secretary Civil Administration Departments under the Civil Lords Legal
51°28′56″N 0°00′24″W / 51.48222°N 0.00667°W / 51.48222; -0.00667