History Of The Development Of Naval Education

All new entries are required to have the qualities of an officer capable of taking an integral part in the working and fighting of the ship. Among other things the Instructor Officer became responsible to the Commanding Officer 'to assist with his scientific knowledge, in solving any problems that might arise". The application of this regulation took many forms; at the outset it promoted that breadth of view by which it is the Instructor Officer's duty to take a full interest in the scientific aspect of naval activities. His dual function as scientist and teacher was established.

Among his special commitments two may be mentioned. The Instructor Officer became Bridge Plotting officer and so developed into a key member of the team which later became the Action Information Organisation and thus extended the scope of his former T.S. duties. In 1935 with the formation of the Naval Meteorological Service, Instructor Officers were among the first to take part in the new organisation. An increasing number of Instructor Officers have since qualified in meteorology and today form the backbone of the Naval Weather Service.

Meanwhile the growing requirement for technical instruction and the need for a close and practical relation between education ashore and afloat, brought about a steady extension of naval instructional duties until in 1939 the College at Dartmouth, Greenwich and Keyham, the Boys' Training estab1ishments and the various specialist schools (Signals, Gunnery, Navigation, A/S, Mechanical Training etc.) contained a significant proportion of officers of the education branch - a far cry from the Selborne scheme of 1903 in which junior officers were educated by civilians ashore and technical instruction was undertaken at sea by executive officers.

During the last war the wisdom of having a body of Naval officers highly qualified in mathematics and science was amply demonstrated. A wide range of operational duties were undertaken in addition to an instructional programme which had to be expanded and elaborated to meet war requirements and conditions. By 1944 there were some 775 Instructor Officers and Schoolmasters serving, of whom over 300 were qualified in meteorology.

While the educational work of the Navy continued during the war to be founded on the technical requirements of the Fleet, the need to maintain morale and to afford broader educational facilities, especially to those who joined under the National Service Acts, acted as a stimulus to cultural activities which were formerly dealt with by the various resources of the ships' personnel. His Majesty, in July, 1939, had written to the Second Sea Lord expressing his interest in the general education and welfare of those temporarily called up (500 joined in August, 1939) and from this sprang what has now become the Further Education scheme. The Central Advisory Council for Adult Education in H.M. Forces was set up in December, 1939, offering the assistance of the Universities and other educational bodies in meeting the wider educational needs of men and women in H.M. Forces at home. Although more use was made of this Committee by the other two Services in the days of the "phoney war", and during the reorganisation which followed Dunkirk, it provided a number of educational facilities and as a development through its successor, the Central Committee for Adult Education in HM. Forces, all Universities are now able to offer further educational facilities to Service personnel.

The Education branch itself also expanded to enable this general educational programme to be organised and carried out in addition to its normal instructional duties. Instructor Officers and Schoolmasters with Arts qualifications were appointed for the first time and on the material side dully equipped Information Rooms were instituted with Reference Libraries and arrangements for lectures, discussions, films, exhibition, etc.