Royal Naval College Greenwich Centenary 1873 - 1973
College Prospectus 1966
The ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE at
Greenwich was established in 1873 by Her Majesty's Order in Council and formed
by merging the original Naval College at Portsmouth with the School of Naval
Architecture from South Kensington. The buildings at Greenwich have been
associated with the Royal Navy for nearly 300 years; they were built by Wren as
a Royal Hospital to care for the sick and aged survivors of the wars at sea and
were leased by the Admiralty when their use for this was no longer
justifiable.
The new establishment was provided "to afford for officers
and others connected with the Royal Navy the highest scientific instruction in
all branches of study bearing upon their profession", terms of reference
somewhat wider than those given for the College at Portsmouth. Broadly these
are still the functions of the College although in addition to the academic
courses of study, there are now professional courses. The professional studies
are progressed in the Royal Naval War College and the Royal Naval Staff College
which have been housed at Greenwich, the former since the turn of the century
and the later since 1919.
The organization of the College has always
been centred on an Admiral President with a Director of Studies as the head of
the academic departments. The academic services provided by a staff of some 70
highly qualified professors and lecturers, both naval and civilian, meet the
needs of a naval and civilian student population approaching 300. A number of
courses are tailored to the needs of naval officers and cater for mechanical
and electrical engineers, Gunnery, Communications and TAS specialists,
Instructor Officers, and Lieutenants of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The
course for the latter, introduced in 1959, replaced the well known
Sub-Lieutenants' two term course.
The course in naval architecture,
which has been in Greenwich since its foundation, trains students for entry
into the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, a civilian body that wears uniform
when working in naval establishments. Members of the Royal Engineering Service,
another civilian, but on occasions uniformed, body, have studied at Greenwich
for degrees of London University in Electrical Engineering for over 30
years.
Prior to 1959 almost all the students at Greenwich were uniformed
personnel. In 1959, however, courses in the Nuclear Department were made
available to civilian students employed by firms concerned with naval
contracts. In 1963, Greenwich Scholarships were sponsored for civilian
students, who contracted after graduation to enter one of the government
scientific services; degree facilities also were made available to students
sponsored by the Ministry of Public Building and Works. At the same time the
London degree courses were extended to embrace mechanical as well as electrical
engineering. Since 1965, places on the degree courses have been available to a
limited number of students holding County or local Authority Awards, a well as
to students nominated by specific firms engaged on naval contracts. The only
conditions are for the students to be British nationality and parentage, and
that places for them are available.
The entry of civilian students into
the College has occasioned a need for a prospectus and this has been prepared
primarily for them and their sponsors. It may also prove to be of interest to
officers and others connected with the Royal Navy who, as in time past, came to
study in the College.
Those students with a feeling for tradition and
history, particularly naval history, will find much to interest them, not only
in the College itself but also in the National Maritime Museum, which is in the
same group of buildings, and in the former Greenwich Observatory in nearby
Greenwich Park.
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