Royal Naval Engineering College
Major changes
This new RNEC saw major changes to
engineering courses. The Long Engineering Course continued in various forms
through the 1960s; however in 1962 some students started a BSc course from
London University. Later Manadon designed its own BSc courses but its award was
under the auspices of The Council for Academic Awards (CNAA). The CNAA was the
largest single degree-awarding body in the United Kingdom. There were over 140
institutions offering first degrees and postgraduate level courses approved by
the CNAA.
The institutions involved included polytechnics, institutions
of higher education, Scottish central institutions, colleges of art and various
other colleges throughout the United Kingdom.
CNAA awards were
comparable to those of universities and these were recognised by professional
associations and employers.
The CNAA was abolished by the 1992 UK Further
and Higher Education Act
In 1971 the Advanced Marine Engineering Course,
or Dagger Course, moved to RNEC from Greenwich. In 1976 the College gained
approval to award Masters degrees and this replaced the Dagger Course. In
addition to these basically theoretical courses there were several application
courses for RNEC graduates and direct entry engineer officers.
The
first RAN officer at Keyham was the late CAPT E.S. Nurse, RAN, who graduated
from RANC in 1916 and attended RNEC in 1920-4. The last RAN officers to
complete the full engineering courses at RNEC graduated in 1973 and some RAN
officers continued with the application courses until 1978.
Last RAN
students, 1991The last RAN students at RNEC were LCDR T.N. Jones, RAN, and LEUT
I.A. Rawlings, RAN, who graduated with MSc in May 1991. The number of RAN
officers to train at RNEC is not known, but it is believed to exceed 270. By
the mid-1970s the RAN had markedly reduced the numbers of all personnel
training abroad. Before the opening of the Australian Defence Force Academy in
1982, selected RAN midshipmen studied at the University of NSW for a BE.
Nevertheless, as early as 1970 the clouds were darkening over the long-term
future of RNEC as less costly options of officer training and alternatives for
the provision of various services for Defence were being investigated. RNEC
constraints on the RN’s budgets in the late 1980s and early 1990s were
aggravated by marked reductions in authorised manpower.
When the new
RNEC opened at Manadon in 1958 the strength of the RN was 121,000 and the RAN
was one tenth of that. By 1995 the RN had fewer than 60,000 men and women and
the RAN and other Commonwealth navies were not training engineers abroad. The
CO of RNEC put forward proposals in 1992 to keep RNEC in commission but the
college was closed in August 1995. Coincidentally, the OOD on that day was LCDR
G.J. Irwin, RAN. He was on the staff even though there were no RAN students
while he was there. Those still under training completed their degrees at
Plymouth University. These days, RN engineer officers attend classes at
Southampton University to obtain their degrees.
Formal
celebrations
The RNEC’s centenary was celebrated with a series of
dinners in 1980. Broadly, there was a dinner for pre-WWII graduates followed by
a dinner for graduates from each decade to 1981 thereafter. Another final year
series of dinners attracted over a thousand former mess members. Their years of
attendance ranged from the 1920s to 1994 with the old Commonwealth nations
represented. The final graduation of 72 students in July 1995 went with a bang,
not a whimper. Both the First and Second Sea Lords attended cermonial
divisions. Their presence was recognised with a 17-gun salute and a fly past of
modern naval aircraft and a WWII-era Swordfish.
The closure was
celebrated in Sydney with a cocktail party at the Australian Maritime Museum
attended by 150 former mess members and their partners. The organisers, CDRE
C.J. Elsmore and CAPT D.H. Blazey, presented a commemorative medallion to all
who attended.
Following Manadon’s closure the facility was offered
to Plymouth University but they could find no use for it and the establishment
was put up for sale. Manadon House and the Chapel had long term heritage
classification so they were excluded from the contract. Manadon House was built
about 1680 and the Chapel, built as a tithe barn, was listed in the Doomsday
Book. Those who were at RNEC in 1962 will remember the magnificent copper font
made for the Chapel by Frank Chew. That, thankfully, is now in the Chapel at
BRNC, Dartmouth.
A developer purchased the establishment, erected a
cyclone wire fence around Manadon House and the Chapel and demolished the rest
to turn it into suburbia. When visited in May 2000 the only recognisable
structures remaining were the flag mast and the sports pavilion that had been
torched by vandals. Curiously, the spire had been removed and was in some
“come in handy” pile. The spire and the imposing stone figureheads of
Marlborough and Thunderer will be used to decorate the estate’s entrance.
It was indeed a sad return to one’s alma mater.
Manadon Web
Site
Manadon web site Manadon’s slow but comprehensive web site is
at http://www.rnecmanadon.com. Log on with “guest” and
“hms”. The site contains photographs and loads of other interesting
data.
The institutions involved included polytechnics, institutions of
higher education, Scottish central institutions, colleges of art and various
other colleges throughout the United Kingdom.
Source: John Ellis
http://www.navalofficer.com.au
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