The Story of the "Britannia": The training ship for naval cadets. With some account of previous methods of naval education, and of the new scheme of 1903.Statham, Edward Phillips
History
The Story of the "Britannia": The training ship for naval cadets. With some account of previous methods of naval education, and of the new scheme of 1903.
Statham, Edward Phillips
Britannia (Ship); Great Britain. Royal Navy; Naval education -- Great Britain
This, it will be noted, was three years after the commotion in 1891;
so, apparently, there was still some talk about the treatment of
"news." The subject is once more touched upon by the "Baby":--
"Much has been written and said lately about the _Britannia_--the
system of teaching, the bullying practice, etc. This latter is
fast disappearing under the wise rule of the latest captains.
There will always be something of the kind in a mild form in any
institution in the shape of a public school, and the _Britannia_
is nothing more or less. Fagging for money is now unheard of.
"The discipline is of necessity strict, but not unduly severe; and
the instructors are popular.
"It is almost an impossibility to make the work sufficiently
practical when there are so many subjects to take up; but there
_is_ practical work, as the readers of this paper will see."
The writer concludes as follows:--
"Soon the 'whole' is nothing but a memory, one of the many happy
ones we shall ever retain of our old training-ship on the Dart,
and which will, doubtless, often rise up before us in the years to
come, when we look forward to being, _at least_, useful members of
that profession which is England's glory."
Thus far "Navilus." His little book was written just before the advent
of Captain A. W. Moore, whose period of command was marked by some
drastic alterations.
There are not wanting those who assert that reform was urgently needed
in some respects, and that Captain Moore was expected to assume the
rôle of reformer.
The most important alterations were in disciplinary matters, and one
is embodied in the following orders for the lieutenants:--
Each lieutenant will have special charge of a term from their
entry into the _Britannia_ until they pass out, and will be
responsible for their instruction in seamanship, gymnastics,
boating, swimming, etc., and is to keep a record of each cadet's
progress. He will teach personally the "rule of the road" and
"ship construction," and at times such other subjects as he may
think fit.
One of the lieutenants will perform the duties of officer of the
day, and a second lieutenant will be present at all musters of
cadets, and attend in the recreation grounds when cadets are
landed.
A weekly report of each term will be rendered by the lieutenants,
to be given to the executive officer on Monday morning at
divisions for the captain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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