In 1857 the Admiralty adopted the plan of a Training Ship for naval cadets. The candidate was to be from thirteen to fifteen years of age, and to pass an examination in Latin or French, Geography, Arithmetic, including Proportion and Fractions, Algebra, to Simple Equations, the First Book of Euclid, and the Elements of Plane Trigonometry. At the end of twelve or six months, according to age, spent in study and practice on the Training Ship, the cadet was examined in the studies before enumerated with the addition of Involution and Evolution, Simple Equations, the Elements of Geometry, and of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, the simple rules of Navigation, the use of Nautical Instruments, Surveying, Constructing Charts, and the French language, besides an elaborate course of Seamanship, and attendance on lectures on Chemistry, Physics, Hydrostatics, &c. If this examination was satisfactory, the cadet was appointed to a sea-going ship, and at the expiration of fifteen months’ service he was eligible for the rating of midshipman upon passing a further examination. The course in the Training Ship (first the “Illustrious,” and subsequently changed to the “Britannia,” first in Portsmouth harbor and more recently at Dartmouth,) proved too extensive for mastery in one year; and in 1861 the conditions for admission were lowered, the examinations in the school were made quarterly, and competitive, and if passed creditably at the end of a year, according to a fixed standard, (3,000 being the number of marks attainable, and 2,100 giving a first class certificate,) the cadet is rated at once as midshipman, and credited a year’s sea-time. If he receives a second class certificate (1,500 marks,) he must serve six months at sea, and pass another examination before he can be rated midshipman. The cadet with a third-rate certificate (1,200 marks,) must serve twelve months at sea, and pass another examination for his midshipman’s rating. Prizes and badges are also given, and the stimulus of competitive examination is applied as shown in the grading of certificates.
In 1832 a uniform and comprehensive system of gunnery instruction was provided on the “Excellent,” under command of Captain (now Sir Thomas) Hastings. To give such officers who were found deficient in the scientific knowledge requisite for a full understanding of the theory of gunnery, the Naval College was re-opened in 1839, under the general superintendence of the Captain of the Excellent, with Professors of Mathematics, Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, Steam Machinery, Chemistry and Marine Artillery. Accommodations were provided for twenty-five half-pay officers, (captains, commanders, and lieutenants,) and a certain number of mates on full pay, for whom a special course of study was instituted. The time allowed at the College was a clear year’s study, exclusive of vacations, and those who have completed the course rank among the most distinguished officers of the profession.
[Instruction in Steam and the Steam-Engine.]
When steam vessels came into use in the Navy, to qualify officers for special service in them they were encouraged to resort to Woolwich Dockyard, and afterward to the Portsmouth yard, where an instructor was appointed and facilities for observation, study, and experiments were provided. Many officers repaired to private factories, and worked at the lathe, in stoke-hole and the engine-room, and thus acquired a practical knowledge of this department of their profession. When the Naval College was established on its present footing, a small steamer, the “Bee,” was built and attached under the charge of the instructor in steam-machinery. And now the greater part of the captains and commanders on the active list have obtained certificates of having passed the course in Steam and the Steam-engine.
Admiralty Order respecting Naval Cadets and Midshipmen, dated April 1, 1860.
Cadets.
“I. No person will be nominated to a Cadetship in the Royal Navy who shall be under 12, or above 14 years of age, at the time of his first examination.
“II. Every candidate, on obtaining a nomination, will be required to pass an examination at the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, within three months of nomination.[3] In the special cases of nomination granted to the sons of natives of the colonies a candidate will be allowed to pass a preliminary examination on board the flag or senior Officer’s ship on the Station. But such an examination must be passed in strict accordance with these regulations, and should the candidate be found qualified, it will still be necessary that he should be sent to England, to be entered on board a training ship, where he will be subject to the same regulations as other Cadets.
“III. The candidate must produce a certificate of birth, or a declaration thereof made before a magistrate.