“XV. Any Officer rejected on his first examination at the College will incur the forfeiture of three months’ seniority in his rank as Mate. He may present himself on the next examination day, but a second rejection will incur the forfeiture of three months’ more seniority; he may again present himself on the next examination day, but a third rejection will cause his name to be removed from the list of the Navy.
“XVI. Officers, when they have passed their final examination at the Royal Naval College, as provided for in these Regulations, will be confirmed from the date of their first certificate. The non-appearance of an Officer for examination at the Royal Naval College at the times required by these Regulations will be considered as an acknowledgment of his not being qualified, and he will be dealt with in the same manner as if he had been actually rejected, on each day on which he may have omitted to appear, unless under certified ill-health, to be duly reported at the time.
“XVII. Naval Instructors are to keep a school journal, or register, which is to be produced when required by the Captain of the ship or the examining Officers, and the Captain is to allow them reasonable access to the charts and chronometers, for the purpose of instructing the Officers in their use.
“XVIII. The Captains of Her Majesty’s ships are to take care that a convenient place is set apart and proper hours are fixed for instruction by the Naval Instructor; and all Acting Mates and Acting Second Masters, as well as all executive Officers under that rank, are to attend; and care is also to be taken that they are regularly instructed in practical seamanship, rigging, and the steam-engine, and a monthly examination day is to be established.
The subject of Education for Officers has been recently under discussion in Parliament, and some modifications of the existing system is now under the consideration of the Admiralty, looking to greater maturity of age and preparation for admission, a more extended and thorough course of scientific training in cadets, and continued opportunities of study with accompanying examinations for officers up to the grade of commanders.
[II. The Royal Marine Artillery].
In 1804 an artillery company was attached to each of the three divisions of the Royal Marine Corps, to supply the service of the bomb-vessels, and in time of peace, to drill the whole of the marines in gunnery. But they were soon made available for other purposes, and on the outbreak of the American war in 1812, a large body of the Marine Artillery, with a field battery and rocket equipment, accompanied the battalions of marines then formed for service in America. In 1817 this force was augmented to eight companies, and Sir Howard Douglass, while advocating the establishment of “Naval Depots of Instruction,” for the purpose of converting officers and men of the Royal Navy into efficient gunners, complimented the Marine Artillery as being “either a corps of good infantry, of scientific bombardiers, or expert field artillery men, well constituted, thoroughly instructed, and ably commanded.” It was not until June, 1830, that an Admiralty order directed that a school of gunnery should be established at Portsmouth, on board the “Excellent,” and with the intention of making this school the one means of instruction in this department, it was farther ordered, in December, 1831, that the Marine Artillery, as a distinct and separate corps, should be broken up, retaining two companies as a nucleus of a larger force, should such become necessary. And the necessity appeared; for the experience of a few years proved that it would be impossible for the school to effect, to any important extent, the results which were desired. In 1841, therefore, a third company of the artillery was ordered; in 1845, two more; and by subsequent additions, its strength was raised in 1859, to sixteen companies, with a total of 3,000 officers and men, who were formed into a separate division with its head quarters at Fort Cumberland.
The officers of the Marine Artillery were at first appointed from the marine corps, without any particular qualifications being required, but afterwards their appointments were made probationary and conditional upon the satisfactory completion of a prescribed mathematical course. In 1839 it was decided that a certain number of second lieutenants should be allowed to prepare themselves for examination on board the Excellent, and upon the re-opening of the Royal Naval College as an educational establishment for mates, it was arranged that the students for the artillery should be transferred to it, and that their success or failure, after a years’ further study, should decide upon their appointment to the artillery. Another and final modification took place upon the introduction of preliminary examinations for the marines, and the subsequent formation of a cadet establishment on board the Excellent. In case of vacancies in the artillery, those who had passed the best examinations upon first entering the corps, were selected for the College, and no officers were allowed to become candidates on any other terms, their final success depending as before, upon the progress they might make as students at the College.
The cadets have their periods of study limited to two years; it may be less, but can not be more. They have to acquire a competent knowledge in Arithmetic, Algebra, Euclid, including the first four books and part of the sixth, Plane Trigonometry, the use of the Sextant, Fortification, English History, and French. To this may be added a practical course of Naval Gunnery. Their studies are carried on under the direction of a mathematical instructor, and an instructor of fortification. A French master attends twice a week. If on obtaining his commission, the young marine officer is selected to qualify for the artillery at College, he must be prepared at the end of a year to pass an examination in Analytical Trigonometry, Differential and Integral Calculus, Conic Sections, Statics and Dynamics, Hydrostatics, and “Steam,” besides being required to have an increased knowledge of Arithmetic, Algebra, and Fortification. In a year little more than a superficial knowledge of these studies can possibly be attained, yet insufficient as this period clearly is, it has sometimes been the case that, when a large number of subalterns were required for the artillery, young officers have been appointed who have completed only half their term at College. Having thus gained his appointment to the artillery, his remaining in it depends upon there being a vacancy or not at the time when his seniority on the general list of the corps advances him to each successive grade of rank.
The men are volunteers from the light infantry divisions, possessing certain specified qualifications as to age, height, intelligence and character.