The Commissioners referred to, recommend that a Normal School for the Navy be established at Greenwich, similar to that for the Army at Chelsea, that the present pupil-teachers who are above the age of eighteen form the nucleus of this school, and that others to the number of ten at first, be admitted after examination; that the course of their education be adapted to their future calling, and that at the close of their career they be examined, and receive a certificate of qualification. These teachers thus educated and trained, would be fitted to take charge of the Navigation Schools, under the Board of Trade; would enter the Dock-yard Schools, as assistants at first, and they would be appointed to masterships on board the Training Ships, both in the royal and commercial ports.
They also recommend that boys from the second class in the Ship Schools be selected to serve as pupil-teachers under the schoolmasters, and that a small allowance be made them, in addition to their pay, if they pass a satisfactory examination at the end of the year, and their conduct is reported to be satisfactory, and at the end of three years they be admitted, if found competent, to the Normal School at Greenwich, or that they be entered for continuous service as assistant schoolmasters, with rank and pay and pension of first class petty officers. At the end of two years this last class of assistants, if found competent, will be admitted to the practising school at Greenwich, for six months at the least, during which residence they will devote their time to the art of teaching, and to the study of Navigation, Physical Geography, and Natural History. On the completion of their training they will go out as Royal Navy Schoolmasters, and will be divided into three classes, viz.: 3d class, who shall have the rank and pay of chief petty officers, (continuous service,) and shall be entitled to the same pension. 2d class, who shall rank above master-at-arms, and shall receive the same pay and pension. 1st class, shall rank with third class warrant officers, with same pay and pension, and after long and approved service, masters of this class shall be eligible for further promotion to rank and pay of second and first class warrant officers. Schoolmasters in each of these classes shall be entitled to £10 per annum in addition to their pay, if they are recommended by the captain and chaplain, and their schools are certified to be in an efficient state when examined.
In 1853 the English Government constituted the Department of Science and Art, to extend a system of encouragement to local institutions of Practical Science, similar to that commenced a few years before in the Department of Practical Art, the two Departments being united in the course of the same year, and the united Department being administered at first by the Board of Trade, and in 1856, by the Education Department. To this Department of Science and Art, was assigned in 1853 the general management of a class of schools which had been instituted or aided by the Mercantile Marine Department of the Board of Trade, for the benefit of the navigation interests of the country. Instruction in navigation was given in the seaports by private teachers, without system, and to a very small number of those who should be well grounded in the principles of the art before being entrusted with the responsibilities of command, involving the lives and property of others. To introduce system, to give permanent employment to a larger number of well-qualified teachers of navigation, to elevate and improve the attainments and character of British masters, mates and seamen, and indirectly but largely increase the supply for the Royal Navy in time of war, the Government had determined to encourage local effort in establishing Nautical Schools. With this view the Marine Department of the Board of Trade had established two schools prior to 1853, one in London, and the other in Liverpool; and an arrangement had been made with the Admiralty, by which it was believed five or six pupil-teachers, who had completed their term of instruction at the Royal Naval School at Greenwich, would be able to attend the scientific courses in the Metropolitan Schools of Science and Art, and be instructed in those sciences which would better fit them to become masters of schools of navigation in the seaport towns. In 1854, the Trinity House[5] of Hull reorganized its old school of navigation, after the plan of the Royal Naval School at Greenwich, with two divisions, the lower for a class of boys who need elementary instruction, and the upper, for boys in the technical studies of a seafaring life. With the latter was opened an evening school for adult seamen. Similar schools, with a junior or lower division to revise and complete the general and preparatory studies, and a senior or upper school for special scientific and practical instruction in navigation and seamanship, were established at Yarmouth, Leith, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast, Dublin, Waterford, and other ports, fifteen in all up to 1862, giving instruction to over 3,000 persons, and all of them enlisting local co-operation and individual payment with governmental aid. As an example of this class of schools we cite a brief description of one of the earliest established, from a Report of the Inspector, Edward Hughes, one of the masters of the Greenwich Hospital Schools.
The London Navigation School is held on the upper floor of the Sailors’ Home Institution, situated in Well Street, London Dock, and consists of two separate apartments, occupied by the Upper and Lower sections.
The upper section is for the instruction of masters and mates of the merchant service in the following subjects, viz.:
Sextant Observing. Chart Drawing. Geometry. Algebra. Trigonometry. The Sailings. Use of the Nautical Almanac and Mathematical Tables. Principle and Construction of Chronometers. Methods of determining the Latitude and Longitude. Nautical Surveying. Compasses and Magnetism of Ships. Theory of Winds, Tides, and Currents. Methods of taking and recording Meteorological Observations. Principle and Construction of the Steam Engine as applied to the Paddle Wheel and Screw Propeller.
The Lower section is for the education of seamen and apprentices. The course embraces the following subjects:—
Reading. Writing. Dictation and Letter Writing. Arithmetic. Geography. The Sailings. Sextant Observing. Method of Keeping Ships’ Books.