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MILITARY AND NAVAL SCHOOLS.

NAUTICAL EDUCATION.

THE ROYAL NAVAL ACADEMY," for educating cadets for the English naval service, was instituted in the Portsmouth Dock-yard in 1729. In 1816 a Central School of Mathematics and Naval Architecture was added to the establishment. In 1839 the institution was reorganized, and Professorships of Steam-machinery and Chemistry were established, and special courses were instituted for officers and mates, and facilities for observation and practice in the construction of engines and uses of steam were provided in the Woolwich Dock-yards. In 1844 the School of Naval Architecture was reorganized with a view of conforming the course of instruction to that of the French Ecole d'Application du Génie Maritime at Paris.

The course at Portsmouth embraced algebra, geometry by projections, and the construction of solid bodies and their sections from these projections, plane coördinate geometry, differential and integral calculus, mechanics with strength of materials and their application to the steam-engine and naval constructions. The fatal defects were, first, the want of suitable preparation on the part of the applicants, and second, the uncertainty of government employment, and regular distinction and promotion in the service as engineers, on the completion of the course. Practically the English school fell far behind the French model. But there were broad differences in the preparatory knowledge brought by the students of the two schools to the special work required by the naval service, and in their relations to the service afterwards. In the French School, the students had already gone through with honors, the severe mathematical training of the Polytechnic School, and were prepared to enter at once on the application of these sciences to naval architecture, and the construction and uses of steam machinery in vessels of war, and were sure of future employment and promotion. In

* For account of Naval and Navigation Schools in England, see American Journal of Education, vol. xiv. 627-640; xv. 65-80. The subject will be treated more in detail in MILITARY AND NAVAL SCHOOLS-England.

the English School, the students in many cases came direct from the dock-yard and the deck, without even a good elementary education, were employed during the day in the ordinary work of their positions, and only gave their evenings to scientific studies. The results of this system were not satisfactory, and the School was suspended; but under the lead of a few practical architects and engineers the system of instruction was revised, and in 1862 a new institution was established at South Kensington, and in connection with the Industrial Museum, a collection of models, drawings, and other appliances of illustration and practice in every department of instruction given in the School was begun.

Theoretical and practical instruction in naval gunnery is given in the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, and a cadet establishment on board of the man-of-war Excellent.

NAVIGATION SCHOOLS.

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* 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.

London Navigation School.

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.

The hours of attendance are from 9 to 12 a. m., 2 to 4 p. m., and 6 to 9 p. m. on the first five days of the working week, and from 9 to 12 a. m. on Saturdays. The fees are six shillings per week for masters and mates, sixpence for seamen, and apprentices are admitted free.

The instruction of both sections is conducted by teachers who have been educated and trained in the Greenwich Hospital Schools, and who hold certificates of competency for teaching Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, from Mr. Riddle, the Head Master of the Nautical School.

As regards the students who at present attend the school, it is manifest that the masters and mates taught in the senior section come for the express purpose of learning to solve certain problems in Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, required for passing the examination of the Local Marine Board, and they are unwilling to devote any portion of their time to the other subjects that enter into the course of instruction. These, though essential to the education of every master mariner, are unfortunately not at present required of a candidate to pass an examination which proclaims him competent to take command of a vessel.

The lower section is composed of seamen and apprentices, who are for the most part employed during the day at their ships in the docks, and have acquired

• The Trinity Board of Hull was established in 1537, in imitation of Trinity House, London, incorporated by Henry VIII in 1515, (but existing long before,) for the promotion of commerce and navigation, licensing pilots, erecting beacons and lighthouses, &c. Both were probably in imitation of Charles V. who established at Seville, in Spain, at the Casa de Contratacion, lectures on navigation, and an examination of persons to act as pilots and mariners

the rudiments of an English education before entering the school. They attend during their short stay in port from 6 to 9 in the evenings, and their chief object seems to be to acquire a knowledge of the sailings and the methods of keeping the books of a ship.

Both sections are taught the use of nautical instruments, and for this important purpose the Board of Trade has granted a liberal supply of requisites to carry out an efficient system of instruction, as will be seen by the list appended to this Report.

Those students who are sufficiently educated are accustomed to work out their own observations. None of them have been allowed to leave the school without receiving as great an amount as was possible of general information, in addition to the special instruction in the subjects for which they attended. Lectures have been delivered in the evenings upon the Steam Engine, Electricity, and Magnetism, with other branches of Natural Philosophy; and the Physical Geography of the Ocean has received particular attention.

The following statistics are given in the Report of Capt. Ryder, of the Royal Navy, in 1858.

The officers of the committee of management are:

Chairman, Admiral Sir H. Hope.

Secretary, Captain George Pierce, R. N.

Head-Master, John Bowing, 1 certificate.

The total number receiving instruction in navigation in or through the agency of the school during 1858 has been 149, showing a total increase of 25 since last year. The total fees have been 467. 15s. 6d.

The entire number of adults and boys who have at any time paid fees during the year are, masters, 3; chief mates, 17; only mates, 2; second mates, 37; seamen, 62; apprentices, 28; total number of students, 149.

The following is the rate of fees paid by adults and boys per week :—In the day classes-Masters studying for extra certificates, 6s.; chief mates studying for master, 68.; only mates studying for chief mates, 6s.; second mates studying for chief mates, 68.; seamen studying for only mates, 68.; for second mates, 68.; apprentices studying navigation, 68.; those not studying navigation, 1s.; seamen not studying navigation, 18.; boys learning navigation, 6d.; boys not learning navigation, 6d. In the evening classes-Adults learning navigation, 3s.; not learning navigation, 18.; boys learning navigation, 38.; not learning navigation, 6d.

The average attendance at the classes has been :

Day classes,
Evening classes,

Grand total of fees, 467. 158. 6d.

:

morning, 7; afternoon, 6.

6.

The amount of aid afforded to the school by the Department has been 437. 16s. 4d., which sum includes the payments for the master's certificate and other allowances, the payments to pupil-teacher, the cost of medals, &c.

School Ships.

There is another class of nautical schools for destitute and endangered boys, which are aided by the government through the Ragged School Society, and are kept on board of ships, the practical seamanship of which might advantageously be incorporated into the navigation schools. The expense of these ships per day is thus given by Capt. Ryder, in his Report on Navigation Schools in 1858.

I have collected some statistics showing the expense of school ships. The Akbar, a frigate at Liverpool, is a reformatory, and has about a 100 boys. The Venus, also a frigate, is in charge of the Marine Society, and anchored near Woolwich; she is a school ship for destitute lads, and has about 140 boys. In the Akbar, supported partly by local contributions and partly by the Government grant of one shilling a day for each boy, the expense of the establishment is probably reduced to as low a scale as possible. The Marine Society is a

corporation which can afford to be more liberal in its arrangements. The Akbar was fitted out at an expense of 1,8007. but about 1,000l. is considered to be sufficient for a fit out, if the hull is in good repair. The Marine Society's ships are always fitted out by the Admiralty without charge. The Akbar costs about 2501. a year for repairs, &c.

Estimate of Annual Expense per Boy, deduced from Report.

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Outline of Aims and Management of Navigation Schools.

In 1858, Captain Alfred P. Ryder, of the Royal Navy, was appointed to inspect the Navigation Schools connected with the Department of Science and Art, and report on their condition and future management. The statements and suggestions of this report harmonize so fully with the conclusions which we have reached respecting the need and mode of establishing and managing this class of schools in our own country, that we can not better express our own views than by making liberal extracts.

The Government is very anxious to raise the tone of the Commercial Marine for the following reasons:

(a.) Because the Commercial Marine supplies even in time of peace a considerable number of men to the Royal Navy, and because in time of war we should have to rely upon it almost entirely to enable us to man our ships when our reserves were exhausted, which would soon be the case in a naval war.

(b.) Because on the efficiency of our commercial marine depends to a great extent our position as a commercial country, and on our position as the greatest commercial country rests our supremacy among European nations.

(c.) Because to the commercial marine is entrusted every year an immense amount of valuable property. Want of skill, intelligence, and readiness of resource largely increases the yearly loss of this property.

(d.) Because to the commercial marine every year are entrusted the lives of a large and increasing number of Her Majesty's subjects. Want of skill, intelligence, and readiness of resource largely increase the yearly loss of life at sea. (e.) Because the commercial marine consists of more than 200,000 persons, and is, therefore, an important portion of the nation, considering it numerically. (f.) Because the commercial marine represents England, its religion, laws, customs, and habits, in every foreign country, and it is desirable that our representatives should cease to exhibit (as is now frequently the case,) the worst side of the national character. Large numbers of the sailors in our commercial marine are at present neither good men nor good sailors, but are disorderly, addicted to drink, inefficient at sea and all but useless in harbor. Many of them who reach the rank of mate and master compare disadvantageously in general knowledge with the mates and masters of foreign vessels. There are of course numerous brilliant exceptions. They are to be found chiefly in the service of the large ship-owners. In knowledge of seamanship English masters and mates need not fear a comparison with those of any other nation.

The Government, anxious to raise the tone of the Commercial Marine, has endeavored to purify the stream at its source, by the creation or support of Navigation Schools, in order that as soon as possible, by the introduction of well educated lads, its character may be elevated and improved. The Navigation Schools referred to are supported by fees, by local subscriptions, and by aid from the Department of Science and Art. Their object is to offer instruction in

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