The Selborne-Fisher scheme, or Selborne scheme, was an effort by John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Second Sea Lord, approved by William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1903 to combine the military (executive) and engineering branches of the Royal Navy. The main goal was to return control over the movement of a ship to the military officer.
In 1902, Fisher returned to the UK (having been Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet) as Second Sea Lord in charge of personnel. At this time engineering officers, which had become increasingly important in the fleet as it became steadily more dependent upon machinery, were still largely looked down upon by command officers. Fisher considered it would be better for the navy if the two branches could be merged, as had been done in the past with navigation which similarly had once been a completely separate specialty. He wanted the Navy to have one system of supply, one system of entry and one system of training. His solution was to merge the cadet training of military and engineer officers, and revise the curriculum so that it provided a suitable grounding to later go on to either path. The proposal was initially resisted by the remainder of the board of Admiralty, but Fisher convinced them of the benefits of the changes. [1]
The scheme was announced in 1903, but the amalgamation of the military and engineering branches was completed in November 1905 when the Cawdor Memorandum was published, which integrated the enlisted portion of the engineering branch, the stokers, into the military branch. As part of the scheme, cadets would enter the service between the ages of 12 and 13 under the same conditions, would be trained together under the same system until they passed the rank of sub-lieutenant when they would be distributed between the military branch, the engineering branch, and the Royal Marines, although ultimately the latter only briefly participated in the scheme (see below). [1] [2] Three months after the scheme was announced, a new Royal Naval College, Osborne, was created at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's old home on the Isle of Wight. A new facility was also built in Dartmouth to replace Britannia, and once it was completed in 1910 the Royal Naval Engineering College at Keyham was closed. [3]
The old rank of mate was revived in 1913 as part of the scheme for the accelerated promotion of promising enlisted personnel to become engineers. [4] [5] Mates ranked with, but after, sub-lieutenants and messed separately. [5] In addition, promotion from Mate (E) was to the old Engineer Lieutenant rank, not to Lieutenant (E). [4]
After World War I, opposition to the scheme gave rise to a movement to re-segregate the executive and engineering branches because during the war, officers were not able to be equally proficient at both engineering and executive duties. [4] As part of this movement, the Royal Naval Engineering College was reopened in 1919, and in 1922 engineering training began for midshipmen, instead of sub-lieutenants. In 1921, the naval college at Osborne was no longer needed and was closed.
By 1925, there were five branches of the Service: Military, Medical, Accountant, Naval Instructor, and Artisan. That year, an Order in Council ended the scheme, splitting the service into 12 categories: Executive, Engineer, Medical, Dental, Accountant and Instructor Officers, Chaplains, Shipwrights, Ordinance and Electrical Officers, Schoolmasters and Wardmasters. [6] Shortly afterwards, the ranks of Midshipman (E) and Sub-lieutenant (E) appeared in Orders in Council for the first time. [6] In 1931 mate was abandoned again, and mates were re-mustered as sub-lieutenants. [5]
The scheme left behind common entry, so all candidates for the engineering branch entered the Navy by the same route as those in the executive branch.
Fisher's reforms included the inclusion of officers of the Royal Marines in the common entry scheme of 1907. Only after undergoing preliminary training, and upon reaching the rank of lieutenant, were sea-going officers of all branches to be given the option of choosing the Royal Marines as a career specialisation. During the three years that this aspect of the Selbourne Scheme was in force, only two entrants choose to become marine officers; a phenomenon accounted for by more limited career prospects and possibly social prejudice within the Royal Navy of the period. In 1912 Fisher acknowledged the problem and separate entry was restored for the Royal Marines. [7]
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War, and War in Afghanistan.
A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as a chief petty officers.
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the regimental colours, the rank acquired the name. This rank has generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. Ensigns were generally the lowest-ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern existed. In contrast, the Arab rank of ensign, لواء, liwa', derives from the command of units with an ensign, not the carrier of such a unit's ensign, and is today the equivalent of a major general.
Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air Squadron; however, these are not trainee officers with many not choosing a career in the armed forces.
Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces.
The University Royal Naval Units (URNU) are Royal Navy training establishments who recruit Officer Cadets from a university or a number of universities, usually concentrated in one geographical area. There are 17 URNUs in the UK, with each URNU having land-based facilities near the universities they recruit from, with the exception of URNU Virtual, whose drill nights are conducted virtually.
Subordinate officer is a term used in some armed forces for a grade of officer above a non-commissioned officer but still not actually commissioned, usually still in training. Such officers are treated for most intents and purposes as commissioned officers.
Seafaring is a tradition that encompasses a variety of professions and ranks. Each of these roles carries unique responsibilities that are integral to the successful operation of a seafaring vessel. A ship's crew can generally be divided into four main categories: the deck department, the engineering department, the steward's department, and other. The reasoning behind this is that a ship's bridge, filled with sophisticated navigational equipment, requires skills differing from those used on deck operations – such as berthing, cargo and/or military devices – which in turn requires skills different from those used in a ship's engine room and propulsion, and so on.
HMAS Creswell, is the training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that predominately includes The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, the Beecroft Weapons Range, an administrative support department and Training Ship Jervis Bay. It is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch, on the shores of Jervis Bay in the Jervis Bay Territory. The RANC has been the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Australian Navy since 1915.
Supply officer was a specialisation in the British Royal Navy which has recently been superseded by the Logistics Officer, recognising the need to align with the nomenclature and function of similar cadres in the British Army and Royal Air Force. Though, initially, employment of Logistics Officers in the Royal Navy remained broadly the same, it has begun to reflect exposure to the 'tri-service' environment, including a significantly greater number of operational logistics posts, as well as the more traditional Cash, Pay and Records, and 'outer-office' or Aide de Camp duties. The Logistics Branch in the Royal Navy is one of the three main branches of the Senior Service, though due to its unique nature has interaction with all branches of the Naval Service, including the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Marines, as well as the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation, the Ministry of Defence and many other agencies and organisations. In centuries past, the supply officer had been known as the clerk, bursar, purser and, later, the paymaster. Logistics officers are still generally referred to by the historic sobriquet 'pusser', a derivation of 'purser'.
The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921.
These are the official Royal Navy Officer ranks ordered by rank. These ranks are part of the NATO/United Kingdom ranks, including modern and past. Past insignia is in italic.
The Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS) is a university sponsorship programme for students who want to join the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force or Engineering and Science branch of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Service as technical officers after they graduate; Army sponsored students are destined for either the Royal Corps of Signals, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Engineers or The Royal Logistic Corps. Students on the scheme are sponsored by the MOD to study accredited technical degree programmes. The aim of DTUS is ‘to educate and develop selected individuals to prepare them for further training and careers as engineer or technical officers in the Armed Forces or as graduate entrants to the MOD Civil Service’.
The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel.
A passed midshipman, sometimes called as "midshipman, passed", is a term used historically in the 19th century to describe a midshipman who had passed the lieutenant's exam and was eligible for promotion to lieutenant as soon as there was a vacancy in that grade.
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, while in the merchant service they evolved into the numbered mates or officers.
A captain's clerk was a rating, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy and the United States Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records, correspondence, and accounts. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that a purser serve at least one year as a captain's clerk, so the latter was often a young man working his way to a purser's warrant. He had high status, with an office on the quarterdeck or upper deck on most ships. He was paid at the same rate as a midshipman in 1800, but by 1815 he had almost the same monthly pay as a standing warrant officer. On large ships, he had his own cabin in the gunroom, but on smaller vessels he lived with the midshipmen on the orlop deck.
The officer corps of the Royal Navy is the cadre of personnel holding a commission from the sovereign appointing them in a position of authority in the Royal Navy.
The Upper Yardman Scheme had its origin in 1912, when Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg, the then First Sea Lord, initiated a scheme to allow Royal Navy ratings the chance to gain a commission at a relatively young age and so enable them to compete for promotion to the highest ranks. Until 1931 it was known as the Mate Scheme because successful candidates were promoted to the rank of mate, but that title was very much disliked and from 1932 onwards the scheme became known as the Upper Yardman Scheme, those successful being promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant.