Royal Corps of Naval Constructors

The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors was the name given to the civilians responsible for the design of British warships and supervision of their construction in Royal Dockyards. Established by Order in Council of 23 August, 1883, the corps was headed by a Director of Naval Construction who was also the principal adviser on warship construction to the Board of Admiralty.

Entry

As of 1900 there were three ways to join the R.C.N.C.:

1. Joining as an Engineer Student and attending the Royal Naval Engineering College, Keyham. Two "Students" in Naval Construction were selected from those "who have shown special ability at the end of their second year of service". They completed the five years at Keyham, then went to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, as Probationary Assistant Constructors for three years of study.
2. Shipwright Apprentices in the dockyards deemed suitable could be transferred to the Royal Naval Engineering College for a fifth year of study after four in the dockyard schools. They too then moved on to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, for three years.
3. Candidates not more than 25 years of age on the 30 November before the examination in the following June could apply to take the annual Greenwich examination. If they succeeded in obtaining First or Second Class Professional Certificates they would be offered appointments as Assistant Constructors, Third Class.

With the introduction of the Selborne Scheme the last entry of Engineer Cadets (as Engineer Students were renamed in 1903) at Keyham was made in March 1906. A Statement of Admiralty Policy, also known as the Cawdor Memorandum, was published in late 1905. It recognised that closing Keyham would make it "necessary to widen the existing field of selection for members of this Corps". It was announced that "The restriction hitherto now in force as to candidates having been through an apprenticeship in a building yard will, therefore, be removed".

In 1911 the Director of Naval Education, Sir J. Alfred Ewing, told a committee that from 1893 to 1906 35 members of the R.C.N.C. had come from the apprentices, 26 from the Engineer Cadets/Students at Keyham, and 29 were Private Students.

See Also

• Director of Naval Construction
• Instructions for the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors

Bibliography

• Brown, D. K. (1984). A Century of Naval Construction: The History of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, 1883-1983. London: Conway Maritime Press Ltd. ISBN 085177282X.