Midshipman ordinary, or midshipman-by-order, refers to an obsolete rating for prospective officers in the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. The rating was specifically applied to graduates of the

Royal Naval Academy The Royal Naval Academy was a facility established in 1733 in HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth Dockyard to train officers for the Royal Navy. The founders' intentions were to provide an alternative means to recruit officers and to provide standardise ...

who had earned their sea time in a classroom instead of serving at sea.

History

In 1729, the Royal Naval Academy in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, renamed the Royal Naval College in 1806, was founded, for 40 students between 13 and 16, who would take three years to complete a course of study defined in an illustrated book. After graduation students served on ships as midshipmen. The rating was used specifically for graduates of the Royal Naval College to distinguish them from midshipmen who had served previously aboard a ship, and were paid less than midshipmen. By 1816, the rating of midshipman ordinary was phased out, and all apprentice officers were rated as midshipmen. After 1830, Midshipman extraordinary was used to refer to Royal Naval College graduates who were serving on board a ship but were not rated as midshipmen by the captain.

References

Bibliography

* * {{refend Military ranks of the Royal Navy Naval ranks