Royal Corps Of Naval Constructors
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The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors (RCNC) is an institution of 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 ...
and
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for training in
naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...
, marine, electrical and weapon engineering. It was established by
Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...
in August 1883, on the recommendation of the naval architect Sir William White. Its precursor was the Royal School of Naval Architecture,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. According to the
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 ...
's Books of Reference 3 Chapter 46, it is a "civilian corps and an integrated part of the Defence Engineering & Science Group". Members in certain posts who do not hold commissions are eligible to wear a uniform similar to that of the Royal Navy and are accorded the same respect as commissioned officers.


History

From Tudor times, the ships of the Royal Navy were built in the Royal Dockyards under the supervision of the Master Shipwright and to the design of the
Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy, originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy, held overall responsibility for the design of British warships from 1745. He was a principal commissioner and member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of tha ...
who was always an ex-Master Shipwright. In 1805, seeing the growing application of science in industry,
Lord Barham Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, PC (14 October 172617 June 1813) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action during the Seven Years' War. Middleton was given command of a guardship at the Nore, a Roy ...
’s Commission recommended, that a
School of Naval Architecture A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of fo ...
should be formed to produce men suitably trained both to design the ships of the fleet and to manage the work of the Royal Dockyards. This school was created in 1811 at
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and after an erratic series of changes it settled down at
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in 1873. The graduates of these schools were Naval Architects who quickly established high professional standards in the field. Their influence, combined with the effects of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
led to the formation of the Institution (now the Royal Institution) of Naval Architects in 1860. Although the number of professionally qualified Naval Architects employed in the design, building and repair of warships had risen to 27 by 1875, ships were still being designed and built against the Chief Constructor’s advice and there were inevitable disasters. The main obstacle to progress was the poor career prospects of the professionally qualified Naval Architect with the linked difficulty of getting sufficient recruits. To solve these linked problems William White, then Professional Assistant to the Director of Naval Construction, proposed a co-ordinated training programme and career structure and these ideas were approved in 1882 by a committee under Lord Brassey. The first head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors was Sir
Nathaniel Barnaby Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, (25 February 1829 – 16 June 1915) was Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1885. Biography Born on 25 February 1829 in Chatham, Barnaby began his career as a naval apprentice at Sheerness in 1843. He wo ...
. Due to illness his resignation in 1885 led to the appointment of Sir William White as his successor. The professional Naval Architects of the Royal Corps had grown in number to 91 by 1901 and were heavily involved in the build up to the First World War. The rapid and successful design and building of was probably their best known achievement of the time, although the foundations were being laid for future advances in weapons and machinery and also in the field of submarine design. The Royal Corps had a flirtation with airship design between 1915 and 1922 but this was overshadowed by the conversion of ships to operate aircraft and the design and construction of the first purpose built ship to carry aircraft, . The success of these ships, together with that of submarines and escorts designed by the Royal Corps, played a large part in establishing British naval supremacy. The Second World War saw a similar expansion of the shipbuilding effort and the evacuation to Bath of the Director of Naval Construction. Many members of the Royal Corps served in uniform in the ranks up to the level of Constructor Rear-Admiral. In the post-war period the major features have been the very considerable achievement in designing and maintaining a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and the changing nature of the Royal Corps itself. Recognising the increasing impact of a vessel’s equipment on its hull and structure, the Royal Corps combined with the professional Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the Royal Naval Engineering Service (RNES) in 1977. Further amalgamation with specialist weapons designers was also enacted. In the last decade this more diverse corps has been instrumental in the design and manufacture of the very latest warships such as the
Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...
, s and s; all of which contain highly complex engineering systems. The Royal Corps currently numbers nearly 100 naval architects, marine, electrical and weapon engineers and, in keeping with its original aims, continues to provide professional engineers for the design, building and maintenance of vessels of the Royal Navy. Six naval constructors gave their lives in the course of duty; Arthur K Stephens, Assistant Constructor 2c, who was lost 31 May 1916 aboard HMS Queen Mary which was sunk at the Battle of Jutland (listed as ‘Admiralty Civilian’). F. Bailey and A.A.F. Hill were lost in the disaster of June 1939. H.H.Palmer was lost at sea on the SS Aguila whilst on route to Gibraltar for Dockyard duties in August 1941, Also during World War Two F. Bryant was killed in the bombing of Bath in 1942 and R. King was killed in Mombasa.


The RCNC and the Naval Service

Some members of the RCNC are entitled to wear a modified version of the standard RN uniform, the difference being the presence of grey bands between gold stripes worn on the arms and on shoulder boards. Constructors may wear uniform in certain posts in UK establishments (predominantly naval bases) and in several overseas posts. ;RCNC Uniform Ranks


References

* *


External links


A set of annual albums produced by the Corps
* {{Admiralty Department, state=collapsed 1883 establishments in the United Kingdom Marine engineering organizations History of the Royal Navy Admiralty during World War II Royal Navy