Britannia Royal Naval College
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Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), Dartmouth, is the location of initial officer training in the Royal Navy, and is located on a hill overlooking the town of Dartmouth in the county of Devon, England.
The training of naval officers at Dartmouth dates from 1863 when the wooden hulks HMS Britannia and HMS Hindostan were moored in the River Dart. Prior to this there had been a Royal Naval Academy (later Royal Naval College) at Portsmouth from 1733 to 1837. The shore-based college at Dartmouth was designed by Sir Aston Webb and was completed in 1905.
The college was originally known as the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and as a Royal Naval shore establishment was additionally known by the ship name HMS Britannia. The college was given its present name in 1953, when the name Britannia was given to the newly-launched royal yacht, HMY Britannia. The training ship moored in the River Dart at Sandquay, currently the former Sandown class minehunter, HMS Cromer, continues to bear the name Hindostan.
Cadets originally joined the Royal Naval College, Osborne, at the age of 13 for two years before joining Dartmouth, but Osborne closed in 1923, and thereafter cadets spent four years at Dartmouth before starting sea training at 17. The entry age was changed to 16 in 1948, and to 18 in 1955. Until 1941, Dartmouth was in effect a specialised boarding school, with parents paying fees for tuition and board. Today most new officers join in their early twenties, after university (though many still join directly from school) and spend between 28 and 49 weeks at the college, depending on specialisation. There is also a large contingent of foreign and Commonwealth students.
King George V and King George VI were naval cadets at Dartmouth, as were the present Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and Duke of York. It is said that the Duke of Edinburgh first met the present Queen at Dartmouth.
With the closure of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1998, BRNC Dartmouth is the sole remaining naval college in the United Kingdom, through which all new naval officers pass; though other tri-service training establishments exist.
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