HMS Worcester
Encyclopedia
London shipowners, marine insurance underwriters and merchants subscribed to its founding as an institution which would provide trained officers for a sea-going career. The British Admiralty loaned the 50-gun, 1,500-ton frigate HMS Worcester for the scheme, and in 1862 the Thames Marine Officer Training School was opened. She was to find her eventual home off Greenhithe
Greenhithe
Greenhithe is a town in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and...
, in the Thames, in 1871, after temporary berths at Blackwall, Erith and Southend.
The college expanded and the Admiralty provided the college with HMS Frederick William (originally laid down as Royal Sovereign), a line-of-battle ship of 86 guns with screw propulsion. She was renamed Worcester and refitted in the Victoria Docks before being brought to Greenhithe in 1876. About this time the name of the school was changed to the Incorporated Thames Nautical Training College, HMS Worcester (ITNTC).
In 1938, the clipper Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869, she served as a merchant vessel , and then as a training ship until being put on public display in 1954...
was acquired by the college and berthed alongside Worcester and during the Second World War some seamanship classes were held in the ship. In 1954 the Cutty Sark left Greenhithe to be docked permanently at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, where she is docked to this day.
With the onset of war in 1939, Worcester cadets moved to Foots Cray
Foots Cray
Foots Cray is a place in the London Borough of Bexley, near the town of Sidcup, in southeast London, England, United Kingdom.It took its name from Godwin Fot, a local Saxon landowner recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and from the River Cray that passes through the village. It lay on the old...
Place near Sidcup, and the ship was handed back to the Admiralty. The third Worcester (formerly HMS Exmouth) arrived at Greenhithe in January 1946. She had previously been used as an accommodation ship at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
. The ship, built in 1905, was the Royal Navy's first specially commissioned training ship.
In 1968 the ITNTC became part of the Merchant Navy College at Greenhithe. The ship Worcester became redundant and was sold to be broken up in Belgium in 1978.
Worcester cadets, who automatically became Cadets of the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
during their time in the ship, entered the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and British merchant navy on leaving Worcester and many rose to the highest ranks of their profession, including those who became commodores of leading merchant fleets. In the period up to 1946, two Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
es and one George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
were awarded to former Worcester cadets. In 1876 Queen Victoria confirmed her interest in the ship by establishing the award of an annual Gold Medal to the cadet who, in the opinion of his shipmates, was most likely to make the best officer.
HMS Worcester was the London maritime interests' answer to HMS Conway
HMS Conway (school ship)
HMS Conway was a naval training school or "school ship", founded in 1859 and housed for most of its life aboard a 19th-century wooden battleship. The ship was originally stationed on the Mersey near Liverpool, then moved to the Menai Strait during World War II. While being towed back to Birkenhead...
which had been established in 1859 on the River Mersey as a training ship for Liverpool's burgeoning merchant fleet. Throughout their history Worcester and Conway were competitors, and the two met regularly on playing fields and in boats in keen sporting rivalry.
See also
- School shipSchool shipA training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....
- HMS WorcesterHMS WorcesterThe Thames Nautical Training College, as it is now called, was, for over a hundred years, situated aboard ships named HMS Worcester.London shipowners, marine insurance underwriters and merchants subscribed to its founding as an institution which would provide trained officers for a sea-going career...
for other ships of the same name - The Marine Society College of the SeaThe Marine Society College of the SeaThe Marine Society College of the Sea is a distance learning further education college for those who make their living at sea. The college is owned and operated by The Marine Society, and is located at 202 Lambeth Road, in the London Borough of Lambeth....