School of Mathematics and Naval Construction

Coordinates: 50°48′1″N 1°6′26″W / 50.80028°N 1.10722°W / 50.80028; -1.10722
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Central School of Mathematics and Naval Construction
Part of the 1815 building (left) in Portsmouth Dockyard alongside 18th-century storehouses (right)
Active1848–1853
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeTraining
RoleMathematics and Naval Construction
Garrison/HQPortsmouth

The Central School of Mathematics and Naval Construction was a short-lived shipbuilding college at

Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in South Kensington that became part of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
in 1873.

Building

The school was sited in the dockyard at

Portsea, Portsmouth in the building formerly used by the School of Naval Architecture (1816–1832), facing the Commissioner’s house and Old Naval Academy. It is 176 ft (53.6 m) long by 45 ft (13.7 m) wide and 36 ft (11.0 m) high, to a design by Edward/Edmund Hall. Construction began in 1815 and was completed in 1817. The building has since seen use as a residence, Port Admirals Office, Tactical School, War College, NATO and Naval HQ and C in C Western Fleet Offices.[1]

Education

The School of Mathematics and Naval Construction was intended as a finishing school for a select number of shipwright apprentices, to prepare them as officers in the dockyards. They were sent to the school for the final three years of their seven-year apprenticeship, to be taught mathematics by Wooley and shipbuilding by the master shipwright of the dockyard. Unusually, they were also taught chemistry in a laboratory created at the back of the school for the use of W.J. Hay, the chemical assistant of the dockyard.

Alumni

References

Further reading

  • H. W.Dickinson, 'Joseph Woolley - Pioneer of British Naval Education; 1848 - 1873', Education Research and Perspectives (2007) 34(1) pages 1–26
  • "The Training of Shipwright Officers". The Mechanics' Magazine and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures, and Shipbuilding. Vol. II July–December 1859. London: Robertson, Brooman, & Co. 2 December 1859. p. 353.

External links

50°48′1″N 1°6′26″W / 50.80028°N 1.10722°W / 50.80028; -1.10722