Dating to the 1970s, this Royal Navy recruiting film shows HMS Collingwood, a so-called “stone frigate” or shore establishment located in Fareham, England. HMS Collingwood is the lead establishment of the Maritime Warfare School and the largest naval training organization in Western Europe. The Maritime Warfare School is a federated training establishment incorporating HMS Excellent, the Defence Diving School, the RN Physical Training School, the School of Hydrography and Meteorology in Plymouth and the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth Naval Base.
The film shows student recruits at the shore establishment studying electronics, radio, ordnance, and control. Each rating undergoes a 6-week course during the first year of RN training. An radio apprentice is shown assembling an oscilloscope from scratch (3:33) and then going through a problem solving drill. At (4:00), a control apprentice is seen maintaining a ship’s phonograph / record player, while ordnance men move gun barrels into position. At (6:43), a Seacat missile system launcher and director are seen being examined by apprentices. The Seaslug is seen at 7:27, being gone over by electrical trainees, and a launch at sea is shown as the film concludes.
More on this … HMS Collingwood gained its name from Lord Collingwood, a distinguished admiral at the turn of the 19th century. The current shore establishment was commissioned as the fourth HMS Collingwood on 10 January 1940, initially to instruct “hostilities only” ratings of the seaman branch. Wireless telegraphy ratings started their training in June 1940, and a radio direction finding school was added in 1942. In 1946 Collingwood took over the training of both officers and ratings in the maintenance of all electrical and radio equipment in the fleet, except that of the Fleet Air Arm.
The Maritime Warfare School was formed in January 2002 as part of the British Government’s Defence Training Review with, in particular, the transfer in of training previously undertaken at HMS Dryad. In spring 2007 the Maritime Warfare Centre relocated to HMS Collingwood from HMS Dryad (now the tri-service establishment Southwick Park) and Portsdown Technology Park. The Maritime Warfare Centre is spearheading the Royal Navy’s aspirations regarding enhanced operational knowledge exploitation.
Battle honours for the name are Jutland 1916 and Atlantic 1941–1944.
The motto is Ferar unus et idem (Latin: “I shall carry on regardless”).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
