History of the Royal Naval College, Osborne, 1903-23

The Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight was in operation from 1903 to 1921 and was the junior section of the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. Boys went there at the age of 12, moving on to Dartmouth at 14 or 15. Among the sons of several European royal families sent to the college were the future King George VI and Earl Mountbatten. It was also the institution where the incident occurred on which Terence Rattigan based his play, "The Winslow Boy". Having been selected by a process of interview, examination and medical, cadets were introduced to the life of a Royal Naval officer. They were taught how to behave - how to salute, march and how to prepare for life on board ship. They also studied a wide range of subjects, spent time on the playing fields and scrambled for food in the college refectory. In the early 1990s, encouraged by a number of retired officers who had been at Osborne, the Society for Nautical Research initiated a study by two naval historians. As a result, a large number of interviews wre conducted with a wide spectrum of cadets: their reminiscences are recorded here together with archive photographs. The author describes how the inception of the Fisher-Selborne scheme for officer training led to the foundation of the college. He also examines the college's organization and structure, the selection procedure and the reasons for and process of its closure in 1921. The text evaluates the lasting achievements of the college in the light of history.