MIDSHIPMAN

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 424 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MIC-MOL

MIDSHIPMAN , the title in the British and American navies of the " young gentlemen " who are serving in order to qualify themselves to hold a commission as lieutenant. The English midshipman was originally a petty officer, one of the crew under the immediate orders of the boatswain. After the restoration of King Charles II., in 166o, the king and his brother, James Duke of

York

, lord high admiral, decided to

train

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

officers for the sea service. They therefore decided to send a volunteer to each ship of a squadron in commission, with a "

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

of service," which instructed the admirals and captains that the bearer was to be shown " such kindness as you shall judge fit for a

gentleman

GENTLEMAN (from Lat. gentilis, " belonging to a race or gens," and " man "; Fr. gentilhomme, Span. gentil hombre, Ital. gentil huomo, in its
original
- ORIGINAL
and strict signification, a term denoting a man of good family, the Lat. generosus (its invariable transl

, both in accommodating him in your ship and in furthering his improvement." He was to receive the pay of a midshipman, and one midshipman less was to be borne in the ship. Until 1729 the young gentlemen who entered the British navy were known as " king's

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

boys." In that year the system was altered. A school, known as the naval academy, was founded at Portsmouth in which forty lads were to be trained for the sea service. In 1773 the school, having proved unsatisfactory, was reorganized and the number of boys to be trained there increased from forty to seventy. In 18o6 it was again reorganized, under the name of the naval college, and was finally suppressed in 1837, when the practice of training the boys under instructors in the ships was introduced. A

special

SPECIAL

school was re-established in 1857, and was finally placed in the " Britannia." In the meantime the number of midshipmen had increased far beyond one for a ship. A lineof-battle ship in the 18th century carried as many as twenty-four, and the title had come to be confined entirely to those who were being trained as officers. The immense majority of officers of the British navy never passed through the academy or the college. They entered the ships directly as " captains' servants " or " volunteers," and were rated midshipman, if there was a vacancy, at the age of fifteen. As they were expected to learn navigation, they were instructed by the master, and at the age of seventeen were supposed to be qualified to be masters' mates. To-day the midshipman is the officer of the British and American navies who has passed through the
preliminary schools and has been appointed to a ship. The French equivalent Is aspirant, and other European navies use that name, or cadet.

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