15 February 1913
ON this Day in 1913 the first entry of 13-year-old Cadet Midshipmen were admitted to the RAN College. It was temporarily located at Geelong House in Victoria while the new college was being built at Captain’s Point Jervis Bay where it moved in 1914.
The isolated location by the sheltered waters of Jervis Bay was ideal for keeping the young men far from temptations and close to the sea where they could train in boat work. They were expected to be proficient in celestial navigation and their isolation from cities gave them good opportunities for observations.
John Collins, Harold Farncomb, and Harry Showers, reached the rank of Admiral.
The RANC was run effectively as the Navy’s private school which inculcated naval knowledge and engineering and provided a secondary school general education.
Out of the RANC came well rounded young men able to represent Australia in the Imperial fleet where they continued their training alongside their Royal Navy counterparts.
