The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers (RNAV, sometimes referred to as the Royal Naval Artillery Reserve) was a British military reserve force between 1873 and 1892. The force absorbed the men of the earlier
Royal Naval Coast Volunteers
The Royal Naval Coast Volunteers (RNCV) was a 19th century reserve force of the British Royal Navy. The volunteers were established in 1853 and the force lasted until 1873 when it was disbanded, with some of its volunteers entering the Royal Naval ...
and was intended to provide men to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in time of war. However, unlike the contemporary
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...
, the men of the RNAV did not necessarily have sea-going experience. It proved difficult to find a role for them (proposals that they man
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s were rejected by the Royal Navy) and an 1891 report by Vice Admiral
George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon (4 January 1832 – 22 June 1893) was a Great Britain, British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria (1887), HMS ''Victoria'' collided with HMS Camperdown (1885), HMS ''Camperdown'' during manoeuvres of ...
recommended that the RNAV be disbanded. This came into effect in April 1892 with members of the RNAV being urged to join the army's
Volunteer Force
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...
. The unit is considered a predecessor of the more successful
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
, founded in 1903.
Formation and service
The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers (RNAV) were authorised by a parliamentary act of 1873. It was, with the
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...
(RNR), one of two reserve corps that could be used to supplement the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in time of war.
The RNR was originally a reserve of trained seamen only, though by this time it had expanded to include reserve officers. The RNAV was "composed of men who had not, as a rule, practical acquaintance with the sea, but who had nautical sympathies and aspirations" and included officers and
ratings.
[ The RNAV absorbed the men of the ]Royal Naval Coast Volunteers
The Royal Naval Coast Volunteers (RNCV) was a 19th century reserve force of the British Royal Navy. The volunteers were established in 1853 and the force lasted until 1873 when it was disbanded, with some of its volunteers entering the Royal Naval ...
(disbanded 1873) who had not been transferred to the RNR.
The RNAV were organised into brigades of four or more batteries; the brigades were numbered and named after a locality. Each battery was commanded by a sub-lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces.
In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
(chosen by the brigade commander) and consisted of a chief petty officer
A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.
Canada
"Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxià ...
, 2 first class petty officers, 2 second class petty officers, 2 buglers and 51-71 leading gunners or gunners (the latter were the RNAV equivalent of the navy's leading seaman
Leading seaman is a junior non-commissioned rank or rate in navies, particularly those of the Commonwealth. When it is used by NATO nations, leading seaman has the rank code of OR-4. It is often equivalent to the army and air force rank of c ...
and able seaman
An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...
ranks), all volunteers. As well as the volunteers the battery was provided with a full-time first class petty officer. Each brigade was commanded by a lieutenant and additionally had a full-time staff of a lieutenant-instructor, a surgeon, a bugle major and armourer. Each brigade could also appoint honorary commanders, staff-surgeons and chaplains, though such men were not liable for active service and their appointments would be automatically terminated if the RNAV were mobilised.
The officers held Admiralty commissions and their rank was equivalent to that of the Royal Navy, but they came after naval and RNR officers in precedence. Members of the RNAV were required to salute officers of the Royal Navy, British Army and other auxiliary forces and to be saluted by the same. Admission was open to men aged 17 or over, though buglers could be as young as 14. Serving army or navy officers were not permitted to join. In times of need the unit would be mobilised by royal proclamation
A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...
upon which each member would be liable to serve on any Royal Navy vessel or tender.[ The men of the RNAV were restricted to serving on or near the British coast and could not be employed aloft (in the masts, rigging or smoke stacks) or as stokers (tending the fires in the boiler rooms).][ Discipline was under the Naval Artillery Volunteers Act in peacetime but the ]Naval Discipline Act
The Naval Discipline Act 1957 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing discipline in the Royal Navy. It governed courts-martial and criminal penalties for crimes committed by officers and ratings of the Royal Navy. It was su ...
when assembled with the regular forces for training or in camp (in which circumstances the RNAV were placed under the command of a Royal Navy officer).[
The RNAV trained using the Royal Navy artillery, rifle, pistol and cutlass drills.][ All men were required to attend two drills each month until they were passed as "efficient". Men rated efficient wore a silver lace chevron on their right sleeve; those that rated efficient five times wore a star above the chevron and those rated ten times wore two stars. In addition, men who passed the Royal Navy's "trained man" standard wore two chevrons.][ In 1891 the unit numbered some 66 officers and 1,849 ratings. The previous year some 633 recruits were admitted, showing the unit had a high turnover of members.][
]
Uniform
RNAV ratings wore similar uniforms to those in the Royal Navy, except that some line detail, straight in the navy, was wavy in the RNAV uniform. For example the white version of the navy rig had three wavy white lines on the trim of the blue collar and sleeve cuffs. The officers also wore similar uniforms to Royal Navy officers, a double breasted pea coat
A pea coat (or peacoat, pea jacket, pilot jacket, reefer jacket) is an outer coat, generally of a Navy blue, navy-coloured heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of European and later American navy, navies. Pea coats are characterized by short le ...
with five rows of brass buttons. Rank insignia was in wavy gold lace, rather than straight, and topped with a six-pointed star rather than the Royal Navy's curl. Uniform buttons, sword belts and cap badges were marked with the initials "RNAV" and on officers' epaulettes the lettering "R.N.A. Volunteers" replaced the Royal Navy anchor. Officers could wear a cocked hat, but with silver detail rather than the gold of the navy. Other ranks' cap tally bands were marked with a crown and anchor and the letters "RNAV", whereas the navy used ship names.
Disbandment
The RNAV struggled to find a role for its members in wartime. An 1889 meeting of its senior officers looked at ways of providing useful skills for its members but its proposals were rejected on difficulty and cost grounds. A suggestion that gunboats, partly manned by the navy, be provided to each brigade for use as training ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
s was rejected on cost grounds.[ A suggestion that RNAV officers be granted higher ranks was rejected by the Royal Navy due to possible difficulties if the unit were mobilised; the navy considered that executive ranks should only be granted to officers qualified to perform wartime duties. A proposal that the RNAV be used to man ]torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s in wartime was rejected as the navy considered such vessels were involved in some of the most strenuous work of the fleet. Lilley, writing in 2012, considers that the unit was "not really wanted by the Navy".
A committee on the future of the RNAV, chaired by Vice Admiral George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon (4 January 1832 – 22 June 1893) was a Great Britain, British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria (1887), HMS ''Victoria'' collided with HMS Camperdown (1885), HMS ''Camperdown'' during manoeuvres of ...
, sat in 1891. The committee found that an efficient means of mobilising the RNAV had not been developed, despite numerous attempts, and that no war time role for its members had been found, due to their lack of experience at sea.[ It stated that if a ]Royal Marine Artillery
The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...
reserve were to be formed then the former members of the RNAV might join that.[ In the absence of a Royal Marine reserve the committee suggested that former RNAV members might joint the submarine mining units of the ]Volunteer Force
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...
, but doubted that many would do so.[ The committee found that the RNAV failed to justify its government funding and also noted that all other attempts to form a naval reserve had failed, apart from the RNR which was composed entirely of trained seamen.][ The committee's report of 7 April 1891 recommended that the RNAV be disbanded and this was put into effect in April 1892.][ Despite its short period of service and lack of a role the unit is considered a predecessor of the more successful ]Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
, an officer-only reserve unit founded in 1903. The RNVR became known as the "Wavy Navy" for its rank insignia which was similar to that of the RNAV.
Notes
References
Further reading
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*
*
*{{cite book , last1=Brassey , first1=Thomas , title=The organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers explained , date=1874 , publisher=Longmans, Green and Co , location=London , url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_organisation_of_the_Royal_Naval_Artillery_Volunteers_explained
Military units and formations established in 1873
Military units and formations disestablished in the 1890s
Reserve forces of the United Kingdom
Royal Navy