The Central School of Mathematics and Naval Construction was a short-lived shipbuilding college at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

on the south coast of England. It was founded in 1848 but only lasted five years, until 1853. The first Principal was

Joseph Woolley The Reverend Joseph Woolley MA LLD FRAS (1817-1889) was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a founding member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. Early life and education Woolley was born in Petersfield, Hampshire on 27 J ...

, who in 1864 would found the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

that became part of the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

in 1873.

Building

The school was sited in the dockyard at

Portsea, Portsmouth Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all th ...

in the building formerly used by the School of Naval Architecture (1816–1832), facing the Commissioner’s house and Old Naval Academy. It is long by wide and high, to a design by Edward/Edmund Hall. Construction began in 1815 and was completed in 1817. The building has since seen use as a residence, Port Admirals Office, Tactical School, War College, NATO and Naval HQ and C in C Western Fleet Offices.http://www.portsmouthdockyard.org.uk/Dockyard%20Chronology.pdf

Education

The School of Mathematics and Naval Construction was intended as a finishing school for a select number of shipwright apprentices, to prepare them as officers in the dockyards. They were sent to the school for the final three years of their seven-year apprenticeship, to be taught mathematics by Wooley and shipbuilding by the master shipwright of the dockyard. Unusually, they were also taught chemistry in a laboratory created at the back of the school for the use of W.J. Hay, the chemical assistant of the dockyard.

Alumni

* Sir

Edward James Reed Sir Edward James Reed, KCB, FRS (20 September 1830 – 30 November 1906) was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870. He was a Liberal politician ...

- Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870 * Sir

Nathaniel Barnaby Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, (25 February 1829 – 16 June 1915) was Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1885. Biography Born on 25 February 1829 in Chatham, Barnaby began his career as a naval apprentice at Sheerness in 1843. He won a ...

- Reed's successor and brother-in-law * Frederick Kynaston Barnes - Naval Architect

References

Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Volume 16 (1853)
p 210

External links

{{coord , 50, 48, 1, N, 1, 6, 26, W, type:edu_region:GB-POR, display=title 1848 establishments in England Marine engineering organizations History of the Royal Navy Education in Portsmouth Training establishments of the Royal Navy

Building

Education

Alumni

References

Further reading

External links