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Sea Cadets (United Kingdom)

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File:SCC badge.JPG
Badge of the Sea Cadet Corps.

The Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) is a UK cadet force, that takes after the Royal Navy (even though it is not controlled and funded by the Royal Navy in the same way the Combined Cadet Force, Air Training Corps or Army Cadet Force are respectively controlled by their parent sections of the Ministry of Defence). It is not a pre-service organisation, however a significant minority of its members do join the Royal Navy or Royal Marines.

Organisation

National Level

The parent organisation of the SCC is The Marine Society & Sea Cadets [1] but it is also sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (Navy). The governing body of the Corps is The Marine Society & Sea Cadets Council which is made up of the charity's trustees and representatives from the MoD.

The Commodore Sea Cadet Corps (CSC) is responsible to the Council for controlling and directing the Corps and for advising the Council on controlling the annual budget. The current Commodore is Commodore Laurie Brokenshire CBE RN (rtd).

The Marine Society & Sea Cadet headquarters [2] is based in Lambeth Road, London.

HM The Queen is the Patron of the SCC and HRH The Duke of York is the Admiral of the SCC.

Area Level

The country is divided geographically into six areas which are Northern (also including Northern Ireland), North West, Eastern, South West, Southern and London. Each of these areas has its own headquarters and an Area Officer (AO) who is a Royal Navy Commander or, occasionally, a Royal Marine Lieutenant Colonel. Each area also has a Deputy Area Officer (DAO), usually a retired Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander, and Area Warrant Officer (AWO) who assist the AO. The Area Warrant Officer post is currently being renamed Area Logistics Officer, and will be open to both civilian and ex-Royal Navy personnel.

District Level

Scarborough Sea Cadets.

Each area is further subdivided into districts of between 5 and 12 units. In charge of each district is a District Officer (DO) who is normally a Sea Cadet Lieutenant Commander or Major.

Activities

The activities of the Sea Cadet Corps include sail training, powerboating, windsurfing and dinghy sailing. Non-waterborne activities include drill (marching), physical training, cooking, shooting and communications, first aid and engineering.

National courses are also held, often on Royal Navy bases, to teach skills such as leadership and teamwork. Specialist qualification courses include powerboating in Scotland, cooking in Preston and firefighting in Cornwall.

The Sea Cadet training ship T.S. John Jerwood passes through Patch Bridge on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal (Gloucestershire), on its passage to the River Severn

The SCC owns and operates the tall ship TS Royalist and a number of other training ships, such as TS John Jerwood.

Membership

Cadets

Young people between the ages of 12 and 18 can join the SCC, as Sea Cadets, and complete a part1 training (Taskbooks) and part2 training (specialization qualifications e.g., Seamanship and Writer/Stores). Every unit accepts female sea cadets. Some units have a Junior Cadet Section, for cadets aged between 10 and 12. Units may also have a Marine Cadet Detatchment (based on the Royal Marines) for young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Currently, not all marine detatchments accept female marine cadets - lacking female Adult Staff.

Adult Staff

Officers, Senior Ratings and Civilian Instructors form the Adult staff. Officers appointed, on an honorary basis, into the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) or Royal Marines Reserve (RMR). They have no operational commitments, and wear the distictive insignia of the former Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). Ranks range from Midshipman (SCC) RNR to Lieutenant Commander (SCC) RNR. Senior Ratings may hold ranks from Probationary Petty Officer (SCC) to Chief Petty Officer (SCC). Adult members, 18 to 55 (subject to Criminal Reference checks), may volunteer to become uniformed staff as opposed to Civilian Instructors.

Rank Structure

Junior Cadets

  • Junior New Entry
  • Junior Cadet First Class
  • Leading Junior

'Bluejacket' Cadets

  • New Entry
  • Cadet
  • Ordinary Cadet
  • Able Cadet
  • Leading Cadet
  • Petty Officer Cadet


Marine Cadets

  • Recruit
  • Marine Cadet
  • Marine Cadet Second Class (MC2)
  • Marine Cadet First Class (MC1)
  • Cadet Lance Corporal
  • Cadet Corporal
  • Cadet Sergeant

Adult Staff SCC

(Trainee Instructors have a commitment to go into uniform, whereas a Civillian Instructor doesn't have to (but can do)

Adult Staff MCD

History of the Corps

The Sea Cadet Corps has one of the longest continuous histories of any youth organisation in the country, but it has evolved haphazardly. The Corps dates back to the Crimean War (1854-1856) when sailors returning home from the campaign formed Naval Lads' Brigades to help orphans in the back streets of sea ports.

The SCC in the UK can be traced back to the Kent port of Whitstable where the first of the Naval Lads' Brigades was established. The success of the brigades in helping disadvantaged youth led to the formation of the Navy League, a national organisation with a membership of 250,000 dedicated to supporting the Royal Navy, which subsequently adopted the Brigades in 1910.

1914 The Navy League applied to the Admiralty for recognition of its 34 Boys' Naval Brigades. This was granted in 1919 subject to an annual efficiency inspection by an officer on the staff of the Admiral Commanding Reserves, and the title Navy League Sea Cadet Corps was adopted.

1937 Lord Nuffield gave £50,000 (over £2 million in today's money) to fund the relaunch and expansion of the Sea Cadet Corps.

1939 At the start of World War II here were almost 100 Sea Cadet Units in the UK with more than 10,000 Cadets

1940 In June the Navy League purchased an old sailing vessel and renamed her TS Bounty. She was fitted out to accommodate 40 Cadets. In July weekly courses started for Cadets from all Units. These ended in September and the ship closed down.

1941 The shortage of visual and wireless ratings in the Royal Navy led to special three-week training courses being run on board TS Bounty for Sea Cadets, to qualify them more quickly for entry into the RN. This made good use of the training and skills they had already gained in the Cadets and meant a considerable saving in training time for the Admiralty.

1942 The 1941 scheme had caught the Admiralty’s imagination. As a result, the Admiral Commanding Reserves took over the training role, HM King George VI became Admiral of the Corps, Officers were granted appointments in the RNVR and the Corps was renamed the Sea Cadet Corps. A huge expansion to 400 Units and 50,000 Cadets coincided in many towns with Warship Weeks, so the newly formed Unit took the same name as the adopted warship. The Admiralty now paid for uniforms, equipment, travel and training, while the Navy League funded sport and Unit headquarters.

In the same year, the Girls' Nautical Training Corps was formed as part of the National Association of Girls’ Corps, with Units mainly in southern England.

1948 The Sea Cadet Council was set up to govern the Corps, with membership from the Navy League and the Royal Navy, and a retired Captain took on the task of supervision, first as Secretary to the Council and later as Captain, Sea Cadet Corps.

1955 The Commandant General, Royal Marines asked permission to form a Marine Cadet Section that could be fitted into the existing organisation and the Council agreed to this. By 1964 the Section had expanded from the original five Detachments to 40. Today there are 98.

1963 The Girls' Nautical Training Corps became affiliated to the Sea Cadet Corps, in many cases sharing the same premises with local Units.

1976 The Navy League was renamed the Sea Cadet Association since support of the Sea Cadets and Girls’ Nautical Training Corps had become its sole aims.

1980 The admission of girls into the Sea Cadet Corps was approved and the Girls’ Nautical Training Corps ceased to exist as a separate body.

2004 In November the Sea Cadet Association merged with the world's oldest seafarers' charity The Marine Society to form a new charity The Marine Society & Sea Cadets.

Royal Navy Trafalgar 200

Stern of the Grand Turk
The TS Royalist during the Trafalgar 200 international fleet review

United Kingdom Sea Cadets were strong supporters of Trafalgar 200 and participated in many activities. A key role was played by the Sea Cadet Corp training ship TS Royalist during Son et Lumiere and the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar, led by Grand Turk which played the part of HMS Victory. TS Royalist cruised just off the Southsea beach along with several other Tall Ships during a sabre rattling pre-battle display of power.

See also

External references

London Area

North West Area

South West Area

  • Mercia District
  • Devon District
  • Cornwall District
  • Somerset and Dorset District
  • Avon District
  • Severn District
  • Warwikshire District
  • Cornwall District
  • South Wales District
  • West Wales District

Southern Area

North West Area

South West Area

Devon District
  • Exeter Unit - TS Exeter
  • Exmouth Unit - TS Exmouth
  • Plymouth Drake Unit - TS Golden Hind
  • Plymouth Manadon Unit
  • Torbay Unit - TS Torbay


Southern Area

Eastern Area

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