Royal Naval College, Osborne Royal Naval College, Osborne The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921. Boys were admitted at about the age of thirteen to follow a course lasting for six academic terms before proceeding to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Some formal appointments to the college were to HMS "Racer, a vessel attached to the college, previously the tender to HMS "Britannia". Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Osborne House, overlooking the River Medina, where she had spent her
Midshipman longer the case that those joining the Navy as university graduates start as sub-lieutenants, with non-graduates joining as midshipmen. Graduates and non-graduates all start as midshipmen, and wait to be promoted at the same time. General basic training (initial officer training) for Royal Navy officers takes place at the Britannia Royal Naval College. Training takes up to a year depending on specialisation; all midshipmen participate in at least the first two terms, which are 14 weeks each. Until they have completed initial fleet training, both midshipmen and sub-lieutenants at Britannia Royal Naval College do not use their substantive ranks, but