Having been recently contemplating rejoining the Navy, I have spent some time reading up on the history of the service (and yes though admittedly we all learnt the basic history of the service at both BMQ/OSUT & NETP) there never really was a whole lot of time spent on the Royal Canadian Navy, with a majority of the material being taught, was focused on the Post-Unification Forces.
I’ve recently been wondering about a few things, and though there are some great reference sites out there, many of them are either solely dedicated to WW1/WW2 or to current naval operations etc. Fortunately though, in light of the Navy’s 100th Anniversary there has been a lot of high quality historical documents/publications released (including the Crowsnest through the Naval Heritage Project http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/documents/documents_e.asp?section=2).
Having now had the opportunity to skim through all the editions of the magazine, I have come up with a rather large battery of questions, and I hope that perhaps someone on this site might either be able to help me answer them.
Warrant Officers in the RCN: Now from what I’ve gathered, senior ratings(Chief Petty Officers, and later Chief Petty Officer 1st Class), in certain ratings such as the Quartermaster’s Branch(later the Boatswain’s Branch), the Regulating Branch, The Gunnery Branch etc. were eligible to become “Warrant Officers”. Now with that being said, did Warrant Officers in the RCN get issued a new rank badge. Also, at what point were Warrant Officers in the RCN abolished(I’m assuming it was during Unification, or was it at some point sooner?), and thirdly did Warrant Officers share a mess with the Petty Officers/Chief Petty Officers, or were they assigned their own mess?
University Naval Training Division: I’m assuming that this program was abolished during “Unification”, but aside from that, what were the exact aims of the program? Was it simply a program to train officers for the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve (later titled the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve), or was it used as a Naval Officer placement program for students once they had completed their college degree?
Officer Classification Colors: Now at some point during 1960, the use of colors for the separate officer branches (Executive: Black, Engineering: Purple, Electrical Branch: Green, Medical Branch: Red, Wardmaster: Maroon, Supply Branch: White, Special Branch: Light Green, Constructor Branch: Grey, Instructor Branch: Light Blue, Ordinance Branch: Dark Blue, Civil Engineer Branch: Terracotta). Now were the color classifications phased out because of a move towards a more “Canadianized” Navy, or was there a more practical reason for this change?
Naval Provost: Unlike the Canadian Army ,and the Royal Canadian Air Force at no time did the RCN ever have service police, but instead relied upon the use of the divisional system, the Regulating Branch, Shore Patrols, the Master at Arms, and many other various institutions to maintain order and discipline. Now at some point in the 1960’s the Jaunty (Master at Arms), and the Regulating Branch were replaced by the Boatswain’s Branch, and members of the rating were assigned Patrol duties. Interestingly enough though, the Regulating Branch continued on in the Naval Reserve until “Unification”, while the Jaunty was also abolished in the RCNR. Now I was wondering, what sort of provost powers were allocated to members of the Boatswains Branch assigned to patrol duties? Was the position of Regulating Petty Officer in the Regular Navy, abolished when the rating was amalgamated? Though it was only a temporary establishment was the Naval Shore Patrol Service on the West Coast disestablished when the Regulating Branch ceased to exist?, were Deputy Naval Provost Marshalls still in place when the Boatswain Branch took over provost duties? Also, at any point, did the Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence have any sort of Special Investigations Branch put in place, or did they simply stick to their role of ensuring security of Her Majesty’s Canadian Naval Establishments?
Combat Uniform and Bush Dress in the RCN: I have seen some photos in which personnel engaged in either naval landing training, or other activities which required them to be in the field, wearing either the Bush Dress Uniform, or later on the combat uniform. It seems that when said uniforms were worn, that RCN Rank and Rating badges were worn(the rank and rating badges being of the “blue” variety, while officers wore their RCN rank badges on the uniform’s epaulets). Now bearing in mind, that according the last BRCN published on the wearing of rate/rank badges on “working clothes” that only red badges were to be worn, was there an exception to this rule when it came to combat clothing, or was this simply a dress regulation at the unit level? Also, it appears that the MK II Helmet was still worn by the Navy, especially by the Naval Reserve into the late 60’s, though oddly enough the M1 helmet had replaced the Mark II in the Army (and I believe the RCAF as well). Did the RCN ever adopt the M1, or was it issued following “Unification”? Finally, it seems that the naval pattern battledress uniform (in the traditional navy blue color) was worn during both shore parties, in the field and in conjunction with naval aviation (for ratings red badges were worn, and for officers epaulets attached), now at what point did the navy cease issuing naval battledress?
“Naval Blue” berets in the RCN: It seems at least from photographic evidence, that officers involved in naval aviation, and aviation maintainer ratings wore a “naval blue beret”. Now was this practice solely the privilege of naval aviators/aircrew or was the beret also worn by other ratings/officers?
I’ve recently been wondering about a few things, and though there are some great reference sites out there, many of them are either solely dedicated to WW1/WW2 or to current naval operations etc. Fortunately though, in light of the Navy’s 100th Anniversary there has been a lot of high quality historical documents/publications released (including the Crowsnest through the Naval Heritage Project http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/documents/documents_e.asp?section=2).
Having now had the opportunity to skim through all the editions of the magazine, I have come up with a rather large battery of questions, and I hope that perhaps someone on this site might either be able to help me answer them.
Warrant Officers in the RCN: Now from what I’ve gathered, senior ratings(Chief Petty Officers, and later Chief Petty Officer 1st Class), in certain ratings such as the Quartermaster’s Branch(later the Boatswain’s Branch), the Regulating Branch, The Gunnery Branch etc. were eligible to become “Warrant Officers”. Now with that being said, did Warrant Officers in the RCN get issued a new rank badge. Also, at what point were Warrant Officers in the RCN abolished(I’m assuming it was during Unification, or was it at some point sooner?), and thirdly did Warrant Officers share a mess with the Petty Officers/Chief Petty Officers, or were they assigned their own mess?
University Naval Training Division: I’m assuming that this program was abolished during “Unification”, but aside from that, what were the exact aims of the program? Was it simply a program to train officers for the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve (later titled the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve), or was it used as a Naval Officer placement program for students once they had completed their college degree?
Officer Classification Colors: Now at some point during 1960, the use of colors for the separate officer branches (Executive: Black, Engineering: Purple, Electrical Branch: Green, Medical Branch: Red, Wardmaster: Maroon, Supply Branch: White, Special Branch: Light Green, Constructor Branch: Grey, Instructor Branch: Light Blue, Ordinance Branch: Dark Blue, Civil Engineer Branch: Terracotta). Now were the color classifications phased out because of a move towards a more “Canadianized” Navy, or was there a more practical reason for this change?
Naval Provost: Unlike the Canadian Army ,and the Royal Canadian Air Force at no time did the RCN ever have service police, but instead relied upon the use of the divisional system, the Regulating Branch, Shore Patrols, the Master at Arms, and many other various institutions to maintain order and discipline. Now at some point in the 1960’s the Jaunty (Master at Arms), and the Regulating Branch were replaced by the Boatswain’s Branch, and members of the rating were assigned Patrol duties. Interestingly enough though, the Regulating Branch continued on in the Naval Reserve until “Unification”, while the Jaunty was also abolished in the RCNR. Now I was wondering, what sort of provost powers were allocated to members of the Boatswains Branch assigned to patrol duties? Was the position of Regulating Petty Officer in the Regular Navy, abolished when the rating was amalgamated? Though it was only a temporary establishment was the Naval Shore Patrol Service on the West Coast disestablished when the Regulating Branch ceased to exist?, were Deputy Naval Provost Marshalls still in place when the Boatswain Branch took over provost duties? Also, at any point, did the Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence have any sort of Special Investigations Branch put in place, or did they simply stick to their role of ensuring security of Her Majesty’s Canadian Naval Establishments?
Combat Uniform and Bush Dress in the RCN: I have seen some photos in which personnel engaged in either naval landing training, or other activities which required them to be in the field, wearing either the Bush Dress Uniform, or later on the combat uniform. It seems that when said uniforms were worn, that RCN Rank and Rating badges were worn(the rank and rating badges being of the “blue” variety, while officers wore their RCN rank badges on the uniform’s epaulets). Now bearing in mind, that according the last BRCN published on the wearing of rate/rank badges on “working clothes” that only red badges were to be worn, was there an exception to this rule when it came to combat clothing, or was this simply a dress regulation at the unit level? Also, it appears that the MK II Helmet was still worn by the Navy, especially by the Naval Reserve into the late 60’s, though oddly enough the M1 helmet had replaced the Mark II in the Army (and I believe the RCAF as well). Did the RCN ever adopt the M1, or was it issued following “Unification”? Finally, it seems that the naval pattern battledress uniform (in the traditional navy blue color) was worn during both shore parties, in the field and in conjunction with naval aviation (for ratings red badges were worn, and for officers epaulets attached), now at what point did the navy cease issuing naval battledress?
“Naval Blue” berets in the RCN: It seems at least from photographic evidence, that officers involved in naval aviation, and aviation maintainer ratings wore a “naval blue beret”. Now was this practice solely the privilege of naval aviators/aircrew or was the beret also worn by other ratings/officers?
