École Navale

École Navale

Officers designates from the École during ceremonies of the 8 May.
Motto Parere Antequam Prodesse
Type Military college
Established 1827
Administrative staff
 270 military, 30 civilians
Students 1,500 each year
Location Lanvéoc-Poulmic, Brittany, France
Campus Naval Base of Lanvéoc-Poulmic
Affiliations Conférence des Grandes écoles; Conference of the Directors of French Engineering Schools; European University of Brittany
Website Official site of the École Navale
The Borda, where the Naval Academy was located from 1864 to 1890.

The École Navale is the French Naval Academy in charge of the education of the officers of the French Navy. They are meant to have responsibilities on board ships, submarines, naval aviation, groups of fusiliers marins and commandos but also in general staff. The École Navale and its research institute (IRENAV) are in Lanvéoc-Poulmic, south of the roadstead of Brest.

History

The academy was founded in 1830 by the order of King Louis-Philippe. Originally the academy was based on ships, anchored in the harbour of Brest, such as the Borda (previously named Valmy), hence the nickname of "Bordache" given to the students.

In 1914, the École Navale was transferred ashore in Brest. The school was destroyed by Allied bombing raids during World War II, and was moved to nearby Lanvéoc-Poulmic, on the opposite side of the bay of Brest (Rade de Brest). The academy remained in this location, and was officially inaugurated by Charles de Gaulle in 1965.

The successive Borda of the École Navale

The École Navale, created in 1830, was for long on board successive vessels based in Brest and nicknamed Borda (from the name of Jean-Charles de Borda, famous scientist of the 18th century): the first vessel on board which it had been set was named Orion; it was then replaced i 1840 by the Commerce-de-Paris, old wooden-three-decked ship which was 32 years old. This ship had an inappropriate name for a Naval Academy, so it was renamed Borda. In 1863, the academy was transferred on board the Valmy (Borda, second of the name), then in 1890 on board the Intrépide (Borda, third of the name), and in 1913 on board the Duguay-Trouin (1879) earlier school-vessel for application-school of naval aspirants[1] (between 1900 and 1912). With the exceptions of Orion and Duguay-Trouin, every of these vessels was still christened Borda.

The traditions on board the Borda

The welcoming ceremony

The new pupils were boarded from the pontoon Gueydon, one day before the others. Crammed like sheep in a gunboat, they were bouncy and happy while launching a goodbye to their families. As soon as arrived, they were sorted, numbered, undressed in order to give them the white blouse and linen trousers. Their hair was also shorn.

Two days later, the parents were authorised on board for the opening mass for the new cadets. Flags were placed around the altar, an only seat was reserved for the Pope, nickname of the captain commanding the academy. The parents took place on bench, and then entered the pupils, the senior ones first, tiding themselves on the sides, and then the new cadets in their new suit under the quip of the others who were screaming "Caillou! Caillou!" (Stone!Stone!) to recognize the new cadets.[2] This was followed by the first formal dinner of the new students.

Traditions

A traditional ceremony on board the Borda was the presentation and delivery of the sword to the son by his "baille" father, for the first day of outing; the son knelt and kissed the sword's blade as if he were being knighted.

In the spring, when the first outing in dinghy took place, another consecration took place, this of baptism that the ancient gave to the new thanks to water buckets.[2]

Slang "Baille"

The École Navale is traditionally called La Baille (and not Navale which is the ine if the old school of Health of Bordeaux). Its slang is rich and comes principally from maritime slang. Like every "Grande Ecole" which respects itself you talk there with its slang. The commander in second is the widow. The elephants or the "pékins" are the civilians. The "bordache" or the "type-baille" is the pupil. The "chafustard" is the mechanic. The mastiffs are the subofficers assuring the military surrounding. Finally, there are the songs of the board which aren't all subject to transcription due to their crudity, but of which some are of high musical and literary standard. Nowadays, it uses some expressions coming from other military academies ( École Polytechnique, Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, École de l'air) and from military high schools. The reference about it is the book of the commander Roger Coindeau, illustrated by Luc-Marie Bayle.

Learning the work of seaman

All this will not impede the future Navy officers to work hard; since the first days, the old accompany the new in climbing the shrouds, and make them do the recovery in order to enter in the hune. It is the first step. Then comes the climbing of the second hune, and little by little, everyone gets used not to have dizziness, but to run on the footboard stretched beneath each yardarm, to unfurl the sail. All this commanded by a whistle. Even if the job of topsman had become unuseful with the modern war boats, it was still taught to the student-officers, in order for them to be able to bring back a catch in time of war with its sails, and also because it was part of the traditions.

The two years of school were well filled up with everything that had to learn a Navy officer: rowing, sailing, the machines, the infantry exercises, the maneuver of guns and the school of fire, the wheelhouse signals with flags, the services of the boat, superior mathematics, geography, hydrography,English and a lot more.

The École Navale back to the ground

In the beginning of the 20th century, a project to install on the ground the Ecole Naval had almost made its way. The chosen place was at la Pointe, in the district of Recouvrance (Brest). The project failed due to a lack of money. However the school settled in 1915 in buildings already built in Laninon, also situated in Recouvrance, as the First World War was then raging.

Work for the campus began November 14, 1929 and was presided by Georges Leygues, minister of the Navy, and the school was inaugurated 30 Mai 1936 by Albert Lebrun, President of the Republic.

Regardless of the grounding of the school, the final year of formation and training at sea (the School of Application) has been preserved in the form of traditional cruising (sometimes around the world), in especially on board of successive Jeanne d'Arc : the cruisers Jeanne d'Arc (1899), then Jeanne d'Arc (1930) and finally the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc, until 2010. The "Mission Jeanne d'Arc" cruises by the cadets are now done in various vessels of the Navy.

In 1945, the important destructions suffered by the École Navale during the Second World War did not allow it to welcome the student officers in normal conditions. The school was transferred to provisory barracks at the Lanveoc aeronautical base instead, and new buildings were proposed in the late 1950s to accommodate a rising number of naval cadets. The definitive buildings of the new École Navale at its current campus were inaugurated in 1965 by the general De Gaulle.[3] The old École Navale of Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon is now known as the Naval Instruction Center which hosts the Lycée naval, the École de maistrance and the (now reopened) Ecole des Mousses.

Officer stream

Engineer degree

Garde au drapeau de l'École navale

The engineer degree is a degree made in three years after the preparatory classes to the great High Schools. In the end of 2009, l'École Navale has adapted its formation in order for it to be entirely in the European education outline. The students are recruited thanks to the exam bank after two or three years of mathematics preparatory classes. The program is articulated on 6 semesters (or 360 credits ECTS):

At the end of this degree, they are given the title of engineer from the École Navale and the rank of master. This degree is recognized by the "engineer titles commission".

After this formation, they go on with the "maritime superior formation and specialization" and they are ranked "Ship of the Line ensign first class" (Sublieutenant).

Under contract officer stream

The officer formation stream is followed by the "under contract officers". This officer initial formation is given at the École Navale. Its target is to give to this young graduate of the superior education of diversified origins a maritime, military culture and an engineer formation. It takes one year.

It is attested by the attribution for:

At the end of this year, the midshipmen are given the rank of ensign, and they are sent to follow the "maritime superior formation and specialization" (see underneath)

Famous alumni

Notes

  1. ↑ and who was nicknamed (unofficially and symbolically) Borda, fourth of the name
  2. 1 2 Le Journal du dimanche, no. 248 du 24 août 1913, consultable http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5677308w/f13.image.r=Recouvrance.langFR
  3. ↑

Further reading

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Coordinates: 48°16′45″N 4°24′54″W / 48.2792°N 4.415°W / 48.2792; -4.415

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