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| Gunnery School (HMS Excellent) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Gunnery School (HMS Excellent) |
| Established | 1830s |
| Type | Naval gunnery training establishment |
| City | Portsmouth |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Affiliations | Royal Navy, Admiralty |
Gunnery School (HMS Excellent) was the principal Royal Navy gunnery training establishment located on Portsea Island at Portsmouth Harbour, operated under directives from the Admiralty and the Board of Admiralty. It developed doctrines, techniques, and instructors for naval artillery used aboard HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, HMS Dreadnought, and later steel battleships, influencing operations during the Crimean War, First World War, and Second World War. The school interacted with industrial and scientific bodies such as Armstrong Whitworth, Vickers, and the Royal Gunpowder Mills while contributing to professional journals like the Journal of the Royal United Services Institute.
The origins trace to experimental gunnery trials at Portsmouth and the creation of a formal establishment in the 1830s under the Board of Admiralty, with early influence from figures associated with Sir William Armstrong and the School of Gunnery initiatives. During the mid-19th century the institution evolved alongside engagements like the Crimean War and reforms driven by naval administrators tied to Admiral Sir William Parker and technological advocates in Parliament. The late 19th century expansion paralleled the commissioning of ironclads such as HMS Warrior and debates at Whitehall involving the Committee on Naval Ordnance. In the 20th century the school modernized through interwar links to Admiralty Research Laboratory programs, contributing to preparations for the Battle of Jutland and later adjustments for anti-aircraft work in the Second World War. Postwar reductions and defense reviews influenced by the 1947 Royal Commission and later Ministry of Defence restructuring led to phased closures and relocations.
Situated on Portsea Island within Portsmouth Harbour, the campus occupied sites including former batteries, barracks, and the historic Fort Cumberland perimeter alongside facilities at Gosport and experimental ranges at Needles Battery and the Southsea Castle area. Workshops and demonstration ranges were built near Haslar and incorporated ranges for small-arms linked to Royal Small Arms Factory expertise. The establishment housed classrooms, drill yards, magazines adjacent to the Royal Dockyard, and laboratory spaces that cooperated with Royal Ordnance Factory engineers and Royal Observatory, Greenwich surveyors for ballistics work.
Instruction emphasized naval artillery, fire-control, and ballistics drawing on curricula shaped by interactions with Admiralty Research Laboratory, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve instructors, and manuals distributed by the Navy Board. Courses covered gunnery drills, turret operation, range-finding, and anti-aircraft procedures used on HMS Hood, HMS Repulse, and destroyers of the Grand Fleet. Trainees included officers and ratings seconded from squadrons such as the Channel Fleet, with syllabi incorporating trigonometry, applied physics from Royal Society-linked researchers, and practical live-fire exercises echoing techniques advocated by proponents like Admiral Sir Percy Scott and tactical writers published in the Naval Review.
Commandants were senior Royal Navy officers, drawn from seagoing commands and overseen by the Admiralty. Notable figures associated by contemporaneous reportage include officers who served in fleets such as the Mediterranean Fleet and the Home Fleet, and who previously commanded vessels like HMS Inflexible or HMS Collingwood. Staff comprised specialist instructors seconded from the Royal Artillery and technicians from Vickers-Armstrongs and the Royal Ordnance establishment, while administrative links extended to Whitehall and the War Office for inter-service cooperation.
The school provided trained gunners and doctrinal guidance for operations in the Crimean War, the Anglo-Egyptian War, the First World War including the Battle of Jutland, and the Second World War campaigns such as the Norwegian Campaign and the Battle of the Atlantic. It developed anti-aircraft instruction adopted fleet-wide for countering threats from Luftwaffe aircraft and coordinated with coastal defenses around Portsmouth during Operation Dynamo and other evacuations. The establishment also supported convoy escort tactics taught to crews destined for service with the Western Approaches Command and liaised with Combined Operations Headquarters for shore bombardment techniques used in amphibious operations.
The school tested and taught use of ordnance including smoothbore cannons transitioned to rifled breech-loaders like those made by Armstrong Whitworth and later heavy guns mounted on HMS Dreadnought and subsequent capital ships. It contributed to development of range-finding instruments from manufacturers such as Barr and Stroud and fire-control systems incorporating inputs from Admiralty Compass Observatory and work by scientists associated with the Royal Institution. Experimental programs addressed propellants from Royal Gunpowder Mills, naval explosives advances, and radar-directed gunnery as developed in concert with research at Bawdsey Manor and Marconi Company engineers.
The establishment left a legacy in professionalizing naval gunnery across the Royal Navy, influencing training doctrine used by Commonwealth navies including the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal New Zealand Navy. Decommissioning and consolidation during postwar defense reforms saw many functions absorbed into central training at HMS Collingwood and other Naval Training Headquarters, with some historic buildings preserved as part of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and military heritage projects involving English Heritage and local authorities. Its institutional papers and artifacts entered collections at institutions like the National Maritime Museum and influenced contemporary naval ordnance practice in successor establishments.