The passage links reports of poor long-range shooting at Navarino with the decision to establish HMS Excellent as a gunnery training ship at Portsmouth in 1830. Training initially served seaman gunners and soon included officers. Experimental functions made the establishment a center for research as well as instruction. More than 3,500 seaman gunners trained there during its first twenty years. Their performance at the bombardment of Acre is credited with answering critics of the training. The officer course is described as demanding mathematics comparable to a Cambridge degree, beyond many officers' capacities. Passing such examinations gave technical specialists a route to promotion and helped change how future senior officers were selected.
Notable Point · 4:19:06-4:20:21
HMS Excellent linked gunnery training with research and promotion
A passage from The Price of Victory traces HMS Excellent's establishment in 1830 and the demanding examinations that made gunnery a route to advancement.