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The RCN's
Technical Apprentice Training Plan
1951 - 1970
A Brief History of the Royal Canadian Navy Technical Apprenticeship Plan
To combat a shortage of highly trained technicians which had become critical by 1951 the Royal Canadian Navy embarked on the Technical Apprentice Training Plan (T.A.T.P.). A recruiting drive launched in May 1952 resulted in a group of 66 men commencing T.A.T.P. training in Feb 1953. A 10,000 ton repair ship was commissioned as HMCS CAPE BRETON and located in HMC Dockyard, Halifax, NS., to provide the apprentices with living, workshop and classroom accommodation.
HMCS CAPE BRETON Courtesy of Wayne Houde, Entry 13
The original entry graduated in 1956 and were transferred from Apprentices to the following trades
1) Engineering Artificer 2) Shipwright 3) Ordnance Technician 4) Air Artificer 5) Electrical Technician
Increasing intakes of apprentices overtaxed the facilities in HMCS Cape Breton and in the Fall of 1955 it was decided that the scheme would relocated to the Pacific Command as part of the new training establishment. Training continued in Cape Breton until July 1958 when the Apprentice Scheme was transferred to HMCS Naden. The new instructional buildings had been built on the extremities of Naden beyond Lang Cove and living accommodations were provided in Nelles Block.
Entry 9 was the first entry to commence their apprenticeship on the west coast and all five of the aforementioned trades were open to them. By Entry 10 the Air and Ordnance choices were dropped and by Entry 11 the only trades open to apprentices were Engineering Artificer and Hull Technician.
The number of men selected for training each year varied frequently after 1953. The first few entries were a year apart and then input was doubled with two entries per year. Originally the entrants were taken directly from shore but from Jul 1963 onward alternate entries were selected from the Fleet. By 1965 the policy was for 15 entrants from shore to commence training in January and 15 entrants from the Fleet in July of each year.
Successful graduates were promoted to Petty Officer Second Class after their 39 months of training until Entry13 commenced training. Entry 13 and later entries were graduated as Leading Seamen. It became apparent in the 1960s that the original shortage of tradesmen had been overcome and the program was producing too many technicians who were entering the fleet as Leading Seamen and overloading the trade. The cost of running the apprentice scheme with reduced intake but still requiring a large staff and extensive facilities became prohibitive and the scheme was abandoned with the start of Entry 24.
The graduation of Entry 24 in 1970 marked the end of the Technical Apprentice Training Plan. Over the previous seventeen years almost 600 bright young men had trudged up the gangplank of Cape Breton or passed through the doors of the Apprentice wing in Naden.
The Article below by Lt D. W. Wilson, RCN is from the Sep 1964 Issue of the Crowsnest magazine. Click on the article to read the full story
Excerpts from the RCN Technical Apprenticeship Training Plan Recruitment Booklet
Twice each year the Royal Canadian Navy offers a selected number of high school and technical school students the opportunity to enrol for technical apprenticeship training in the following trades:
Engineering Artificer - (Responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ships' boilers and engines). Shipwright - (Responsible for the maintenance of ships' hull and structures). Electrical Technician - (Responsible for the maintenance of ships' electrical equipment). Air Artificer - (Responsible for the maintenance of aircraft engines and air frames). Armourer - (Responsible for the maintenance of ships' armament).
Education: Successful completion of Grade X by July 1st preceding enrolment.
Candidates are required to write pre-selection examinations. The first being a Preliminary Examination in General Science, English and Mathematics; the second part consists of a series of aptitude tests and selection board interviews.
Physical Standards: Candidates must meet the physical standards required by the Royal Canadian Navy.
Engagement Periods: Successful candidates are enrolled for an initial period of seven years. Subsequent re-engagements, for those men who wish to make the Royal Canadian Navy their career, will be for five year periods.
TRAINING:
New Entry Training - Consists of an 18 week New Entry Training course in HMCS Cornwallis near Digby, N.S.. Each entry of young men who are enrolled as Ordinary Seamen Apprentices will undergo their New Entry Training together as a complete class.
Technical Training - The total length of the apprenticeship course is 39 months, and is conducted aboard HMCS Cape Breton, a 10,000 ton maintenance ship at Halifax. This ship, which is the Apprenticeship Training establishment, provides the Apprentices' living, workshop and classroom accommodation.. The course is composed of the following:
General shop training ..................................................................24 months Specialist branch training ashore ...................................................6 months Specialist branch training afloat .....................................................6 months Summary of training, final examination and trade testing ................ 3 months
The Apprenticeship Course is designed to provide complete apprenticeship training in the trade for which the Apprentice is selected. Apprentices are engaged in ship maintenance work, such as engine repairs, hull repairs, etc., which require both the manufacture of new parts and the fitting and assembly processes. In addition to this practical training there is classroom training in shop theory, academic subjects, etc. The training provides all apprentices, with the exception of those being trained as Shipwrights, with the skills of machinist and fitter, and the application of these skills to the particular requirements of the Technical Branches for which they are being trained. Shipwrights require less machine shop training than the others, therefore selection for this Branch will be made after the first 12 months. Apprentices being trained for the Shipwright Branch will, like the other Apprentices, complete the full 39 month training period. During the first 24 months of training, the academic instruction is arranged to enable trainees to reach junior matriculation level in Mathematics and Physics.
Leave:
Thirty days leave annually, with traveling time, is granted.
Daily leave is governed by the Training Ship's routine. Daily leave is however, generally restricted to ensure that the disciplinary requirements for young men under training is accommodated, and also to ensure that certain evenings of each week are available for instruction.
Apprentices normally will not be granted overnight leave which would permit them to sleep out of the training ship.
Status:
Candidates are enrolled as Ordinary Seamen Apprentices and are promoted in accordance with RCN Apprentice Branch promotion regulations. Upon successful completion of the new entry training period and 39 month Apprenticeship Course, Leading Seamen Apprentices will be promoted to the rank of Petty Officer Second Class and transferred to the Branch for which they have been selected and trained. While serving in any one of the various Branches of the Royal Canadian Navy, they may qualify for further promotion up to the rank of Chief Petty Officer First Class. There is, of course, the opportunity for a man to gain promotion to Commissioned Rank in the Branch for which he has been trained.
PAY AND ALLOWANCES
Apprentices under the age of 17 years are paid at half the normal rate for Ordinary Seamen. Upon reaching 17 years of age they are paid the normal full rate for their rank.
Monthly Pay Rates - Basic
Ordinary Seaman (under 17 years) .........................................$52.00 Ordinary Seaman (17 years and over ....................................$104.00 Ordinary Seaman (trained) ................................................... $110.00 Able Seaman ........................................................................$127.00 Leading Seaman ...................................................................$170.00 Petty Officer Second Class ...................................................$194.00 Petty Officer First Class ........................................................$217.00 Chief Petty Officer Second Class ..........................................$251.00 Chief Petty Officer First Class ...............................................$280.00
Monthly Trades Pay Rates
Trade Group 1 ...................................................................... $12.00 Trade Group 2 ...................................................................... $30.00 Trade Group 3 ...................................................................... $54.00 Trade Group 4 ...................................................................... $72.00
Members of the Royal Canadian Navy pay income tax.
Examples of monthly pay rates and some of the allowances which personnel of the Royal Canadian Navy may earn are as follows:
A Petty Officer Second Class with Trade Group 3, who is married and not living in Service accommodation receives the following pay and allowances when promoted to that rank:
Basic Pay ............................................................................... $194.00 Trades Pay ............................................................................. $ 54.00 Marriage Allowance ............................................................... $ 30.00 Subsistence Allowance ........................................................... $ 91.00 Kit upkeep allowance ............................................................. $ 7.00 Total ............................ $376.00
A Chief Petty Officer First Class with Trade Group 4, who is married and not living in Service accommodation receives the following pay and allowances when first promoted to that rank:
Basic Pay ................................................................................ $280.00 Trades Pay .............................................................................. $ 72.00 Marriage Allowance................................................................. $ 30.00 Subsistence Allowance ............................................................ $102.00 Kit upkeep allowance .............................................................. $ 8.00 Total.............................. $492.00
Additional allowances such as Progressive Pay for the various periods of time in each rank, and Foreign Allowance have not been shown.
Technical Apprentice Training Plan - Nominal List by entry plan number
This section contains:
Apprentice Training Course Photos - Apprentice Training Sports Photos - Apprentice Training Pipe and Dance Band Photos
ENTRY 01
ENTRY 2 - HMCS CORNWALLIS
ENTRY 2 - Graduation 1954
ENTRY 3 - HMCS CORNWALLIS
ENTRY 3 - Graduation 1958
ENTRY 4 - 1956
ENTRY 5 - HMCS CORNWALLIS 1956
ENTRY 5 - Term 1
ENTRY 5 - 2nd year
ENTRY 5 - Graduation
ENTRY 5 - Leadership School 1959
ENTRY 6
ENTRY 7
ENTRY 7 - Graduation
ENTRY 8 Term 1 - 1958
ENTRY 8 - Engine Room Artificer's Graduation
ENTRY 9 - Term 1 - 1958
ENTRY 9 - Graduation
ENTRY 10 - HMCS CORNWALLIS
ENTRY 10 - Graduation
ENTRY 11 - HMCS CORNWALLIS
ENTRY 11 - Graduation 1962
ENTRY 12 - 1960
ENTRY 13 - Term 1
ENTRY 13 - Graduation
ENTRY 14 - Graduation
ENTRY 15 - HMCS CORNWALLIS Graduation 1961
ENTRY 15
ENTRY 16 - HMCS CORNWALLIS - Joining Block
ENTRY 16 - HMCS CORNWALLIS - Graduation
ENTRY 16 - Graduation - 1966
ENTRY 17
ENTRY 18 - Graduation
ENTRY 19 - 1964
ENTRY 20 - Jan 1965
ENTRY 21 - Graduation
ENTRY 22 - Graduation
ENTRY 23 - Graduation
ENTRY 24 - Graduation
HMCS CAPE BRETON RAMS at St. Mary's University c1957
Apprentice Soccer Team 1958-1959
Apprentice Rugby Team - 1960
Apprentice 1961 Basketball Laurine Trophy Winners
Apprentice Rugby Team - 1965
Apprentice Rugby team - 1966
Apprentice Pipe Band - 1956 The Original HMCS CAPE BRETON Pipe Band
Apprentice Pipe Band c1956-57 HMCS CAPE BRETON Pipe Band
Apprentice Pipe Band - 1960
Apprentice Pipe Band c1960-61
Apprentice Dance Band "The Moonglows" at Club 44 c1961
Apprentice Dance Band - c1961
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