Leith Nautical College
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Leith Nautical College was a maritime college in Leith, Scotland. The college provided instruction for the training of Merchant Navy officers and other seafarers. Courses offered included naval architecture, marine engineering, telegraphy, radar and marine electronics.
The former college building at 108 Commercial Street, Leith
The former college building on Milton Road (designed to resemble a ship)
The British Merchant Navy is the collective name given to British civilian ships and their associated crews, including officers and ratings. In the UK, it is simply referred to as the Merchant Navy or MN. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and the ships and crew are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), a specialist agency of the UK Department of Transport. British merchant ships are registered under the UK or Red Ensign group ship registries. British Merchant Navy deck officers and ratings are certificated and trained according to STCW Convention and the syllabus of the Merchant Navy Training Board in maritime colleges and other training institutes around the UK.
Badge of the Merchant Navy
The crew of HMS Castle Harbour, assigned to the Royal Naval Dockyard as the Examination Service vessel (that inspected merchant ships). Crew members included members of the Merchant Navy. HMS Castle Harbour would later be sunk by a German submarine while being delivered to the Mediterranean by a Merchant Navy crew
Second World War poster highlighting wartime dangers that the Merchant Navy faced
An example of Merchant Navy officers, graduating at their 'passing out' ceremony from Warsash Maritime Academy in Southampton, with former First Sea Lord Alan West, Baron West of Spithead, in 2011.