IO Specialisation Timeline (1914-1945) | |
| 1914: | The Admiralty undertook to pay the compulsory contribution of Midshipman to their education (by now three pence per day) which was abolished in 1919. |
| 1917: | The rank of Chief Naval Instructor with four stripes was instituted. |
| 1918: | All Naval Schoolmasters were given the rank of Warrant Officer in accordance with the Hood Committee’s 1912 recommendations. |
| 1919: | Dual appointments as Chaplain/Instructor came to an end. The Instructor Branch was reconstituted with ranks from Instructor Lieutenant to Instructor Captain. Permanent Commissions were granted to Temporary officers and Schoolmasters were promoted to ‘Senior Masters’ and ‘Headmaster Lieutenant’. |
| 1927: | First Schoolmaster promoted to Headmaster in the rank of Commander. |
| 1930s: | The Royal Marines no longer recruited Schoolmasters but employed RN Schoolmasters on temporary appointments. |
| 1933: | The first Instructor Officer (Lieutenant Commander W. G. West) completed the 12-week Meteorology Course. |
| 1936: | The first Instructor Officer was appointed Director of the Admiralty Education Department. At this time there were 78 Instructor Officers and 204 Schoolmasters. |
| 1937: | The Naval Division at the Meteorological Office became the Naval Meteorological Service and moved to its new HQ in Berkeley Square. Instructor Officers were among the first to undertake training. |
| 1940: | After a brief period at the Admiralty Compass Building, Slough, when the outbreak of war meant Berkeley Square was deemed too dangerous, the Naval Meteorological Service and its officer training moved to Royal Naval College, Greenwich. |
| 1941: | The Chief Naval Instructor Officer became an Instructor Rear Admiral. |
| 1945: | Specialist ‘Education and Resettlement’ Officers were introduced after Schoolmasters and Instructors were deeply involved in helping ‘Hostilities Only’ personnel leaving the Service at the end of World War II. |
