|
About The HMS Conway Trust
The HMS Conway Merchant Navy Cadet School was founded on the Mersey in 1859. It moved to the Menai Straits in North Wales in 1940. It aimed to prepare young men for careers as Officers in the British Merchant Navy. Many thousands of young men were trained and educated there, and then qualified as Merchant Navy Officers. Many of them went into other walks of life – maritime and non maritime. Further information on the many notable ‘old Conways’ from Captain Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel to Iain Duncan Smith, current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions can be found on the HMS Conway website. Click on the ship picture above.
The Merchant Navy
The Merchant navy today is a vital national industry. 90% of world trade is seaborne. And whatever the economic climate, it’s set to keep growing. Some experts predict ship-borne cargo to increase substantially by 2020!
Britain has traditionally had a strong Merchant Navy – a service as vital in peacetime as in war. Today it is very much international in nature. In times of conflict it backed up our armed forces with supplies and men; and it still has that capability. In fact that part of the UK fleet that specialises in supporting the Royal Navy is manned with Merchant Navy Officers and Ratings.
But the Merchant Navy is much more than this. It has a hand in nearly every type of maritime enterprise. And the face of shipping is changing. Today there are many types of ship that simply did not exist 20 or 30 years ago. In the North Sea and in many maritime oilfield and prospecting areas in the oceans of the world, support, supply and survey ships manned by MN personnel work, often in hostile environments, with highly sophisticated ships and equipment. Our ferries and cruise ships, both now booming, include some of the newest and biggest vessels of their type in the world.
Every ship from the largest crude oil tanker to the small but complex sand and gravel dredger relies on the professionalism and expertise of its Master, Deck and Engineer Officers. British Shipping is the country’s fourth largest service sector earner, adding some £6 Billion net to our balance of payments every year.
|
