History of The Warsash Maritime School (1935-present)

(You can read some Member' personal recollections by extending the left side pop-up menu e.g. SoN 1950-1965)

These pages outline the origins and history of what today is now the Warsash Maritime School. In essence the WMS began in 1935 with the founding of the School of Navigation at South Hill near Bassett on the outskirts of Southampton. It was founded as a pre-sea training establishment for Merchant Navy Deck Officers and has always been one of the world's leading maritime educational centres.

This brief history traces its evolution from an establishment solely devoted to navigation to a School providing internationally recognised certification programmes for both deck and engineer officers from cadet level to Master (Captain) and Chief Engineer. It also offers short safety courses in fire fighting and sea survival, and continuous professional development modules for more experienced officers.

Thanks are due to Captain M H Aldridge who died in September 2009, who compiled a booklet entitled "The Warsash Maritime Centre" between 1946 to 1996 from which, with his permission, many of the above facts were taken.

The history from 1984 to the 2021 was written by Professor John Millican, ex-Director of the Warsash Maritime Academy and inserted in June 2021.

We are keen to expand this history and make it more personal with information, anecdotes and pictures from members. Content can be inserted chronologically in existing pages or presented in new pages.

If you wish to help in this endeavour please email the » wawebmast@warsashassociation.net