|
Source: Hampshire Telegraph and Post, Friday, June 6,
1952
The training of apprentices on the strictly practical side in the
Dockyard can be divided into three main groups. They are the Electrical
Engineering, Constructive and Engineering Departments. All play their part in
creating men of the high technical ability required by a modern Dockyard in all
the trades necessary to the shipbuilding industry.
Pay and conditions
are good. Apprentices are indentured for five years beginning at £1 16s.
3d. a week with yearly increases up to £5 4s. 3d. in the fifth year for a
44-hour week. One week's holiday with pay is given and, in addition, all Bank
Holidays and special closed days. such as the Queen's Birthday, are given with
pay. All apprentices are entitled to 13 weeks sick leave on full pay during any
one year.
Tools are provided at a cheap rate from Admiralty stocks.
Canteens are available and apprentices under 16 years of age receive a free
voucher to the value of 1s. daily. Apprentices between 16 and 17 receive a
sixpenny voucher daily. Travelling allowances are made for apprentices living
more than five miles from the Dockyard by refunding any sum spent on bus or
train over the first 3s. Apprentices living away from home are granted a
maintenance allowance towards the cost of lodging, and very good hostel
accommodation is available on the Southsea Front.
Ways for promotion
are open by competitive examination for inspector, foreman and the Drawing
Office. All apprentices are eligible to take part in these examinations after
completion of training.
In the Constructive Department apprentices can
take in such trades as Shipwright, Shipfitter, Plumber and Painter, all of
which provide the comprehensive training for which the department is well
known. The Electrical Engineering Department caters for the trades of
Electrical Fitter and Electrical Station Fitter, and training has now been
widened to cover the specialised field of electronics with its application to
radio and radar equipment. The four main trades in the Engineering Department
also offer ample scope for initiative and have excellent promotion prospects.
This is enough to indicate that boys in Portsmouth have far greater
opportunities than their counterparts in most other towns outside heavy
industrial areas because of the training available at the Dockyard - training
that not only leads to unlimited scope for careers but which is also vital to
the efficiency of the Navy and ultimately to the defence of Europe and the free
world.
|