History of the Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve are a part of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.

As the Royal Navy came to its more modern organisation during the 17th century it adopted the practice of impressment to provide the bulk of the crews.

The process of impressment was not suitable for the recruiting of officers, and the procedure adopted there was that officers received a basic pay for their rank when they were holding an appointment and half of that when between appointments (half-pay). Officers in command of ships or establishments received additional 'Command money' which varied with the status of the ship or establishment involved.

Officers and men also received extra payments under the 'Prize' scheme. While this could arise in several different ways the most common by far was the capture of an enemy ship and its subsequent purchase by the Navy (a feasible process with wooden ships). For the ordinary sailor the amount was typically a few shillings (although this represented several months pay) but for the commanding officer it typically amounted to hundreds of pounds. Thus many captains had estates ashore which gave them an alternative income.

Junior officers were in a much more parlous state, as it was not really possible to keep a home on the half pay for a Lieutenant. This was part of the reason why marriage by junior officers was so frowned upon.

Impressment was eventually dropped in the early part of the 19th century in a move to encourage seamen to volunteer for full career employment in the naval service. This was fine for the numbers required during peacetime when many vessels were laid up in reserve but it meant that some means had to be provided to produce the extra men needed when the fleet expanded in time of war. An Act of Parliament of 1835 had established The Register of Seamen to identify men for naval service in the event of war, but in 1854 just 400 volunteered for duty out of 250,000 on the Register. This meant the fleet of Charles Napier (Royal Navy officer) was seriously undermanned for the blockade of the Baltic ports during the Crimean War, and as an MP Napier campaigned for improvements in the treatment of sailors. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 which resulted in a new Act of Parliament in 1859. This authorised the raising of a new pool of volunteer seamen from the Merchant Service and fishing fleet who would undertake annual training in gunnery with the Navy and be called out for service in the fleet by royal proclamation in time of war. By 1862 there were 12,000 volunteers in the new force.

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