Family connections, "interest" and a sincere belief in the superiority of practical experience learned on the quarterdeck ensured that the officer class favoured the traditional model.

William IV summed up this view when he remarked that "there was no place superior to the quarterdeck of a British man of war for the education of a gentleman".

The then rating of midshipman-by-order, or midshipman ordinary, was used specifically for graduates of the Royal Naval Academy, to distinguish them from midshipmen who had served aboard ship, who were paid more.

[4] The college closed as a young officer training establishment on 30 March 1837, meaning that from that date all youngsters setting out on a naval career proceeded directly to sea.

[7] Another veteran of the War of 1812, Henry Ducie Chads, attended the Academy before joining the Royal Navy.