The Museum is unique for several reasons, some apparent and obvious, others not so. On this page we will deal with one of the 'not so' reasons.
The Museum, which was started in the late 1940's by a member of the 'bluey branch' - an Instructor Officer or school master affectionately known as a 'schooly' and not by a 'greeny', an Electrical Branch Officer - has always been situated within the boundaries of HMS Collingwood, hitherto the alma mater of the electrical/electronic and weapons branch, but now [in 2006] to several other branches too as alma maters are de-commissioned, sold off and made into private housing estates. Click here to read about the early days of the Museum. For this reason, the Museum has never been opened to the general public and moreover, those who have visited the Museum over the years have never had to pay to gain entry. The modus operandi of the Museum remains the same as the embryonic days of sixty years ago although it has expanded to display its many exhibits albeit dispersed into a piecemeal array of archaic buildings long ago discarded by the navy as unsuitable for their needs. Implicit in this is the constant uncertainty of the future of the Museum and whether the ramshackle buildings will be bulldozed to make room for the training of the 'modern' navy, forcing the Museum to re-locate to pastures new.
Foremost in the Museum Curator's mind must be a resolve of "better the devil one knows" as some of the purpose built resplendent fee paying Museum's in the same geographical area are struggling to get customers through their turn-styles and some have shut-up-shop and closed down. Even if there were to be a commercial alternative to HMS Collingwood, Collingwood is where the Museum belongs and where all concerned wish it to stay, if necessary in the current less than satisfactory environment, but without the threat mentioned in the paragraph above. There can be no better back-drop or ambience for a Museum of yesterdays technology, than the hustle and bustle of a major training establishment training members of today's navy in the very latest technology, going on around it. The two fit hand-in-glove and ready parallels can be drawn. The Museum fully acknowledges and thanks the navy for the Museums rent-free accommodation and the provision of heat, power, lighting and telephone, but nevertheless hopes that a more suitable home can be found somewhere inside this premier naval establishment.
Above all else, a Museum is only as good as its Curator. When a Curator has to perform on a self generated 'shoe-string' budget with a lot of 'make do' and a lot of 'cap-in-hand', then any measure of success he or she may have, transcends the success of a Museum Curator with fingers in the commercial-pie manifest in catering for weddings {upsetting, we are told down Eastney way, many good folk with the noise created} conferences [and the like], whilst receiving grants from lottery money or heritage money. Therefore let us move on to meet the Royal Navy's Radar and Communications Museum Curator, Lieutenant Commander W.E. {Bill} Legg MBE Royal Navy [Retired], a Curator who doesn't have access to public funds or commercial potential.
This web site was devised, researched, written and created by the web master [an ex **Fleet Chief** Telegraphist {professional RCI - Radio Communications Instructor} 1953-1983, a one time submariner: Chief Instructor in the Technical Section of the Signal School HMS Mercury when radio equipments required more than just button pushing: a Sea Rider on FOST staff: a staff appointment on a sea-going Admiral's staff FOF2, with experiences in many ships and submarines stationed around the world, who owns all rights to the domain name and the web server, which are temporarily gifted for the use of the current Museum Curator. It is a private site [funded in its entirety by the webmaster] and not directly associated with the Royal Navy - thus, it is not subjected to the rules and regulations of the Freedom of Information Act [FOI]. All documents, publications, photographs etc used to create this site are owned by HMS Collingwood's Museum administered by the Curator whose permission has been given to publish this material. The written comments are those of the webmaster which may not be endorsed by the Curator. **A Fleet Chief WAS a Warrant Officer 1st Class dating from 1970 [for the Webmaster, his tenure was 1975-1983] but for some inexplicable reason, best known to their Lordships, it wasn't until 1985, fifteen years later, that men holding that RATE were called such. To fully understand NAVAL WARRANT OFFICERS, have a look at these THREE sites, viz, PART ONE; PART TWO and PART THREE.
