The academy was founded in 1830, by order of King
Louis-Philippe. Originally the academy was based on ships, anchored in the harbour of
Brest, such as the
Borda (previously named
Valmy), hence the nickname of "Bordache" given to the students. In 1914, the École navale was transferred ashore in Brest. The school was destroyed by Allied bombing raids during
World War II, and was moved to nearby
Lanvéoc-Poulmic, on the opposite side of the bay of Brest (Rade de Brest). The academy remained in this location after the war, and was officially inaugurated by
Charles de Gaulle in 1965.
The successive Borda of the École navale The
École navale, created in 1830, was originally located onboard vessels harboured in Brest, almost all of which were nicknamed Borda (from the name of
Jean-Charles de Borda, a famous French scientist of the 18th century). The first vessel to house the École Navale was named
Orion; it was then replaced in 1840 by the
Commerce-de-Paris, a wooden, three-decked ship. This ship had an inappropriate name for a naval academy, so it was renamed
Borda. In 1863, the academy was transferred to the
Valmy (the second
Borda), then, in 1890, to the
Intrépide (the third
Borda), and in 1913, to the
Duguay-Trouin (1879), which had been a school vessel for those applying to the Navy between 1900 and 1912. With the exceptions of the
Orion and the
Duguay-Trouin, each of these vessels was still christened as
Borda. In honor of its maritime origins, today's official logo of the Naval School features the
Borda with her sails, keeping alive the traditions of its rich past.
École navale traditions on the Borda The welcoming ceremony The new cadets are boarded from the pontoon Gueydon, one day before the senior classmen. Crammed like sheep in a gunboat, they were bouncy and happy while launching a goodbye to their families. As soon as arrived, they were sorted, numbered, undressed in order to give them the white blouse and linen trousers. Their hair was also shorn. Two days later, the parents were authorised onboard for the opening mass for the new cadets. Flags were placed around the altar, and a single seat was reserved for the "Pope", the nickname of the captain commanding the academy. The parents took place on bench, and then the pupils entered, the senior ones first, tiding themselves on the sides, and then the new cadets in their new suit under the quip of the others who were screaming "Caillou! Caillou!" (Stone! Stone!) to recognize the new cadets.
Slang at "La Baille" The
École navale is traditionally called "
La Baille" (and not "
Navale", which instead refers to the old school of Health of Bordeaux). Its jargon is rich and comes principally from maritime slang. Like every "Grande Ecole", the jargon is wide-used among its student body. For example, the commander in second is the "widow". The elephants, or the "
pékins", are the civilians; the "
bordache", or the "
type-baille", is the student. The "
chafustard" is the mechanic; and the mastiffs are the subofficers assuring the military surrounding. Finally, the songs of the board are often crude, but of high musical and literary standard. Nowadays, the student body uses some expressions coming from other military academies (
École Polytechnique,
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr,
École de l'air) and from military high schools. The standard reference book about the jargon at "
La Baille" was written by Commander Roger Coindeau, and illustrated by Luc-Marie Bayle.
Learning the work of seaman All this will not impede the future Navy officers to work hard in both education and practical skills. Since the opening of the academy during the first weeks of the academic year the senior classes - in the days when the academy was at sea - would accompany the 4th classmen in climbing the shrouds, and make them do the recovery in order to enter in the hune. It is the first step. Then comes the climbing of the second hune, and little by little, everyone gets accustomed not to have dizziness, but to run on the footboard stretched beneath each yardarm, to unfurl the sail. All this is commanded by a whistle. Even if the job of topsman had become unuseful with the modern war boats, it was still taught to the student-officers, in order for them to be able to bring back a catch in time of war with its sails, and also because it was part of the old traditions of the French Navy. The two years of school were well filled up with everything that a Navy officer had to learn: rowing, sailing, the machines, armed drill and weapons instruction, combat training aboard or onshore, signal flags, vessel maintenance, superior mathematics, geography, hydrography, English language, and a lot more. At the 3rd year of studies, the 2nd classmen left the Borda for their training cruises to various parts of the world.
The École navale back to the ground In the beginning of the 20th century, a project to move the
Ecole Naval, to the ground, had almost made its way. The chosen place was at la Pointe, in the district of
Recouvrance (
Brest). The project failed due to a lack of money. However the school settled in 1915 in buildings already built in Laninon, also situated in Recouvrance, as the First World War was then raging. Work for the campus began November 14, 1929 and was presided by Georges Leygues, minister of the Navy, and the school was inaugurated on 30 May 1936 by Albert Lebrun, President of the Republic. Regardless of the grounding of the school, the final year of formation and training at sea (the School of Application) has been preserved in the form of traditional cruising (sometimes around the world), onboard of successive ''Jeanne d'Arc
ships: the cruisers Jeanne d'Arc
(1899), then Jeanne d'Arc
(1930) and finally the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc'', until 2010. As of today the later "Mission Jeanne d'Arc" cruises by the cadets have been done in various vessels of the Navy. In 1945, the important destructions suffered by the
École navale during the Second World War did not allow it to welcome the student officers in normal conditions. The school was transferred to provisory barracks at the Lanveoc aeronautical base instead, and new buildings were proposed in the late 1950s to accommodate a rising number of naval cadets. The definitive buildings of the new École Navale at its current campus were inaugurated in 1965 by General De Gaulle. The old
École navale of Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon is now known as the Naval Instruction Center which hosts the
Lycée naval, the
École de maistrance and the (currently reopened)
École des Mousses. == Officer stream==