Whitehaven Sea Cadets - TS BEE

Lt P Silberston RNVR The origins of Whitehaven unit can be traced back to 1942 when it was established in the Irish Street School site and was part of the Navy League. There is little information about the very early days; all we know at the moment is that there were two commanding officers, Lt Johnston and Lt Waglan, between the Corps' formation and its move to our present location on Old New Quay in July 1945 under the command of Lt P Silbertson RNVR (who was to be responsible for the building of the Quarterdeck block) and the christening of the unit as Training Ship BEE by the then Mayoress, Mrs Gill, on 4th July 1945.

Lt Cdr (SCC) James Ryan RNR Percy Silbertson remained in command until around 1954. TS BEE then had two Officers in Charge, Lt W Parr and Lt R Telfer, but neither remained in post long enough to be confirmed "In Command". Then, in 1955, command of the unit was taken over by Lt Cdr (SCC) James Ryan RNR. He remained as CO until 1982 - 27 years, a record which has never been beaten. James Ryan was no stranger to TS BEE as he had originally joined the unit at the age of 14, the first of several cadets who subsequently returned as CO. Making his way through the cadet ranks. James was 16 when he attended the first Commonwealth Sea Cadet Camp in Canada.

During his time in command of the unit, one of Lt Cdr Ryan's cadets was awarded the Navy League Gallantry Medal for saving one of his officers when the unit's whaler was wrecked during a race. Lt Ryan also built a boathouse (now our entrance) and the main deck on the front of the original building.

Next came Lt Cdr (SCC) Walter Elliott RNR. Walter was a coal miner in the Whitehaven pit and since pit folk had a long tradition of brass bands, he encouraged the cadets to re-form the unit's band. The band had originally been formed by Lt G Noble (James Ryan's 1st Lieutenant) but had not performed for a number of years. Following its re-formation the band played in many parades such as the annual Carnival and Remembrance Sunday. Two of Lt Cdr Elliott's cadets subsequently joined the forces as bandsmen and wrote a piece of music called Whitehaven specially for him and which our present-day band still performs.

After two years, Walter Elliott handed over command to Lt Cdr (SCC) Bill Hurst RNR in 1984. Traditionally, membership of the Sea Cadets had been open only to boys but that was about to change. In the late 1980s, Lt Cdr Hurst introduced girls to the unit and, in 1994, the girls were allowed to wear trousers, as opposed to skirts, for the first time. Like James Ryan, Bill Hurst was also a former Whitehaven cadet. He joined aged 12 and says that he felt "a sense of pride in being allowed to wear the uniform - a sense of belonging, and a sense of commitment". We understand that Bill also has hidden talents as a musician - as a cadet he was apparently the band's Drum Major for a while.

Although Bill relinquished command in 1997, we are delighted that he retains an interest in the unit - he is a regular visitor, former President and currently Vice President of TS BEE.

Lt (SCC) Peter Lucas RNR Lieutenant (SCC) Peter Lucas RNR is our next CO. Another ex-cadet, Peter was well aware of how much potential there was for 'serious fun'. With a keen interest in boat work, he saw to it that during the summer months the cadets were out on the water as much as possible. During his three years in command, Lt Lucas had more work done on the building, adding showers and a wardroom. Peter Lucas managed to escape our clutches for a few years, but is now back and was for a time in charge of our Junior Cadets. In February 2008, Peter was once again appointed as Commanding Officer.

The turn of the Millennium saw our first (and only) female CO appointment. PO (SCC) Jenny Taylor was only with us for a relatively short period, but during her command she encouraged the band which saw success when it entered the annual Carnival competition and won. She also encouraged cadets to take part in weekend activities and to camp out at the unit during the warmer months.

When Jenny left we entered a transition period when we did not have a formally appointed CO. We were fortunate in securing the services of Lt Cdr (SCC) Keith Short RNR, who was 'drafted' in in 2002 - without too much of a struggle - to oversee things as 'Temporary Acting Officer in Charge'. In what seemed a very short year (no pun intended), Keith helped with some of the maintenance work and forged a link with Maryport unit which led to boating weekends and even a joint summer camp to Malta.

S/Lt (SCC) Keith Crowe RNR Sub Lieutenant (SCC) Keith Crowe RNR was appointed as CO in late 2003. Keith had some hard acts to follow but was held in high regard and forged a strong team to support him. During Keith's command we enlarged our Cadet numbers, saw the successful formation of both a Junior cadet section (in 2005), a Marine Cadet Detachment (in 2007) and were, among other things, accredited as a Royal Yachting Association diesel engine training centre. From a low of about 12 cadets in 2001 our complement built to about 20 Juniors, 37 'Bluejacket' Cadets and 7 Marine Cadets.

At the end of 2007, Keith announced his intention to make some fairly drastic changes in the new year. Little did we know then that one of the biggest changes was going to be his resignation as CO. Keith put it quite simply, "After five years in command I felt that I was running out of ideas and it was time to take a back seat". He did however promise to maintain close links with the unit and continue to support it as a member of staff. After a short break, Keith has returned to us as a Lieutenant in our Marine Cadet Detachment.

This now brings us right up to date, with the appointment of Lieutenant (SCC) Peter Lucas RNR as Commanding Officer at the beginning of February 2008 - the second time he has held this position. Peter has already started to make his mark on the unit and we look forward to continued and even greater successes in the future.