On the 24 May 18, the Officer Cadets (OCdts) of the Oxford University Royal Naval Unit (Oxford URNU), hosted senior RN officers and academics in a joint Annual Reception with the Guy Hudson Memorial Trust at the Bodleian Library Divinity School.
The spectacular setting was used by Charles the First to seat the Royalist Parliament during the Civil War with the House of Commons sitting in the Divinity School and the House of Lords sitting in the adjacent Convocation House. The historic ceiling was designed by William Orchard in the 1480s.
The theme of the Reception was ‘Engineering in the Royal Navy’ and as such the Guest of Honour was Captain Steve Prest Royal Navy who spoke to the assembled guests about his time as Head of the Weapon Engineering Department in HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Fittingly the Weapon Engineer Young Officers from the current System Engineering and Management Course conducting their Phase 2 officer training at HMS Collingwood were also invited and attended the event.
Their lead instructor, Lt Carl Marin-Ortega RN, presented the CO of the Oxford URNU, Lt Will Jones RN, with a HMS Collingwood crest designed and created using a 3D printer supplied to the System Engineering and Management Unit by the Royal Navy Discovery, Assessment and Rapid Exploitation (DARE) innovation group.
The Guy Hudson Memorial Trust funded the event and was founded in 1997 by the bequest of the late Lieutenant Guy Hudson RNVR.
The Trust exists to ‘further the education of the Officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines at Oxford University’ and primarily supports the Hudson Fellowship – an annual appointment of an officer of the Naval Service to the University of Oxford.
2018 is 'The Year of Engineering' in the Royal Navy and Oxford is one of 15 URNUs located across the UK offering opportunities to 750 undergraduates from the country’s leading universities.
The URNU's mission is: "To develop an understanding of the Naval Service in undergraduates, so that those who go into civilian employment are positive advocates thereof and to facilitate a Naval Career for those who choose one."
The URNU is a chance to experience military life without commitment and gain new skills applicable to all walks of life.
