The École navale is the French naval academy, in charge of the education of the officers of the French Navy. They are educated at the academy for responsibilities onboard surface ships and submarines, in French Naval Aviation, with the fusiliers marins and commandos, and on the general staff.
The École navale and its research institute (IRENAV) are in Lanvéoc-Poulmic, south of the roadstead of Brest.
History
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. This was followed by the first formal dinner of the new students.
Traditions
A traditional ceremony onboard the Borda was the presentation and delivery of the sword to the son by his "baille" father, for the first day of outing; the son knelt and kissed the sword's blade as if he were being knighted.
In the spring, when the first outing in dinghy occurred, another consecration took place, this of baptism of the new cadets by the senior cadets of the academy, as the latter throw water buckets upon the former.
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, Ecole 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.