Royal Netherlands Naval College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Royal Netherlands Naval College (Koninklijk Instituut Marine [KIM]) is the university where future officers in the Dutch Navy are trained. It is located in the city of Den Helder in The Netherlands. The college offers special training in scientific and maritime topics.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The Dutch Navy was officially founded in 1815, but existed in various forms since 1488. In the early years of the Navy, officers were trained in service aboard ships. In 1785, the Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart, the first land-based training school for future officers, opened. This school was the predecessor of the KIM. During the time of the Batavian Republic (1795-1806), as the Dutch Navy began to become more organized, the training school was improved as well.
[edit] Kingdom of the Netherlands
With the forming of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 10 January 1816, an institute for training naval officers was founded in Delft. Twelve years later, it was moved to a site near Medemblik, and many improvements were made for the move. A boarding school system was introduced, and the institute applied for officer training.
On 28 August 1829, the opening of the institute was celebrated in the great church of Medemblik. That date is now observed as the anniversary of KIM's founding. In 1854, the current campus in Den Helder was opened.
