Themes
Conflict and Change
Learning
Sea service
The decline of the Sea Soldier
During the 1950s the number of Royal Marine detachments fell to less than a dozen and the traditional naval gunnery role of the Royal Marines afloat also began to disappear.
By 1962 only one sixth of the strength of the Royal Marine Corps was serving aboard HM ships.
The Royal Marines mainly formed ship’s detachments for specific reasons, such as if a ship was going to serve in an area of unrest.
Below is a photograph of Sea Your History ‘Naval Life’ Nick Vaux before heading out to the Caribbean on HMS Ursa during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Photograph within report 'HMS Ursa Royal Marines. Detachment Embarkation Training.' Dated Friday 1 March 1963. Lt. Nick Vaux is featured seated in the centre. (RMM)
In 1978 the Royal Navy cut the number of Royal Marine detachments. They scaled down the previous detachment of one Officer and 20 men to just one Sergeant, one Corporal and eight Marines.
The duties of a detachment in the post war period included the manning of small craft and providing landing or boarding parties. Any other duties were at the discretion of the commanding officer of the ship.
