SHORT HISTORY OF THE NAVAL TACTICS DEPARTMENT AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN RETROSPECTION

 The “Temporary course on military science” held for the first time in 1893 in Russe should be considered the forerunner of the Department. Its purpose was to requalify army officers serving in the Fleet and in the Naval Unit (the official name of the Navy in the Principality of Bulgaria). In some cases it trained cadets which had studied at Naval Academies abroad but had not graduated for whatever reason. At first the officers studied on their own and set for examinations before a competent board.

For the first time in 1914-1915 the course was held following a systematic training process including lectures and a training voyage under the guidance of a tutor. In 1920 for the first time the course graduates were issued higher naval education certificates. This practice continued till 1931 within the Higher Ship Commander Course and the course length reached 3 years. Since this structure was named course and it was the origin of other structures of the Naval Academy (e.g. the Navigational Faculty and the Navigation Department) its appearance is considered the forebear of the Naval Tactics Department.

Actually the training and scientific section was established on 28 April 1951 as a cycle named Navy Tactics at Nikola Vaptsarov Public Higher Naval School. In 1961, after the cycles Artillery and Mine and Torpedo Armament were merged, the section was transformed into a department which has existed under different names up to the present moment.

During the department’s (cycle’s) existence more than 100 lecturers and instructors have worked in it, of which 9 Associate Professors and two Full Professors. The department has had 15 Heads of Department. For half a century a total of 78 textbooks and handbooks have been written, thousands of Officers for the country’s Navy, Coast Guard, merchant fleet and fishing fleet have been trained. Besides it has successfully contributed to the training of 141 foreigners from eleven countries on four continents.