Hallo Gale,
Thank you for the URL's, it's another step towards researching Captain
DETTMAN and his brother.
In Britain there were two courses open for the training of ships officers
from the days of sailing ships to present day.
1) Attending 'Trinity College' - most port towns had one of these schools.
2) Gaining an apprenticeship in a land based company, which would last 7 or
5 years depending on the era. After that, a qualified smith or engineer
would be offered a junior officer's post in the engine room. Then depending
on aspirations he could become captain/skipper of his own ship. I have one
cousin who took the latter route.
In the days of sailing ships , very often not enough youths & men
volunteered to crew the ships. On those occasions the captain would send
out a "Press Gang". This gang of men would kidnap unfortunate men off the
street.
Rena in England