MEREVÄEOHVITSERIDE III LENNU PÄEVARAAMAT 01.02.1926–05.02.1927

Diary of Estonian Naval Officers 3rd Course 01.02.1926–05.02.1927

Abstract

The 3rd course of Estonian naval officers started at the Estonian Military School of Joint Military Education Facilities on 7 July 1925 and graduated on 29 April 1928. With 20 graduates (2 cadets did not graduate), it became the single largest cohort of Estonian Navy officers. Students of the 3rd course could enjoy a more systematic and academic approach to their education than their predecessors and by 1940, when the Estonian Navy was abolished, they had achieved prominent positions in the Navy. This crew also produced the most outspoken writers in military journals amongst Estonian Navy officers for the time. From 1 February 1926 until 5 February 1927, the cadets of the 3rd course kept a diary, which is now retained at the Estonian Maritime Museum. The diary was a collective work: a different person made entries each week and the name of the author was added at the end of the week. As some of the names (and some annexes mentioned in the text) are missing or substituted with the note “unknown”, the version available in the museum seems to be a copy of an original diary or diaries. It can be deducted that the diary was not meant for publication or for outsiders to read, as some of the entries could have caused a lot of trouble for the writers. However, some extracts with names omitted were published in 1933 in the journal “Merendus”, where the graduates of the 3rd course were active members, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of their graduation. Most of the diary entries relate jolly or annoying episodes of cadets’ everyday life at the Military School in Tondi and during the practice in the Fleet. Therefore it gives an interesting and amusing insight into Estonian Navy cadets’ life during one year.