1967 – 1999

The URNU programme was founded in 1967,^[9] with the formation of the Aberdeen Universities' Royal Naval Unit (now URNU East Scotland) in Aberdeen, Scotland, to encourage STEM undergraduates to join the Royal Navy from the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University.

This was followed 5 years later in 1972, with the introduction of Glasgow & Strathclyde URNU (Now URNU Glasgow) and Liverpool URNU, which also served universities with a high number of STEM undergraduates.

After being male-only units for their first 20 years, the URNUs finally allowed women to join their ranks in 1987, with the Aberdeen URNU being the first to do so.^[10]

In 1999, (then) Lt Mel Robinson and (then) Lt Suzanne Moore became the first women to hold command of a Royal Navy vessel, with their commands of Cardiff URNU (now URNU Wales) and Bristol URNU, as well as their attached P2000s, HMS Express and HMS Dasher respectively.

2000 – present

In June 2017, OCs onboard HM Ships Archer, Smiter, Ranger and Exploit, deployed to the Baltic to take part in NATO's BALTOPS exercise, the first time that Royal Navy P2000s have been involved in such an exercise.^[11] URNU Officer Cadets have been attending the exercise every year since, with the exception of 2022, due to increased tensions in the region following the re-escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Devon URNU was established in the autumn of 2017, catering to universities across the region. Devon was the first new unit formed since 1994.

In 2021 there was a further expansion of the URNU, with new units in East Midlands, Belfast, Solent and Virtual. Solent URNU was a merging of Southampton URNU and Sussex URNU, the unit more to a brand new location in Portsmouth where it could be inside HMNB Portsmouth. East Midlands URNU and Belfast URNU were both new units to cover holes in the coverage of URNU units where there are also large numbers of potential students. Virtual URNU was also setup after a year and half of online URNU to cater to those unable to get to a unit due to distance or any other issue.

In late 2021, there was a nation-wide naming change of the URNUs. They were formerly styled '[Location] URNU' (e.g. Edinburgh URNU), being changed by the end of the year to 'URNU [Location]' (e.g. URNU Edinburgh).

In January 2022, after striking an agreement with HMS Scotia, Tay Division, (the then) URNU Edinburgh opened a satellite division known now as URNU East Scotland, Tayside Division (often abbreviated to Tay Div), named for the Firth of Tay which runs just south of Dundee, the city in which the division is based. It is based out of a Royal Marines Reserve base in the north of the city centre. Its foundation was a first for the URNU programme and has become the testbed for a potential scheme to extend the URNU footprint.

Command Structure & Staff

The URNUs are part of the University Service Units, under the command of Commander Universities. They fall under the overall jurisdiction of the Commanding Officer of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Captain BRNC.

Each URNU is commanded by its commanding officer (CO), usually a full-time Royal Navy Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander or Royal Marines Captain. The remainder of its full-time staff consists of the unit Coxswain (Cox'n or Coxn), usually a full-time Chief Petty Officer, Royal Marines Colour Sergeant or, exceptionally, a Royal Navy or Royal Marines Warrant Officer,^[12][13] as well as a Unit Administration Officer (UAO), who is a civilian and does not wear uniform.^[14]

Each unit also has the capacity for up to eight training officers, who may be ex-Navy, former URNU students, or civilians with relevant experience, who are appointed as honorary Royal Naval Reserve officers, though they do not hold a commission or require an Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) pass.^[15]

The training staff of an individual unit consists of a Royal Naval Reserve Lieutenant as the unit's Senior Training Officer (STO) and a number of Training Officers (TOs), who vary between Royal Naval Reserve Acting Sub-Lieutenants,^[16] Sub-Lieutenants and Lieutenants. This format, with the exception of rank, roughly mirrors the training staff and format of BRNC.^[17]

Some are being given the opportunity to attend AIBs and pass out of the reserve's Accelerated Officer Programme.

Officer Cadets

Undergraduates usually join for 3 years, with options to extend this membership to 4 or 5 years, providing they can sufficiently convince their Commanding Officer thet their continued membership would be of value to the unit. Members are list 7B reservists and therefore there is no call-up liability and members may leave at any time.

Each URNU comprises 51 students, who usually join for the duration of their degree, with the option of taking a year out or leaving at any time. The URNU's also have attached cadets that are on Navy sponsorship/cadetship programs.