On June 11 of a year 1955 the Naval Officers' School became the Polish Naval College (pol. Wyższa Szkoła Marynarki Wojennej, abbr. WSMW) which was an institution of higher education functioning like an academy. In 1956 the school's name was amended with the addition of the honorific "Heroes of Westerplatte". Initially the Naval College consisted of 4 faculties: navigation and sea communication, sea weaponry, technical and private. In 1956 the private faculty was closed and in 1957 other faculties got reorganized into Maritime Department and Technical Department.