the United States, may, when necessary, but not otherwise, give acting appointments to commission or warrant officers, to fill vacancies, or to meet other wants of the service, and may appoint persons, not warranted, to act in the situation of boatswain, gunner, carpenter, and sailmaker.

ART. 17. All officers who may have occasion to make acting appointments, shall conform to the general regulations, as regards the claims of rank and seniority, and as respects qualifications, whenever it shall be practicable, and shall give the earliest information to the department of all such appointments which may be made by them, with their reasons for the same; and forward lists of all such appointments to the Secretary of the Navy immediately on their arrival in the United States. ART. 18. All acting appointments made by officers shall be made to continue during the pleasure of the commander in chief for the time being, or until the pleasure of the Secretary of the Navy may be known. ART. 19. Commanders in chief, when without the jurisdiction of the United States, may direct three captains, commanders, or other proper officers, as the case may require, to examine candidates for promotion, when it shall be necessary for selecting persons who have not been examined, to fill vacancies, and the certificates of qualification shall be immediately forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy, who may, if he thinks proper, direct further examinations before the candidates are commissioned.

ART. 20. If an officer shall succeed to the command of a vessel without the jurisdiction of the United States, in consequence of the death or captivity of the commander, he may make the necessary appointments to supply vacancies, to act until he brings the vessel into port, delivers her up to a superior officer, or receives the instructions of his commander in chief, or of the Secretary of the Navy.

ART. 21. Every officer entitled to a secretary shall have the power to appoint him, and every commander shall have the power to appoint his own clerk.

ART. 22. Every commander shall have power to rate and disrate the petty officers allowed to the vessel under his command, having due regard to their conduct and qualifications, reporting to the commanding officer of the squadron to which he belongs, all the alterations which he may make in such ratings.

ART. 23. No person under fourteen or over twenty years of age, and who does not understand the elements of arithmetic, English grammar, and geography, will be appointed a midshipman.

ART. 24. Acting midshipmen will not receive warrants until they shall have served at sea one year, and shall have produced satisfactory testimonials from their commanders of their good conduct and capacity. When their warrants are issued, they shall bear the same date as their original appointments.

ART. 25. Boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers shall receive acting appointments only until they shall have served twelve months, which appointments shall be revocable for misconduct or incapacity by the commander of a squadron, or of a vessel acting independently of any squadron. At the expiration of twelve months, should they produce satisfactory testimonials of good conduct and capacity from their com

manders, they may, if their services should be required, receive warrants of the same date as their appointments.

ART. 26. No person shall be appointed second master until he shall be twenty-one years of age, and shall have passed such an examination by a board of naval officers in seamanship, mathematics, and navigation, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy, and produced satisfactory testimonials of general good conduct.

ART. 27. No person, not already an officer of the navy, shall be appointed a master until he shall be 25 years of age, nor shall any person receive a warrant as master until he shall have passed an examination in seamanship, mathematics, and navigation, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy, and have produced the most satisfactory testimonials of general good conduct.

ART. 28. No master shall be appointed as first master to a ship of the line, until he shall have performed at least two years' sea service as master in a frigate or sloop of war.

ART. 29. No midshipman shall be promoted to a lieutenant until he shall be 20 years of age, and have performed at least three years' sea service; nor until he shall have passed an examination upon seamanship and mathematics, before a board of such officers as the Secretary of the Navy may appoint, and shall produce satisfactory evidence of his moral character and general good conduct.

ART. 30. No lieutenant shall be promoted to a commander until he shall have performed at least three years' sea service as lieutenant.

ART. 31. No commander shall be promoted to a captain until he shall have performed at least two years' sea service as commander.

ART. 32. Warranted masters' mates are only eligible for promotion to second masters; second masters are only eligible to promotion as masters; and masters are not considered eligible to further promotion, except under extraordinary circumstances: but the promotion of a passed midshipman, who may be appointed to act as second master, or as master, will not be affected by such acting appointment.

ART. 33. Promotion of officers, from passed midshipmen upwards, will be according to seniority, excepting for acts of distinguished bravery, or uncommon good conduct, and unless their claim should become forfeited by degradation, or suspension from rank by disgraceful conduct or manifest incapacity.

ART. 34. No person shall receive the appointment of assistant surgeon in the navy of the United States, unless he shall have been examined and approved by a board of naval surgeons, who shall be designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Navy.

ART. 35. No person shall receive the appointment of surgeon in the navy of the United States, until he shall have served as an assistant surgeon at least two years on board a public vessel of the United States at sea, and unless he shall have been examined and approved by a board of surgeons designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Navy.

ART. 36. No person shall be appointed a chaplain in the navy, who shall not be a regularly ordained or licensed clergyman of unimpeached moral character, not exceeding fifty years of age, and who shall not be well qualified to give instruction in mathematics, history, and moral philosophy.

ART. 37. Pursers shall not be appointed under twenty-one years of age, and, unless necessary from the urgent wants of the service, shall not be appointed to any sloop of war, until they shall have served two years in brigs or schooners; nor to a frigate or navy yard, unless they shall have served four years in sloops or smaller vessels; nor to a ship of the line, until they shall have served six years in navy yards, frigates, or smaller vessels: and when a purser shall have performed two years service in each class as above, he shall be liable to perform the same succession of duties, except he shall have been eight years a purser, or six years a purser at sea, in which case he shall not be ordered to a brig or schooner.

ART. 38. Pursers may select their own stewards, subject to the approbation of their commanders; but all stewards shall, like other petty officers, sign the shipping articles, so that they may be subject to the laws and regulations for the government of the navy.

ART. 39. No captain shall be appointed to the command of a ship of the line, until he shall have seen three years' sea service as captain, except n cases of necessity.

years,

ART. 40. No captain shall be appointed to the command of a navy yard, until he shall have served eight years as such, and shall have performed four years' sea service as captain; nor shall any commander be appointed to any such navy yard, until he shall have served as such four and have performed two years' sea service as a commander; nor shall any lieutenant be appointed as senior lieutenant to any such navy yard, until he shall have performed at least five years' sea service as a lieutenant; nor shall any master be appointed as first master at any navy yard, until he shall have performed at least five years' sea service as a master.

ART. 41. No surgeon or assistant surgeon shall be appointed to any hospital or navy yard, before he shall have performed at least three years' sea service in the grade to which he belongs, except in cases of necessity. ART. 42. No chaplain shall be appointed to a navy yard, unless he shall have performed at least three years' sea service.

ART. 43. No midshipman shall serve for a longer period than six months on board of a schooner, when it can be avoided without injury to the public service, before he shall have passed his examination for promotion.

ART. 44. The foregoing articles, 28, 29, 30, 31, 39, 40, and 41, or either of them, which regulate the employment and promotion of different officers, may be suspended [except so much as relates to their passing the required examinations to prove their qualifications] in favor of officers who shall have performed acts of distinguished bravery and good conduct. ART. 45. Officers entitled to examination will notify the Secretary of the Navy, through the proper channel, of their wish to be examined; and notice will be given annually, by the Secretary of the Navy, to all persons entitled to examinations, of the time when, and place where, examinations are to be held, and of the classes of persons who are to attend.

ART. 46. Should any officer fail to attend an examination to which he is entitled from his date, when notified, or shall not have sought or improved opportunities to see sufficient sea service, or, having attended, shall fail to pass the required examination, he shall not take rank with

the class of his date, but with that with which he shall pass his examination, excepting he shall produce satisfactory proof that he was prevented from attending, in consequence of employment on distant service in the navy, by sickness or by other sufficient cause; in which case, if he presents himself at the first examination thereafter which he can attend, he shall take rank with the class of his date, in the same manner as though he had been examined with them.

ART. 47. Assistant surgeons, second masters, and midshipmen, who shall be found unqualified for promotion upon a second examination, shall be forthwith dismissed from the service.

ART. 48. If any person shall produce false certificates of age, time of service, or character, before a board of examination, such person shall, whenever it may be discovered, be brought before a court martial to answer for such disgraceful conduct.

ART. 49. The time which an officer may be attached to, or doing duty on board a sea-going vessel of the navy in commission, will be considered as sea service within the meaning of these regulations.

ART. 50. Boards of officers who may be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy to examine assistant surgeons, second masters, and midshipmen, shall grant certificates to such as, in their opinion, prove themselves qualified for promotion, and shall number such certificates according to the relative qualifications of the different individuals, giving No. 1 to the best qualified, and the other numbers in regular order, which certifi cates shall be conclusive as to their relative rank as passed assistant surgeons, passed second masters, and passed midshipmen, except as provided in Art. 46, for officers who cannot attend with their proper class.

war,

ART. 51. When an officer shall be appointed to the command in chief of a fleet or squadron, consisting of not less than ten ships of he may be allowed a captain to assist him, if he shall request it, who shall be styled "Captain of the Fleet."

ART. 52. Every officer who shall be appointed to the command of a fleet or squadron, shall be allowed a lieutenant to assist him in performing his duties, who shall be styled "Flag Lieutenant."

ART. 53. Whenever an officer shall be appointed to the command in chief of a fleet or squadron, the limits of his command shall be specified in his instructions.

CHAPTER III.

MILITARY HONORS AND CEREMONIES.

ART. 54. When the President of the United States shall visit a vessel of the navy, he shall be received upon deck by all the officers in full uniform; the yards shall be manned; the full guard shall be paraded, and shall present arms; the music shall play a march; and a salute of one gun for each State in the Union shall be fired.

ART. 55. When the Vice President of the United States shall visit a vessel of the navy, the same honors shall be paid as is directed in Art. 54, excepting that the salute shall consist of twenty-one guns.

ART. 56. When the Secretary of the Navy, or any other of the heads of departments of the General Government, or any Governor of

one of the United States, shall visit a vessel of the navy, the same honors shall be paid as are prescribed in Art. 54, excepting that the salute shall consist of nineteen guns.

ART. 57. Whenever the navy commissioners shall officially visit a vessel of the navy, they shall be received on deck by all the officers in uniform; an officer's guard shall be paraded, and shall present arms, and the drums shall give three ruffles, and a salute of seventeen guns shall be fired.

ART. 58. Whenever any commander in chief of a fleet, or squadron, shall go on board any vessel of the navy, he shall be received on deck by the commander, if of the same, or of inferior rank, and by the other officers in uniform; an officer's guard shall be paraded, and present arms, and the drum shall give three ruffles.

ART. 59. Commanders of squadrons and divisions, not commanding in chief, and captains of the fleet, shall be received as directed in the preceding article, except that only two ruffles of the drum shall be given to commanders of squadrons, and only one ruffle to commanders of divisions and the captain of the fleet.

ART. 60. Captains and commanders of vessels shall, when they go on board a vessel of the navy, be received on deck by the commander of the vessel visited, when of the same, or of inferior rank, by the officer second in command, and by the officers of the watch; a sergeant's guard for captains, and a corporal's guard for commanders, shall be paraded, and present arms.

ART. 61. All commission officers below the rank of a commander shall be received by the officer of the watch: warrant officers shall be received by a warrant officer of the watch.

ART. 62. The salutes of an admiral commanding in chief shall be seventeen guns; of a vice admiral commanding in chief, fifteen guns; of a rear admiral commanding in chief, or of a captain commanding a squadron in chief, thirteen guns. But when any of the foregoing officers shall be in command of squadrons or divisions, and not commanding in chief, then their salutes shall be two guns less than when commanding in chief.

ART. 63. Whenever an officer shall be appointed to the command of any fleet, squadron, or division, he shall, on assuming the command, and hoisting the flag of his rank receive the salute to which he may be entitled, from all the vessels present which belong to his fleet, squadron, or division.

ART. 64. Vessels when first joining a fleet, squadron, or division, or which may rejoin one after separation of not less than six months, shall salute the senior commanding flag officer, or commander in chief of a squadron, who may be present. Neither captains [except when in command of a squadron or division] nor commanders shall salute each other.

ART. 65. When fleets, squadrons, or divisions meet, the commanding officers only shall salute. When more than one vessel salutes, the officer receiving it shall wait till they shall have ceased firing, and then fire the number of guns to which he is entitled as a salute.

ART. 66. Salutes from officers who are entitled to receive them shall be returned with the number of guns to which they are so entitled. Salutes of captains shall be returned with nine guns, salutes of