Admiralty Circular 370
Admiralty Circular 370


Royal NavyNaval SurgeonAdmiralty circulars

CIRCULAR No. 370.

Admiralty, 30th May, 1859.

(MEDICAL OFFICERS, ROYAL NAVY—PAY, HALF-PAY, RANK, &c.)

Her Majesty having been pleased, by Her Order in Council of the 13th instant, to establish the following regulations with regard to the Pay, Half-pay, Rank. &c., of the Medical Officers of the Royal Navy, My Lords hereby make known the same, for the information of all whom it may concern.

1. — There shall in future be four grades of Medical Officers, viz:—
1. Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets.
2. Deputy Inspector-General of Hospital and Fleets.
3. Surgeon, who, after twenty years' service on fullpay, ten of which in the rank of Surgeon, shall be styled Staff-Surgeon.
4. Assistant-Surgeon.

2. — No Candidate shall be admitted to the examination for a Commission in the Medical Department of the Royal Navy who does not possess such a diploma as would qualify a civilian to practise Medicine and Surgery; and no such candidate shall receive a Commission as Assistant-Surgeon, until he shall have satisfactorily passed an examination in Naval Surgery and Hygiène before a Board of Examiners appointed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

3. — No Assistent-Surgeon shall be eligible for promotion to the rank of Surgeon, until he shall have passed such examination as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may require; and shall have served on full-pay, with the Commission of Assistant-Surgeon, for five years, of which two, at least, shall have been passed on board one or more of Her Majesty's sea-going ships.

4. — No Surgeon shall he eligible for promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets, until he shall have served ten years in the Royal Navy, on full-pay, of which three at least must have been passed in one of Her Majesty's ships, on some one or more Foreign Stations, with the rank of Surgeon.

5. — No Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets shall be eligible for promotion to the rank of Inspector-General, until he shall have served five years at home, or three years abroad, in the rank of Deputy Inspector-General.

In cases of emergency, however, or when the good of Her Majesty's Service may render such alteration desirable, it will be competent for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to shorten the several periods of service above-mentioned, in such manner as they shall deem fit and expedient.

6. — The rates of full-pay for the Medical Officers of the Royal Navy will in future be in accordance with the following schedule:—
◄Table scrolls horizontally►
RANK. After 30 years’ service on full-Pay After 25 years’ service on full-Pay After 20 years’ service on full-Pay After 15 years’ service on full-Pay After 10 years’ service on full-Pay After 5 years’ service on full-Pay Under 5 years’ service on full-Pay
  £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d.
Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets2 5 02 5 0*2 0 0    
Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets1 14 01 10 0*1 8 0     
Staff Surgeon• •1 5 01 2 0    
Surgeon• •• •• •0 18 0*0 15 0  
Assistant-Surgeon• •• •• •• •0 13 00 11 60 10 6
 
* Or on promotion, should these periods of Service not have been already completed.

7. — Every Medical Officer on the Active List, now on half-pay, and those who may be placed on half-pay, subsequently to the 13th instant, will be allowed the hall-pay to which, his period of service on full-pay shall entitle him, according the following schedule:—

◄Table scrolls horizontally►
RANK. After 30 years’ service on full-Pay After 25 years’ service on full-Pay After 20 years’ service on full-Pay After 15 years’ service on full-Pay After 10 years’ service on full-Pay After 5 years’ service on full-Pay Under 5 years’ service on full-Pay
  £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d.
Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets1 17 61 13 6*1 10 0    
Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets1 5 61 2 6*1 1 0     
Staff Surgeon• •0 18 60 16 6    
Surgeon• •• •• •0 13 6*0 11 0  
Assistant-Surgeon• •• •• •• •0 10 00 8 00 6 0
 
* Or on promotion, should these periods of Service not have been already completed.

8. — With a view to maintain the efficiency of the service all Medical Officers, with the ranks of Staff-Surgeon, Surgeon, and Assistant-Surgeon, will be placed on the Retired Lst, when they shall have attained the age of 60 years. Deputy Inspectors-General will be placed on such Retired List, when they shall have attained the age of 65 years, and Inspectors-General when they shall have attained the age of 70 years. Officers thus superannuated will receive the rates of half-pay mentioned in the preceding schedule.

9. — The relative ranks of the Medical Officers of the Royal Navy will be as follows:
An Assistant-Surgeon will rank as a Lieutenant in the Army, according to the date of his Commission, and after six years' service on full-pay, as a Captain in the Army, according to the date of the completion of such service.
A Surgeon will rank as Major in the Army, according to the date of his Commission, and a Staff-Surgeon as Lieutenant-Colonel, but junior of that rank.
A Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets will rank as Lieutenant-Colonel, according to the date of his Commision, and after five years' service on full-pay as Deputy Inspector-General, will rank as Colonel, according to the date of completion of such service.
An Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets will rank as Brigadier-General, according to the date of his Commission, and after three years' service on full-pay as Inspector-General will rank as Major-General, according :o the date of completion of such service.
Provided always, that no Medical Officer, while borne on the books of one of Her Majesty's ships, or employed in establishments on shore, shall be deemed superior in rank to the Officer appointed to command such ship or establishment; but such Commanding Officer shall, under all circumstances, be held to be superior in rank and precedence to every officer under his command.

10. — When Medical Officers of the Navy may be employed on shore, on joint service with Her Majesty's Land Forces, such relative rank will carry with it all precedence and advantages attaching to the rank with which it corresponds, and shall regulate the choice of quarters, rates of lodging money, servants, forage, fuel, and light, or allowances in their stead; but Medical Officers serving in the Fleet, notwithstanding the relative rank thus conferred upon them, will, in all such details, and also in all matters relating to the duties of the Fleet, and to the discipline and interior economy of Her Majesty's ships, be subject, as heretofore, to the authority of any executive officer of the Military Branch, while on duty, under the General Regulations which may from time to time be prescribed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

11. — Medical Officers will share Prize Money according to the Proclamation or Proclamations which may be in force at the time being, for regulating the distribution of the proceeds of Prizes in the Royal Navy.

12. — Medical Officers will be entitled to the same allowances on account of wounds and injuries received in action as combatant officers holding the same relative ranks.

13. — The families of Medical Officers will in like manner be entitled to the same allowances as granted to the families of combatant officers holding the same relative ranks.

14. — Medical Officers will be held entitled to the same honours as other Officers of the Royal Navy of equal relative rank.*

15. — A Medical Officer retiring, after a full-pay service of twenty-five years, may, in cases of distinguished service, receive a step of honorary rank, but without increase of half-pay.

16. — Good Service Pensions will be awarded to the most meritorious Medical officers of the Royal Navy, under such regulations as shall from time to time be determined upon.

17. — Four of the most meritorious Medical Officers of the Royal Navy will be named "Honorary Physicians," and four "Honorary Surgeons," to Her Majesty.

By Command of their Lordships,
H. Corry.
To all Commanders-in-Chief, &c.

* This clause does not extend to complements to be paid by Garrisons or Regimental Guards as laid down in pages 29 and 30 of Her Majesty's Regulations for the Army, nor to corresponding honours paid on board Her Majesty's Ships.


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