Queens Regulations & Admiralty Instructions 1861
Queens Regulations & Admiralty Instructions 1861


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The Queens Regulations and the Admiralty Instructions - 1861


CHAPTER IV.

RANK AND COMMAND.

I. Officers in General.
II. Flag Officers, Captains of the Fleet, and Commodores.
III. Captains and Commanders.
IV. Masters of the Fleet.
V. Lieutenants and other Officers of the Military Branch.
VI. Officers of the Civil Branch.
VII. Ship's Company.

§ I. - OFFICERS IN GENERAL.

1.

The Officers of Her Majesty's Navy shall be divided into two Branches, namely: - A Military Branch and a Civil Branch.

2.

The Military Branch shall consist of the undermentioned Officers, and they shall, with the exceptions hereinafter mentioned, rank and take precedence in the following order:-

1.Flag Officers.
2.Commodores.*
3.Captains.
4.Commanders.
5.Masters of the Fleet.
6.Lieutenants.
7.Masters.
8.Sub-Lieutenants.
9.Second Masters.
10.Gunners, 1st Class.
2nd "
3rd "
11.Boatswains 1st Class.
2nd "
3rd "
12.Carpenters 1st Class.
2nd "
3rd "
13.Midshipmen.
14.Masters' Assistants above 17 years of age
and 2 years at sea in the Royal Navy or Merchant Service.
15.Naval Cadets.
16.Masters' Assistants under 17 years of age and 2 years at sea.
* See Section 2 of this Chapter, Articles 6, 7, and 8.

The foregoing Officers shall Command in the order in which they stand in the above list. Masters (7) shall rank with Lieutenants, according to the dates of their respective commissions; but when the commissions are of the same date, Lieutenants shall take precedence of Masters. Notwithstanding the rank hereby given to Masters, it is Her Majesty's pleasure that they shall, in all matters of Command, and in all the details relating to the duties of the Fleet and to the discipline and interior economy of Her Majesty's Ships, be held to be subject to the authority of Lieutenants, of whatever seniority they may be.

All Officers of the same denomination in the Military Branch shall rank and command according to the order in which their names stand in the Official List of Officers of the Royal Navy; or, when not inserted in the List, according to the dates of their first Commissions, Warrants, or orders, in their existing rank; and, if acting only, according to the seniority of their respective acting appointments: but Commanders and Lieutenants serving in a Ship bearing the Flag of a senior Flag Officer present or the Broad Pendant of a Commodore of the First Class, being the senior Officer present, or in the Ship of the senior Officer of five or more Ships present, shall, when in the presence of, or acting under the immediate order from, such senior Flag Officer or Commodore, or senior Officer of five or more Ships present, and detached on service in company with other Commanders, and Lieutenants, of the Fleet or Squadron present, take rank and command, respectively, of all other Commanders and Lieutenants. Under all other circumstances, Commanders and Lieutenants of Flag Ships, as well as those of other Ships, will take rank only according to their proper seniority.

3.

The Civil Branch shall consist of the undermentioned Officers, and they shall rank in the following order, and with Officers of the Military Branch as herein expressed:-

Denomination of the Civil Officer.   To rank with
1. Chaplain   -
2. Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets After 3 years' service on full-pay as such Rear-Admiral, according to the date of the completion of the service stated.
3. Do. do. Under 3 years' do. Commodore, according to date of Commission.
4. Secretary to Admiral of the Fleet   Captain over 3 years, according to date of Commission.
5. Paymaster-in chief   Do.
6. Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets After 5 years' service on full-pay as such Captain over 3 years. In these cases the Captain to reckon his seniority from the date of completing 3 years in that rank, and the Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, and Inspector of Machinery, from the date of their completing 6 years' and 8 years' service in those ranks respectively.
7. Inspector of Machinery Afloat After 8 years' service on full-pay as such
8. Secretary to a Commander-in-chief   Commander, according to time served as Secretary to a Commander-in-chief.
9. Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets Under 5 years' service on full-pay as such Commander, according to date of Commission.
10. Inspector of Machinery Afloat Under 8 years' service on full-pay as such
11. Staff-Surgeon   Commander, but junior of that rank.
12. Paymaster Of and above 15 years' seniority.
13. Chief-Engineer Do.
14. Secretary to a Junior Flag Officer, Commodore of the 1st Class, or Captain of the Fleet   Lieutenant above 8 years' seniority, according to date of Commission. In these cases the Lieutenant to reckon his seniority from the date of completing 8 years in that rank, and the Paymaster and Chief Engineer from the date of their completing 8 years in those ranks respectively.
15. Surgeon  
16. Paymaster Of 8 years' and under 15 years' seniority
17. Chief Engineer Do.
18. Secretary to a Commodore, 2nd Class   Lieutenant under 8 years' seniority, according to date of Commission
19. Paymaster Under 8 years' seniority
20. Chief Engineer Do.
21. Assistant-Surgeon After 6 years' service on full-pay as such
22. Naval Instructor  
23. Assistant-Surgeon Under 6 years' service on full-pay as such Sub-Lieutenant, according to date of Commission or Order
24. Assistant-Paymaster  
25. Engineer  
26. Assistant-Engineer   Midshipman, according to date of first Order
27. Clerk  

4.

An Officer who shall have received from the Admiralty, or from a Commander-in-chief, or senior Officer on the Station, official intelligence of his promotion, shall rank and command before any other Officer having only an acting order of the same denomination, whatever may be the date of such acting order. This regulation is not to apply to the case of Sub Lieutenants and Second Masters, who have not passed their final examinations in England, and who are to rank and command according to the date of the acting appointments given them after passing in seamanship; but it is to govern only in those cases where the Officer promoted shall be borne, by competent authority, in one of Her Majesty's Ships in commission for Full-Pay in the rank to which he is advanced. Officers who shall receive official notification of their promotion, and continue, until superseded or discharged, to perform the duties of the inferior stations they held previous to hearing of their promotion, are not to assume any superior command to what they were entitled to before receiving such official notification.

5.

In the event of an Officer in command of one of Her Majesty's Ships, as Commodore of the Second Class, or Captain, receiving official notification from the Admiralty, of his having been promoted to the rank of Flag Officer, he is, if abroad, and not specially directed by the Admiralty to hoist his Flag, to be forthwith discharged to the super-numerary list for passage to England, and another Officer is to be appointed to the temporary command of the Ship, unless the senior Officer on the spot (or himself, if the senior Officer present) shall, from peculiar circumstances, consider it essentially necessary, for the benefit of the Queen's Service, that such promoted Officer (or he) should continue for a time to retain his command of the Ship as Commodore or Captain, as the case may be, when he shall be permitted to retain the command as long as so requisite, and no longer. The promoted Offiier, however, is not, under such circumstances, to hoist his Flag, nor to assume any rank or Command beyond what he previously hold as Commodore or Captain, but he is to be subordinate in every respect to all Flag Officers with their Flags flying. If the 0fficer promoted to a Commodore of the First Class, appointed as such by the Admiralty, he may, without any express order to that effect, and in the absence of directions from the Admiralty to the contrary, hoist his Flag and take rank and command according to his seniority as a Flag Officer; but if he be a Commodore of the First Class, appointed as such by the Commander-in-chief or senior Officcr of the Station, or shall have assumed that rank under Article 19, at page 32 of these Instructions, he shall not hoint his Flag, nor rank or command as a Flag Officer, but shall continue in the capacity of a Commodore of the First Class only, until directed by the Admiralty, or by a Flag Officer whose Flag is flying, to be discharged to Half-Pay, or to revert temporarily, to the command of his Ship as Captain.

6.

An Officer who may receive official intelligence from the Admiralty, of his having been promoted, shall, unless under the circumstances as hereafter-mentioned, be immediately superseded, from the Ship in which he is serving with inferior rank, by the senior Officer placing an Officer present to act in the place of such Officer promoted; or, if the Officer promoted should be himself the senior present, then he is to discharge himself, having prcviously appointed an officer present to fill the vacancy thereby occasioned, until the pleasure of the Admiralty, or of the Commander-in-chief of the station be made known thereon. Officers so superceder, or dischared, are, if abroad, and not appointed to any ship in Commission, to be placed on the supernumerary list for victuals only, for passage to England; but if appointed to a Ship in Commission, they are to be borne on the supernumerary list for passage to join such Ship. In the event, however, of the senior Officer on the spot, considering it essentially necessary, for the benefit of the Queen's Service, that an Officer, although promoted, should continue for a time to perform the duties of the inferior station from which he has been advanced, he may require him to do so; if the Officer promoted be himself the senior Officer present, - according to the true intent and meaning of the regulations contained in Article 5, - he may, in like manner, cither order his own discharge, or, if he considers it necessary, continue to perform the duties of the inferior station from which he was advanced; but, in either case, the senior Officer is to report, without any delay, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and to the Commander-in-chief of the Station, the particular circumstances which induced him to remain himself, or retain the promoted Officer, in his inferior capacity.

7.

No Officer shall be entitled to any military command or authority, except he be on Full-Pay, and be borne, according to his naval rank, in the Military Branch, on the books of one of Her Majesty's Ships.

8.

Officers on Full-Pay, lent by competent authority to do duty on board any other of Her Majesty's Ships, though borne as Supernumeraries, shall take the same rank and command and shall be considered in every respect for the time they are so employed, as if they actually belonged to the complement.

9.

Any Officer on Full-Pay, taking a passage in one of Her Majesty's Ships, though borne as a Supernumerary, may, if of inferior rank or junior to the Officer next in command to the Officer commanding the ship in which he is embarked, be ordered to do duty; and while so e mployed, he shall take the same rank and command, and shall be considered in every respect as if he actually belonged to the complement; but if the Officer commanding the Ship shall die, the acting command thereof is vested in the Officers mentioned in Article 11, at page 49, and in no case shall it be assumed by a Supernumerary Officer, except he shall have received the express authority mentioned in the following Article, or be in the position described in Article 11, on this page.

10.

Captains and other Officers of the Military Branch, borne on the books of any of Her Majesty's Ships as "Additional, for special or particular service," are never to assume the charge and command of the Ships in which they are so borne, nor any other charge or command, except what may appertain to the special or particular service for which they are borne, unless they receive from the Admiralty express authority to the contrary.

11.

Captains and other Officers of the Military Branch, borne on the books of any of Her Majesty's Ships as "Additional," but not for any special or particular service, are to take rank and command in the Ships in which they are so borne, and to be considered, generally, to all intents and purposes, as if they belonged to the complements of such ships.

12.

Officers of the Civil Branch, and all persons not included in the foregoing Articles, 10 and 11, borne on the books of any of Her Majesty's Ships as "Additional," are to perform the duties for which they are j appointed, and to be considered as belonging to the Ships in which they are borne, and to take rank and precedence according to their several degrees in the Royal Navy.

13.

No additional or supernumerary Officer shall be permitted to displace any of the established Officers of the Ship in their cabins or accommodation on board.

14.

When one of Her Majesty's Ships shall be wrecked, or be otherwise lost or destroyed, or taken by the enemy, the command, power, and mthority, given to the Captain or Commanding Officer, and to the other Officers with respect to each other and to the Crew, shall remain and be in full force, as effectually as if such Ship were not lost, until a Court-Martial shall have inquired into the cause of the loss or capture of such Ship, or the Officers and crew shall be otherwise disposed of and separated as directed by "The Naval Discipline Act, 1861."

15.

Flag Officers and Commodores of the First Class may, as circumstances may require, shift their Flags or Broad Pendants to, and may remove on board of, any other Ship, as the circumstances at the moment may induce them to deem proper for the good of the service.

16.

If an Officer commanding a Fleet or Squadron shall, from any cause be rendered incapable of directing the operations of the Fleet or Squadron in battle, or in the presence of an Enemy, he may send for the Officer next in command to remain in such commanding Officer's Ship, to direct from thence all operations whilst the enemy continue in sight; and such Second in Command is (if he be a Flag Ollicer or a Commodore) to leave his Flag or Broad Pendant flying on board his own Ship, notwithstanding his absence from her on such duty.

17.

If a Flag 0fficer or a Commodore, commanding a Fleet or Squadron, be killed in battle, his Flag or Broad Pendant is to be continued flying until the battle be ended, or the Enemy be no longer in sight; but the Officer next in command is to be immediately informed of the event by a Private Signal previously concerted, or otherwise as may, at the time, be most advisable; and he is forthwith to assume the chief command, repairing to, and managing the Fleet or Squadron from, the Ship of the former Commander-in-chief, if he shall judge it expedient to remove to her; and in that case (if he be a Flag Officer or Commodore) he is to leave his own Flag or Broad Pendant flying on board the Ship he quits.

18.

If any other Flag Officer or Commodore, not commanding a Fleet or Squadron, be killed in battle, his Flag or Broad Pendant is also to be continued flying until the battle be ended; but the Commander-in-chief is to be immediately informed of the event, by Signal or otherwise, as may be most advisable.

19.

If a Flag Officer or a Commodore of the First Class, having a Commission as Commander-in-chief on Foreign Service, shall die, or if the state of his health shall make it absolutely necessary for him to quit his Command, without waiting for permission from the Admiralty, the Officer next in command (if he be a Flag Officer or a Commodore of the First Class, with an Admiralty Commission as such) shall be considered as Commander-in-chief in all respects until the pleasure of the Admiralty shall be known: but if the Officer on whom the command shall devolve be a Commodore of the Second Class, or a Captain, he shall hoist the Broad Pendant and assume the rank of a Commodore of the First Class, giving an order to some other Officer to act as Captain of the same Ship; until the pleasure of the Admiralty shall be known; and during the time he shall remain in such command he shall be considered as a Commander-in-chief in all respects, except that he is not to assume the title of Commander-in-chief, but only that of Commodore commanding on the Station, and is not to be entitled to fill Death Vacancies by Commission or Warrant, hut only to place eligible Persons to act in such as may occur until the pleasure of the Admiralty or a succeeding Flag Officer to the Station shall be known; and every Officer who may have hoisted a Broad Pendant of the First Class, and assumed a Command under this authority shall, on hearing officially of the arrival ot a senior Officer to him on the Station, immediately strike such Broad Pendant, and revert in the Station he filled previous to his hoisting it, without waiting to be superseded by the personal presence of such senior Officer, or receiving an order direct from him so to do, unless some order for the continuance of his Broad Pendant, notwithstanding the arrival of such senior Officer, shall have been received by him from competent authority.

Such senior Officer arriving on the Station, if only a Captain or Commodore of the Second Class, shall be authorized to hoist a Broad Pendant of the First Class, according to the restrictions and directions above stated, and the same course is to be observed should other senior Captains arrive, until the pleasure of the Admiralty relative to the Command of the Station shall be made known.

20.

The foregoing Article, authorizing the assumption of temporary Command as Commodore, is not to be understood to apply to an Officer becoming the senior Officer on a Station, or of a Squadron abroad, in consequence of a Commander-in-chief going beyond the limits of his Station, or quitting his Squadron upon any temporary duty, or under any other circumstances than those specified in the preceding Article, unless the Commander-in-chief, so quitting his Station or Squadron abroad, should deem it necessary for the more effectual conducting of Her Majesty's Service during his absence, to order the Officer he leaves intrusted with the command to act as temporary Commodore commanding on the Station in the manner prescribed in the preceding Article; under which order, an Officer left with the command, in cases coming under this Article, is to be entitled to assume similar distinction and advantages as if succeeding to it in consequence of the death or resignation of a Commander-in-chief, always observing the same exception.

21.

In the event of the death, or of the absence on leave, of a Commander-in-chief on Home or Channel Service, the Officer on whom the command may devolve, if a Flag Officer or a Commodore of the First Class, shall be considered in all respects as Commander-in-chief; but if he be a Captain, he shall hoist a Broad Pendant as a Commodore of the Second Class only.

22.

When it shall be absolutely requisite for the senior Officer of two or more Ships, not being a Flag Officer, to be absent from his own Ship, and to go on board another Ship under his orders, for the better conducting any important service on which he may be engaged, he is to direct the Officer commanding such Ship to bear him in his proper rank, as "lent for particular service," and while so borne, the said Senior Officer shall have the same command and authority in every respect as he would have had if present in his own Ship. And, in the event of the Ship commanded by the senior Officer of two or more Ships, not being a Flag Officer, being wrecked or lost, such senior Officer may direct himself to be borne as "Additional" in his proper rank, in one of the Ships under his orders; and while so borne, or until an Officer senior to him shall arrive on the spot, he shall have the same command and authority as he had before his own Ship was lost. In either case, the senior Officer is to relinquish all command and authority on board the Ship in which he is temporarily borne by his own order as soon as the cxigencies of the Service will admit thereof, and he is forthwith to report to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and to the Commander-in-chief of the Station on which he is employed, the circumstances which rendered it necessary for him to avail himself of the provisions of this article.

23.

A Captain, Commander, or other Officer, absent on any service in a Tender or Boat attached to the Ship in which he is borne for Full-Pay, shall have the same command and authority as he would have were he actually on board the Ship in which he is so borne.

24.

If any Officer shall retire from his employment without the sanction of the Admiralty, except on good and sufficient reasons to be judged of by the Admiralty, or shall refuse or avoid service if found capable of serving, he shall not be allowed to receive Half-Pay, and his name shall be removed from the List of Officers of the Royal Navy.

25.

The Officers of Her Majesty's Indian Naval Forces, referred to in the Act of Parliament, 21 and 22 Victoria, chapter 106, section 50, shall, while within the limits of Her Majesty's Government in India, take rank agreeably with their several degrees with the Officers of the Royal Navy; but Officers of the Royal Navy shall have precedence of Officers of the same rank of Her Majesty's Indian Naval Forces; and the Officers of the one Service shall not have any command whatsoever over the Ships, Officers, and Men of the other Service, unless under special orders to that effect from Her Majesty's Government in England, or the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, or the Governor of the Presidency in which such Ships, Officers, and Men, may be employed.

26.

Every Officer or other person, under the rank of Captain, not being either the Commander or senior Lieutenant of the Ship, or not actually in charge of the ship for the time being, shall be subordinate to the Officer of the Watch, of whatsoever rank he may be.

§ II. - FLAG OFFICERS, CAPTAINS OF THE FLEET, AND COMMODORES.

1.

Flag Officers shall be classed, and shall rank and command, in the order and manner following:-
Admirals of the Fleet,
Admirals of the Red, White, and Blue Squadrons.
Vice-Admirals of the Red, White, and Blue Squadrons.
Rear-Admirals of the Red, White, and Blue Squadrons.

2.

When the Admiralty shall deem it expedient to appoint a Captain of the Fleet, he shall be a Captain of such seniority as the Admiralty may think fit; and shall be constituted a Commodore of the First Class, and have an appointment as additional Captain of the Ship in which the Flag Officer or Commodore with whom he is serving shall be borne.

3.

The Captain of the Fleet shall take precedence, and shall command, according to his proper rank as a Commodore; but if he shall meet with a senior Captain, who may not be a First-Class Commodore, he shall, while present with such senior Captain, rank only as additional Captain of the Ship in which he may be borne for the time being.

4.

If the Commander-in- chief shall die, or shall give up his Command, the Captain of the Fleet is to preserve his situation under the Officer who succeeds to the Chief Command, if there be an Officer senior to him in the Fleet; but if the Captain of the Fleet be himself next in rank to the Commander-in-chief, and, consequently, hoists his Broad Pendant, and assumes the Command, he may appoint such Officer as he shall think proper to act as Captain of the Fleet, until the pleasure of the Admiralty, or his superior Officer, shall be known; observing, that the Officer appointed must be one of the senior Captains in the Fleet, who shall be willing to accept the appointment.

In the event of the command having devolved on a Commodore of the First Class, the Captain of the Fleet appointed by him under the provisions of this Article, must be nominated Additional Captain of the Ship in which such Commodore of the First Class shall be borne.

5.

A Captain, when authorized to wear a Broad Pendant, shall have the temporary title and rank of Commodore, of which there shall be two Classes:-
I. A Commodore, when he shall have a Captain of the same Ship under him, shall be denominated a Commodore of the First Class.
II. A Commodore, without a Captain of the same Ship under him, shall be denominated a Commodore of the Second Class.

A Commodore of the First Class shall be constituted by a Commission as such, and shall have an appointment as First Captain of the Ship on board of which his Broad Pendant shall be hoisted.

6.

A Commodore of the First Class shall be considered as a Flag Officer, and shall rank and command as such next below a Rear-Admiral, and, like other Flag Officers, may change his Broad Pendant from one Ship to another as occasion may require; but when merely transferred to another Ship than his regular Flag-Ship for any temporary object, it shall not be necessary for him to have an appointment for such Ship as First Captain, unless circumstances should occasion his continuing on board such latter Ship longer than originally intended, in which case it is to be made out to meet the occurrence adverted to in the following Article; and he shall wear his Broad Pendant in presence of all Flag Officers and Commodores, provided there be no senior Captain present. Commodores shall take rank and command of each other, according to their seniority as Captains.

7.

If a Commodore of the First Class shall meet with a Captain senior to him, who may not be a First Class Commodore, he shall immediately strike his Broad Pendant, and shall rank and command, while it is so struck, only as First Captain of the Ship in which he is borne, and according to his seniority as Captain; but on his separating from such senior Captain, he shall re-hoist his Broad Pendant, and resume his rank and Command as a Commodore.

8.

A Commodore of the Second Class is a Captain of one of Her Majesty's Ships authorized to hoist a distinguishing Broad Blue Pendant on board such ship; but it is only in such Ship, her Tenders, and Boats, that his Second-Class Broad Pendant is to fly, except under the circumstances mentioned in Article 22, at page 33.

A Second Class Commodore shall wear his Broad Pendant in the presence of all Flag Officers and Commodores (there being no senior Captain present); but he is to be considered only as a Captain, except as to honours and emoluments hereafter explained.

9.

If a Commodore of the Second Class shall meet with a senior Captain, not a Commodore, he shall immediately strike his Broad Pendant, and shall wear only a common Pendant during the time he shall be in the presence of such senior Captain; but on his separating from him, he shall re-hoist his Broad Pendant.

§ III. - CAPTAINS AND COMMANDERS.

1.

A Captain shall be a duly qualified Officer, appointed to a Ship as such, by the Admiralty, or by a Commander-in-chief in any vacancy to which he shall be authorized to appoint by Commission.

2.

If a Lieutenant shall, from necessity, be appointed by a Commander-in-chief to act as Captain of a Ship, in a vacancy to which such Commander in-chief would have been authorized to promote a Commander to be a Captain, such Lieutenant shall be promoted by him to be a Commander, if qualified, and shall be appointed to act as Captain of such Ship; and being so appointed, he shall be considered, whilst he continues to act in the command of such Ship, under the said appointment, as a Captain (subject, however, to the orders of all Captains, though the date of his acting order be prior to the dates of their Commissions) for all purposes, except sitting as such at Courts-Martial, with reference to which he is to be considered as a Commander only, and according to his seniority as a Commander.

3.

An Officer, not being a confirmed Captain, who shall be appointed by a Commander-in-chief, or by other proper authority to act as Captain of a Ship, under other circumstances than those set forth in the preceding Article, shall not be entitled, by such appointment, to any permanent advance of rank; but, until removed from such acting command by the Admiralty, or by any Officer authorized by these Regulations to supersede such acting appointment, he shall be considered in all respects as Captain of the Ship, except at Courts-Martial, where he shall be called upon to sit according to his confirmed rank only; and he shall, whilst so acting (whatever may be his permanent rank in the Navy) take command of all Commanders and other inferior Officers.

4.

A Commander shall be a duly qualified Officer, appointed to a Ship as such, by the Admiralty, or by a Commander-in-chief in any vacancy to which he shall be authorized to appoint by Commission.

5.

Any inferior Officer who shall be appointed to act as Commander of any Ship, shall, during the period he so acts, rank and command, and be considered, to all intents and purposes, as a Commander, except with regard to sitting at Courts-Martial.

§ IV. - MASTERS OF THE FLEET.

1.

The Admiralty may, when they shall deem it expedient to do so, appoint a Master of the Navy, to be a Master of the Fleet, and Additional Master of the Ship in which the Flag of the Commander-in-chief or senior Officer of the Station or Squadron may fly. During the time of a Master holding such appointment he shall rank and command next after Commanders.

§ V. - LIEUTENANTS, AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE MILITARY BRANCH

1.

A Lieutenant shall be a duly qualified Officer, appointed to command, as such, or to be Lieutenant of any Ship, by appointment from the Admiralty, or from a Commander-in-chief in any vacancy to which he shall be authorized to appoint a Lieutenant. He shall rank before or after Masters, according to circumstances, as directed in Article 2, at page 27; but in all cases Masters shall be subject to the command and to the authority of Lieutenants.

2.

MASTERS.

A Master shall be a duly qualified Officer appointed to command as such, or to be Master of any Ship, by appointment from the Admiralty, or from a Commander-in-chief in any vacancy to which he shall be authorized to appoint. He shall take rank as follows:-

Before or after Lieutenants, according to circumstances, - but in all matters of command to be subordinate to Lieutenants, - as directed in Article 2, at page 27.

3.

SUB-LIEUTENANTS.

So soon as a Midshipman shall have passed such Examinations to qualify him to receive a Lieutenancy, as the Admiralty may, from time to time, direct, he shall, if in England, and of approved character, be entitled to receive from the Admiralty a Commission as Sub-Lieutenant; but if abroad, he is only to receive from a Commander-in-chief, or from his own Captain or Commanding Officer, a Commission as Acting Sub-Lieutenant, until he shall have passed, at the Royal Naval College, the required examinations in Navigation, &c.; but an Acting Sub-Lieutenant shall be deemed eligible to receive an appointment as Acting Lieutenant; and, should he continue long enough abroad to qualify him for higher acting appointments, he is to be deemed eligible to receive them, the confirmation of the whole, however, depending on his passing his examinations within such period after his return to England as shall be regulated by the Admiralty. Sub-Lieutenants shall rank and command next after Masters.

4.

SECOND MASTERS.

An Officer having served, as hereinafter directed, and a Master's Assistant who shall have passed such examination as the Admiralty may, from time to time, direct, shall, if in England, and of approved character, be entitled to receive from the Admiralty a Commission as Second Master: but if abroad, he is only to receive from a Commander-in-chief, or from his own Captain or Commanding Officer, a Commission as Acting Second Master, until he shall have passed at the Royal Naval College, and at the Trinity House, the required examinations; but an Acting Second Master, after serving two years in that capacity, shall be deemed eligible to receive an appointment as Acting Master; such appointment, however, is not to be confirmed unless he passes at the Royal Naval College, and at the Trinity House, within such period after his return to England as shall be regulated by the Admiralty. Second Masters shall rank and command next after Sub-Lieutenants.

5.

WARRANT OFFICERS.

Gunners, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class, shall rank and command next after Second Masters; and with each other, in the order in which they are classed as above, according to the date of their Warrants to the several classes specified.

6.

Boatswains, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class, shall rank and command next after Gunners; and with each other as in the case of Gunners.

7.

Carpenters, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class, shall rank and command next after Boatswains; and with each other as in the case of Gunners.

8.

SUBORDINATE OFFICERS.

Midshipmen shall rank and command next after Carpenters, and with each other according to the date of their passing for the rating of Midshipman. When two or more shall have passed on the same day, their seniority amongst each other shall be regulated according to their date of entry in the service, and when that is also the same, their seniority shall be determined according to the order in which their names stand on the Ship's Books for the time being.

9.

Masters' Assistants, above 17 years' of age and two years at sea in the Royal Navy or Merchant Service, shall rank and command next after Midshipmen, and with each other according to the date of their entry in the service. Those who may have entered with, and been allowed, sea time in other capacities (whether in the Royal Navy or Merchant Service) before being rated Masters' Assistant, shall, for the purpose of seniority amongst each other, be permitted to reckon such sea time as time served as Masters' Assistant. When two or more are of the same standing, their seniority shall be determined according to the order in which their names appear on the Ship's Books for the time being.

Masters' Assistants, under 17 years' of age and two years at sea in the Royal Navy or Merchant Service, shall rank and command next after Naval Cadets.

10.

Naval Cadets shall rank and command next after Masters' Assistants above 17 years' of age and two years at sea in the Royal Navy or Merchant Service, and with each other according to the date of their entry in the service. When two or more are of the same standing, their seniority amongst each other shall be determined according to the order in which their names appear on the Ship's Books for the time being.

§ VI. - COMMISSION AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CIVIL BRANCH.

1.

All Officers of the same denomination of the Civil Branch shall take rank of each other according to the order in which their names stand on the Official List of Officers; or, if acting only, according to the dates of their Acting Orders; or, when there is no List of any particular class, according to their length of Service in Her Majesty's Navy; but Secretaries to Flag Officers, or Commodores, shall take rank of each other according to the rank of the Flag Officers or Commodores to whom they are attached.

2.

Officers of the Civil Branch are not to assume any Military Command whatsoever, either afloat or on shore.

3.

Notwithstanding the relative rank conferred by these Regulations on Officers of the Civil Branch, they are, in all such details and matters as relate to the service on which they are employed, the duties of the Fleet, and to the discipline and interior economy of Her Majesty's Ships, to be subject to the authority of the executive Officers of the Military Branch; and in no case shall they be deemed to be superior in rank to, or take precedence of, the Officer appointed to command the Ship or Establishment in which they are employed, or the Officer or other person on whom the command of such Ship or Establishment may properly devolve in the absence of the Officer appointed to the command thereof.

4.

If two Officers of the Civil Branch have met together, and an Officer of the Military Branch under whose command the senior of the two is serving, be also present, the junior Civil Officer, whatever his rank and standing may be, cannot, in such case, take precedence of the Officer of the Military Branch, but must assume his position, according to his rank and standing, after the Officer of the Civil Branch next above him in rank or seniority.

§ VII. - SHIP'S COMPANY.

1.

The Crews of Her Majesty's Ships shall consist of the classes and denominations specified in the following table, and they shall rank, and take command, after Masters' Assistants under 17 years of age and two years at sea, in the order in which they are therein inserted, and those of the same denomination according to the dates of their ratings in the Ship's Books; but Men holding those ratings that are printed in italics are not to assume any Military Command whatsoever. In the event of two or more Men of the same denomination being rated on the same day, they shall take rank in the order in which their names appear on the Record-Book of the Ship for the time being:-

Chief Petty Officers

Master-at-Arms.
Chief Gunner's Mate.
Chief Boatswain's Mate.
Chief Captain of the Forecastle.
Admiral's Coxswain.
Chief Quartermaster.
Chief Carpenter's Mate.
Seamen's Schoolmaster.
Ship's Steward.
Ship's Cook.
First-Class Petty Officers.
Ship's Corporal.
Gunner's Mate.
Boatswain's Mate.
Captain's Coxswain.
Captain of the Forecastle.
Quartermaster.
Yeoman of the Signals.
Coxswain of the Launch.
Captain of the Main-Top.
Captain of the Fore-Top.
Captain of the Afterguard.
Captain of the Hold.
Sailmaker.
Ropemaker.
Carpenter's Mate.
Caulker.
Blacksmith.
Armourer.
Plumber.
Leading Stoker.
Sick-Berth Steward.

Second-Class Petty Officers.

Coxswain of the Barge.
Coxswain of the Pinnace.
Captain of the Mast.
Second Captain of the Forecastle.
Second Captain of the Main-Top.
Second Captain of the Fore-Top.
Signalman.
Second Captain of the Afterguard.
Captain of the Mizen-Top.
Sailmaker's Mate.
Coxswain of the Cutter.
Cooper.
Caulker's Mate.
Sick Berth Attendant.
Musician.
Head Krooman (For the African Station only).

Remainder of Ship's Company.

Leading Seaman.
Shipwright.
Yeoman of the Store-Room,
Second Captain of the Hold.
Painter.
Sailmaker's Crew.
Blacksmith's Crew.
Tinsmith.
Armourer's Crew.
Carpenter's Crew.
Cooper's Crew.
Stoker and Coal Trimmer.
Able Seaman.
Ordinary Seaman.
Second-Class Ordinary Seaman.
Bandsman.
Tailor.
Shoemaker.
Butcher.
Lamp Trimmer.
Second Head Krooman. (For the African Station only.)
Flag Officer's Domestics.
Captain's Steward.
Captain's Cook.
Ward-Room Steward.
Ward-Room Cook.
Secretary's Servant.
Gun-Room Steward.
Gun-Room Cook.
Ship's Steward's Assistant.
Assistant Sick Berth Attendant.
Engineer's Servant.
Engineer's Cook.
Cook's Mate.
Barber.
Captain's Servant.
Captain's Cook's Assistant.
Commander's Servant.
Ward-Room Servant.
Ward-Room Cook's Assistant.
Gun-Room Servant.
Warrant Officers' Cook.
Warrant Officers' Servant.
Krooman. (For the African Station only.)
Ship's Steward's Boy.
Boy of the First Class.
Boy of the Second Class.



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