CHAPTER XL.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR OFFICERS IN GENERAL.

1.

Every Officer shall make himself acquainted with, and shall duly observe and obey, and, so far as in him lies, enforce the due execution of "The Naval Discipline Act, 1861," the Queen's Regulations and the Admiralty Instructions for the Government of Her Majesty's Naval Service, together with all other Regulations, Instructions, and Orders, which may from time to time be given or issued by the Admiralty, or by any superior Officer; and shall, in all respects, conform his conduct to the customs and usages of Her Majesty's Service at Sea.

2.

Every Officer, from the time of his joining the Ship to which he shall be appointed, to that of his being discharged from her, shall be constant in his attendance on board; and no Officer shall go out of the Ship (except by reason of some pressing necessity, on the public service) without the permission of the commanding Officer on board.

3.

If an Officer commanding one or more of Her Majesty's Ships shall meet with a senior Officer, he is to wait on him, if the state of the weather will admit of it, and to show him the orders under which he is acting, except, such as he is directed to keep secret, and to report the state and condition of the Ship or Ships under his command: such senior Officer however is not, without the most urgent reasons, to require him to show any secret orders, nor to divert him from the service on which he is employed, nor to take him under his command, nor to interfere in any way with the orders he has received; but if, in consequence of any pressing exigency of the public service, he should find it necessary to interfere, he is, as soon as possible, to allow such junior Officer to proceed in execution of the orders under which he was acting when they met, if it shall still appear proper that such orders should be carried into effect.

4.

When it shall be found absolutely necessary to divert a Ship or Squadron from the service on which it is ordered, the Officer causing such diversion is to use the best means in his power to prevent any inconvenience resulting from the delay of the service on which such Ship or Squadron was employed; and he is to take the earliest opportunity to inform the Secretary of the Admiralty of what he shall have done, with his reasons for the same: and if the Ship or Squadron so diverted belong to another Officer's command, he is to make the necessary communication also to that Officer without delay.

5.

If Foreign Ships of War belonging to a nation in amity with Her Majesty shall come into any port in Her Majesty's Dominions, at home or abroad, the senior Officer present is either to go himself, or to send an Officer, to the Officer commanding them, to offer him any assistance he may stand in need of; and such senior Officer and all other Officers are to show to the Officers of the Foreign Ships, during their stay in port, such attention and respect as their rank and situation may entitle them to; and are to afford such assistance to the Ships as they may require, and as circumstances will admit, and as a Power in amity with Her Majesty may reasonably expect.

6.

When a Captain of one of Her Majesty's Ships (not being a Captain in charge of a Division of a Station or Squadron, or in command of more than one Rated Ship) shall signify, in writing, to a British Consul, his arrival at a port at which a Consul resides, the Consul (or Vice Consul in a port where there is a Consul-General) shall take the earliest opportunity of waiting, in person, on such Captain, and affording him any assistance he may require.

Captains, not in charge of a Division of a Station or Squadron, or in command of more than one Rated Ship, are, on their arrival at a port where an Agent and Consul-General, or a Consul-General, resides, to wait upon such Agent and Consul-General, or such Consul-General; and Commanders are to wait upon Her Majesty's Consuls: but Captains, Commanders, Lieutenants or Masters commanding Her Majesty's Ships are to be waited upon by Vice Consuls and Consular Agents, according to the foregoing regulations.

It is understood, of course, that Agents and Consuls-General, Consuls-General, and Consuls, &c., shall, in all cases, wait upon Flag Officers, and Commodores wearing Broad Pendants; and Consuls-Generals (not being Agents and Consuls General) and Consuls, &c., on all Captains in charge of a Division, or Station, or Squadron, or in command of more than one Rated Ship, on their arrival at the port of their residence, without waiting for any previous communication; and that such Flag Officers, Commodores, Captains, Commanders and Lieutenants, or Masters Commanding, shall furnish a boat to convey the Agents and Consuls-General, Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice Consuls, or Consular Agents, as the case may be, on board, and reland them, on the said Officers notifying their wish to have a boat so sent for them.

7.

Every Officer serving in Her Majesty's Fleet, is hereby ordered neither to send nor accept a challenge to fight a Duel with any other person of the Fleet.

Every Officer of the Fleet, on becoming privy to any intention of other Officers to fight a Duel, or having reason to believe that such is likely to occur, owing to circumstances that have come under his observation or knowledge, is hereby ordered to take every measure within his power to prevent such Duel, having recourse, if necessary, to the Captain or commanding Officer.

Every Officer of the Fleet is hereby ordered, in no manner or degree, to evince dissatisfaction with, or to upbraid another Offcer for refusing or not sending a challenge; and all Officers are enjoined neither to reject, nor advise the rejection of, a reasonable proposition for the honourable adjustment of differences that may have occurred.

Any Officer of the Fleet who may be called on to act as Second or Friend to an Officer intending to fight a Duel, is to consider it to be his imperative duty, and he is hereby ordered, strenuously to exert himself to effect an adjustment, between the adverse parties on terms consistent with the honour of each, and should he fail, owing to the determination of the offended parties not to accept honourable terms of accommodation, he must be guided by the second paragraph of this order.

As obedience to orders is the essential and governing principle of the Naval Service, those Offcers may rest assured of the support and approbation of the Admiralty, who, having had the misfortune of giving offence to, or having injured or insulted others, shall frankly explain, apologise, or offer redress for the same; or who, having received offence, injury, or insult from another, shall cordially accept frank explanation, apology, or redress for the same; or who, it such explanation, apology or redress are refused to be made or accepted, shall submit the matter to be dealt with by the Captain or commanding Officer of the Ship or Fleet; and every Officer who shall act as hereinbefore directed, and consequently refuse to accept a challenge, will be deemed to have acted honourably, and to have evinced a requisite obedience, not only to this order, but also to the pleasure of the Queen.

8.

A Captain, Commander, Lieutenant, or other Officer commanding, is not to be removed, without his consent, by any superior Officer, from the command of the Ship or Vessel to which he has been properly appointed, nor to be obliged by such Officer to change with the Captain, Commander, Lieutenant, or other Officer, of any other Ship or Vessel, except under circumstances when the removal of such Officer may be essentially necessary for the public service, which is to be reported to the Admiralty with as little delay as possible: but the Captain of a Ship bearing the Flag of a Flag Officer, or the Broad Pendant of a Commodore of the First Class, may be removed to another Ship, and the Commander-in-chief may appoint, if he think fit, such other Captain as the Flag Officer or the Commodore shall desire to succeed him; and one of the senior Captains, commanding a Frigate or smaller Ship, may be removed to the command of any Ship of the Line becoming vacant, if a Commander-in-chief shall deem it expedient.

9.

Although a surveying Ship abroad may be under the orders of the Commander-in-chief on the station, she is not to be interrupted by him, or by any other senior Officer in the execution of the important work assigned to her, nor is her establishment to be interfered with; but should pressing circumstances render it indispensably necessary to divert, her from the special service on which she may be employed, or to make any change in her establishment, each case is to be reported to the Secretary of the Admiralty, with the least possible delay, by the Commander-in-chief or senior Officer.

10.

All Officers appointed to Ships at home or abroad are to report direct to the Secretary of the Admiralty, the day on which they may have joined; and if appointed at home to Ships abroad, they are to report also the date of their embarkation for passage to join.

11.

Every Officer on coming upon half-pay is to report himself by letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, within fourteen days thereof, if at home, and within the same period of arriving in England from abroad; stating the cause thereof, and the period from which his Half-pay should commence; and any Officer failing to comply herewith will be liable to forfeit his Half-pay for the time he may neglect to claim it.

12.

Any Officer appointed to a Ship from Half-pay, may, after joining, apply to the Accountant-Qeneral of the Navy, for an order to receive by himself or by his Agent, the arrears of Half-pay due to him up to the date of his commencing Full-pay, which date must be in conformity with the Regulations in force on that head, and certified by the commanding Officer of the Ship; and provided no imprest or other objection appears against him, authority will be given for the payment of the same, upon the production of the usual Half-pay declaration.

13.

The established number of Officers or Men in any Ship is not to be altered without express authority from the Admiralty.

14.

Officers who may have occasion to summon, or who may be serving on, a Naval Court for investigating complaints made by the Master, a Mate, or by one or more of the Seamen of any British Merchant Ship on a Foreign Station, - or for investigating matters relating to the wreck, abandonment, or loss of any British Merchant Ship on the high seas or abroad, - or for inquiring into any matter affecting the interest of the Owner of any British Merchant Ship abroad, or of the cargo of any such Ship, - are to be governed in every respect by the provisions of the Act 17 and 18 Victoria, chapter 104, commonly cited as "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854."

15.

The Admiralty having caused a small and cheap edition of these Regulations and Instructions to be printed for the use of the Fleet, every Commission Officer is directed to provide himself with a copy of the same.