The Commander.

615..He will cause the chain cables to be carefully guarded against corrosion, and have them inspected once a quarter, and will cause the swivels, shackles, and bolts, to be coated with soft tallow, and the pins with white lead, or thick white paint.

616. .He will cause the capstans to be turned round and properly oiled once a week, and will have the bars swiftered in when using them.

617..He will take care that the lightning conductors are kept at all times ready for service, and that the wire boarding-netting of his ship is always in the most serviceable condition.

618..He shall see that the meteorological observations are taken and recorded as per form in log-book; and on indications of the approach of gales or hurricanes, he shall cause hourly, or more frequent, observations of the barometer and sympiesometer to be made, and every change in the force and direction of the wind recorded.

619..He is to take every precaution against fire, and to establish general regulations for the duties to be performed by the officers and men, should one occur. He is not to allow lights to be used on the orlops, or in the holds or store-rooms, except in safe lanterns; nor lights to be kept in officers' state-rooms, except the officer himself is present; nor are friction matches, or any other substance or liquid, susceptible of easy or spontaneous ignition, to be on board in the private possession of any one. He is never, on any pretense, to allow any inflammable liquid to be drawn off from any package or cask anywhere but on the gun-deck, by daylight.

620..No explosive oils will be allowed on board vessels of the Navy, nor inflammable liquids, other than such as pertain to medical stores and turpentine; the latter will be kept in sound, safe tanks, securely stowed in the most convenient place on the spar deck, and none of it ever taken below.

621..He will not permit smoking in the ward-room, steerages, cock-pit, or any part of the berth-deck; but he will designate such places for smoking as will be best for the comfort of the officers and crew, having due regard to the safety of the vessel and her discipline.

622..He will permit a lighted lantern to be hung up in a suitable place during meal hours, and after evening quarters until tattoo, or

The Commander.

the setting of the watch, from which pipes or cigars may be lighted. No pipes or cigars shall be lighted at the galley or on the berthdeck.

623..He will cause all lights and fires, other than the lights in light-rooms, to be extinguished whenever it is necessary to receive or discharge powder; and all not absolutely necessary are to be extinguished whenever the magazine is opened for any general purpose. On all occasions of handling or passing powder the utmost precautions are to be taken to guard against accidents.

624..The magazine is never to be opened without the knowledge and consent of the Commanding Officer for the time being.

625..He will be careful that the vessel is kept well caulked, particularly about the bitts, water-ways, and other parts liable to be strained. He will cause this work to be done, as far as practicable, by the carpenters and caulkers of the vessel.

626..He will keep a night-order book, in which shall be entered all orders given to the Officer of the Deck, for his government during the night.

627..If, while sailing in squadron, he shall find that the course directed to be steered is leading the ship under his command or any other ship into danger, he will give notice to the Commander-inChief and to the ship endangered.

628.. When in command of an iron vessel, he will take every opportunity of examining the bottom of such vessel, and be very careful that the plates are cleaned and coated with preserving composition as often as may be necessary, or opportunity may offer for so doing; and he is to see that no injury be done by corrosion to the rivets or other parts, and that no copper articles be allowed to rest on the bottom in contact with the iron.

629..He shall cause every "notice to mariners" that may appear during his cruise, and that contains, from an authentic source, any information relating to his cruising ground, whether with regard to errors of charts, to the discovery of new dangers, or to the condition or position of lights, buoys, or beacons, to be copied in a book kept for that purpose, and to be embodied on the chart to which the information contained in such "notice" relates. He shall also compare his list of charts with that of every other public vessel, more recently from the United States, with which he may meet, for the

Rank and Command.

purpose of procuring copies, tracings, or notes of any new charts or other hydrographical information that the latest publications may afford. At the end of the cruise such note-books, tracings, copies, and memoranda must be returned by him to the Bureau of Navigation.

ARTICLE VI.

SECTION 1.-Rank and Command.

630..The Line Officers of the Navy are classed by law as follows:

631..The usage of the naval service considers also that Mates, Boatswains, and Gunners are Officers of the Line.

632.. Military command of, or in, vessels of war of the United States is exercised by the above-designated officers, in the order in which they are named.

633..Medical, Pay, Engineer Officers, and others not of the line, and not classed by law, are placed in the Annual Navy Register as follows:

634..Military command of, or in, a vessel of war of the United States is not exercised by the above designated officers.

635..The relative rank between certain grades of Line Officers and certain grades of Medical, Pay, Engineer, and Clerical officers is regulated by law, as follows:

Rank and Command.

1. Surgeons of the Fleet, Paymasters of the Fleet, and Fleet En-
gineers, and Surgeons, Paymasters, and Chief Engineers
of more than twelve years, rank with Commanders.
2. Surgeons, Paymasters, and Chief Engineers of less than
twelve years, and the Secretary of the Admiral and the
Secretary of the Vice-Admiral, rank with Lieutenants.

3. Passed Assistant Surgeons and First Assistant Engineers
rank next after Lieutenants.

4. Assistant Surgeons, Assistant Paymasters, and Second Assistant Engineers rank next after Masters.

636..Officers of the Marine Corps are placed by law, in relation to rank, on the same footing as officers of similar grades in the Army, and the relative rank between officers of the Army and Navy is fixed by law, as follows, lineal rank only to be considered:

Commodores, with Brigadier Generals.

Captains, with Colonels.

Commanders, with Lieutenant Colonels.
Lieutenant Commanders, with Majors.
Lieutenants, with Captains.

Masters, with First Lieutenants.

Ensigns, with Second Lieutenants.

637..The relative rank between officers of the Navy and officers of the Marine Corps follows accordingly.

638.. Medical, Pay, Engineer, or other officers, not of the Line, are not to exercise authority, except in the corps or department to which they respectively belong.

639.. When, from any circumstance whatever, the Commanderin-Chief of a fleet or squadron is rendered incapable of exercising command, the Line Officer of the fleet or squadron next in rank or seniority is to discharge his duties.

640..If the Commander-in-Chief of a fleet or squadron be killed in battle, the Line Officer on duty on board the flag-ship highest in rank or seniority, whether detailed as Captain of the fleet, or as an aid of any kind to the Commander-in-Chief or otherwise, is to succeed him provisionally, and until the officer of the fleet or squadron next in rank or seniority to the Commander-in-Chief announces that he has taken command. It shall be the duty of any officer thus succeeding the Commander-in-Chief provisionally, to inform the

Petty Officers.

officer of the fleet or squadron next in seniority to the Commanderin-Chief, as soon as practicable, of the death of the latter. The flag of the deceased Commander-in-Chief is to be kept hoisted in its place until the battle be ended, or the enemy be out of sight or captured. 641..In case the Commander of a vessel should be rendered incapable of exercising command, or should die, the Executive Officer is always to succeed him in command until further orders, even though there may be officers on board, as passengers, higher in rank or seniority than himself; but in all cases where an Admiral, ViceAdmiral, Rear-Admiral, or a Commodore is embarked on board a vessel of the Navy, as a passenger, by due authority, her Commander, if of lower grade or junior in rank, is to be amenable to his orders, and such senior officer, when so embarked, will carry his flag.

642..Officers, junior to the Commander, embarked as passengers on board a vessel of war, will not be assigned to duty on board that vessel unless the exigencies of the service shall make such assignment necessary, of which necessity the Commanding Officer shall be the judge. When passengers shall thus be assigned to duty, they shall have the same right to command and quarters as if originally

ordered to that vessel.

643.. No officer can put himself on duty by virtue of his commission or warrant alone.

644.. The officer in charge of the deck, for the time being, is the representative of the Commanding Officer, and his authority (subject, however, to the orders of the Executive Officer) shall be recognized in all matters pertaining to the management and police of the vessel which come under his supervision.

645.. Officers of the Marine Corps are not to exercise command, either afloat or at a Naval Station, over others not of their own corps, unless specially authorized by the Commander of a vessel or station for a particular purpose, or when on guard, or in the performance of police duties. But when serving on shore with a mixed detachment, composed of sailors and marines, the Marine Officer will exercise command, according to his relative rank and date of commission.

SECTION 2.-Petty Officers.

646..The Petty Officers of the Navy shall be divided into two classes-Petty Officers of the Line and Petty Officers.