Examinations.

Line Officers, one of whom shall be of, or above the rank of Lieutenant Commander. For a Boatswain or Gunner, of three Line Officers, one of whom shall be of, or above, the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and one shall be of the grade in which the applicant desires an appointment. For a Carpenter or Sailmaker, of two Line Officers, one of whom shall be of, or above, the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and of one Staff Officer of the grade in which the applicant desires an appointment. For Engineer Officers, of not less than three Chief Engineers, Medical Officers, of not less than three Surgeons. For Assistant Paymasters, of not less than three Paymasters. For Assistant Naval Constructors, of not less than three Naval Constructors, and one Professor of Mathematics.

For

232.....Candidates who may exhibit the highest degree of practical experience and professional skill will be given a preference, both in admission and promotion.

233........No qualified candidate will be held over for appointment more than one year. If not appointed within that time, it will be necessary for the candidate to be re-examined, when he will take position, if successful, with the class last examined.

234.... Any person who shall fail to present himself for examination, after having obtained permission, shall be considered as having forfeited his right to be examined, and any officer who shall fail to present himself, after having been ordered so to do, (unless for reasons satisfactory to the Department,) shall be dropped from the list.

235....Any Assistant Surgeon who, after examination, shall be reported by the board as not qualified for promotion, shall be dropped from the list of officers of the Navy.

236....If an officer should fail to pass a first examination, and be granted an opportunity to present himself a second time, he will, in case of success, have his position on the register designated by the board, subject, however, to the decision of the Department. But if he should fail in the second examination, he shall be dropped from the Navy list.

237....Any officer who may have been absent from the United States on duty, or have been excused by the Department from attending at the time when others of his date were examined, will, if not re

Examinations ----Appointments and Promotions.

jected at a subsequent examination, be entitled to the same rank with them, and if, from any cause, his relative seniority cannot be assigned, he shall retain his original relative position on the register. In order, however, that the relative position of officers of the same date who may be examined for promotion at different times may be more readily determined, a majority of the members of the board will be selected, if practicable, from those who served on the next preceding board.

238....No allowance will be inade for the expenses of persons undergoing examinations for appointments, as the latter are indispensable prerequisites to appointment. An exception to this rule will be made in the case of candidates for admission to the Naval Academy, who, if successful, will be allowed their actual necessary travelling expenses. 239...Any person producing a false certificate of age, time of service or character, or making a false statement to a board of examination, will be dropped immediately

SECTION 3.

Appointments and Promotions.

240....Any person having passed an examination will be eligible to an appointment. Appointments will be made as vacancies may occur, in the order of merit as reported by the board. Every person on receiving an appointment from the Department to any office in the Navy, will forward a letter of acceptance immediately to the Department, together with the oath of allegiance duly signed and certified. (See appendix, form No. 17.)

241...No officer shall, when within the jurisdiction of the United State, unless authorized by the Secretary of the Navy, appoint any person not holding a commission or warrant in the Navy to perform the duties of a commissioned or warranted officer, nor give to any commissioned or warranted officer any acting appointment. An exception to this rule will be found in the fourth section of the act to provide for the appointment of Assistant Paymasters, approved July 17, 1861.

242....No officer other than the Commander-in-Chief of a fleet or squadron, shall give any acting appointment, except as provided for in the

Appointments and Promotions.

last paragraph; nor shall any such acting appointment be issued unless a lasting vacancy should occur in the established complement of a vessel of the Navy, which cannot be filled from supernumerary officers on board other vessels of the fleet or squadron, and in such case it shall be in writing, and be subject to revocation by himself, or by his successor, or by the Secretary of the Navy. In the case of a vacancy by death on board any vessel absent from the United States, and acting singly, the Commanding Officer may issue a written order to supply the deficiency, which shall continue in force until the vessel falls in with the Commander-in-Chief, or arrives in the United States.

243... Temporary vacancies on board vessels not within the United States, occasioned by the continued indisposition of officers, their absence on duty, or inability to perform it, may be filled by a written order from the Commander-in-Chief, or senior officer present, to other officers of the fleet, squadron, or vessel, who will perform the duties of such sick, absent, or incompetent officers, until their return to duty, or until further orders be received from competent authority. All such orders may be revoked by the officer from whom they issued.

244....No Commanding officer of a vessel which may be ordered to sail from the United States, or which may be separated from the Commander-in-Chief of the fleet or squadron to which such vessel belongs, shall issue any order to fill vacancies among offices which existed and could have been reported to the Navy Department in time for orders to be issued to other officers before sailing, or to the Commander-inChief before the separation occurred.

245....All acting oppointments and orders directing an officer to perform duties higher than those of his proper grade, must specify the vessel on board which he is to act, and in case of subsequent removal to another vessel, a new appointment or order must be given, except when the original shall have issued from the Navy Department.

246....Officers conferring acting appointments, or giving orders to fill vacancies, will promptly inform the Department of such transactions, and of the reasons which governed them. In no case will the established complement of the vessel be exceeded. If an acting appointment or order to perform duties belonging to a higher grade be revoked, the reasons for the revocation must be immediately reported to the Department.

Appointments and Promotions

247.... An officer holding an acting appointment, will wear the uniform of the grade to which he is appointed, and will annex the title of his acting rank to his official signature; but when holding only an order to perform the duties of a higher grade, he will not change his uniform nor his official designation.

248....All officers of, and above, the grade of Lieutenant Commander, when commanding or acting as Captain of the Fleet, shall be allowed to appoint a clerk.

249...Every officer entitled to a secretary or clerk may appoint or discharge him. But the appointment or discharge of a clerk by any officer not in command shall be subject to the approval of the Commander of the vessel; the latter, however, will not refuse his approval except for good and sufficient reasons, which he will state in writing to such officer. No secretary or clerk shall be entered upon the muster roll of any vessel, nor be entitled to any pay, until he shall have accepted his appointment by letter, in duplicate, binding himself therein to be subject to the laws and regulations for the government of the Navy, and the discipline of the vessel so long as his appointment may continue. One of these letters in duplicate shall be transmitted immediately to the Department by the officer conferring the appointment, together with the oath of allegiance, the other copy of the letter of acceptance shall be preserved by that officer. In the case of any clerk appointed by an officer not in command, the letter of acceptance sent to the Department must bear the approval of the Commander of the vessel. The acceptance of an appointment as secretary or clerk shall be understood as binding such person to serve with the officer who appointed him until regularly discharged, or until the return of such officer to the United States.

250....Masters-at-arms and Yeomen will be appointed by the Commander of the vessel; Surgeon's stewards and nurses will be appointed by the Surgeon, and Paymaster's stewards by the Paymaster; but all such appointments must bear the approval of the Commander of the vessel. They will be entered on the ship's books after having been found physically qualified, have taken the oath of allegiance, and have signed an agreement (form No. 18, appendix) to serve faithfully for the cruise, to be amenable to the laws and regulations of the service and

Appointments and Promotions.

discipline of the vessel, and to be subject to discharge in case of misbehavior, in any port, foreign or domestic, without claim for passage money, the fact of misbehavior to be established by a summary courtmartial, appointed by the Commander of the vessel. This agreement must be executed in duplicate, one copy of which, approved by the Commander of the vessel, together with the oath of allegiance, shall be forwarded to the Department, and the other copy shall be retained by the Commander of the vessel. The physical examination of Surgeon's stewards and nurses will be made by the officer appointing them. Masters-at-arms, Yeomen, and Paymaster's stewards will be examined by the Surgeon of the vessel or of the station. The Petty Officers named in this paragraph, together with the Orderly Sergeant of Marines, shall be allowed to mess separately on the berth-deck.

251...The Surgeon of every vessel of the Navy may appoint, for duties connected with the medical department, a steward, and on board every vessel commissioned for sea-service, he may appoint one nurse, when the complement is less than (200) two hundred, and when it is (200) two hundred and over, two nurses. Nurses will be allowed on board receiving-ships, in numbers proportionate to the necessities of the case. Their compensation is provided for in the article on "allow

ances.

252....No Paymaster, nor Assistant Paymaster, shall be allowed a clerk in a vessel having the complement of one hundred and seventyfive (175) persons, nor less, excepting in supply steamers and storevessels. Stewards may be appointed in all vessels having a complement of twenty persons and over.

253.... Whenever an officer may be appointed Commander-in-Chief of a fleet or squadron, he will be allowed to nominate to the Department an officer not below the grade of Commander to serve as Captain of the Fleet, and such other officers of lower grade as he may wish to have on his personal staff, who, if allowed by the Department, will be in addition to the complement of the flag-ship.

254....The Commander-in-Chief of a fleet or squadron, in the case of a vacancy occurring on a foreign station, may order the senior Surgeon of the squadron to perform the duties of Surgeon of the Fleet, unless from disability, or other good cause, it be found necessary to select another of the same, or of a lower grade, for the purpose.