550. (1) He shall assign each boat to a line officer, who shall be responsible for her general condition, armament, equipment, and outfit, and for the proper instruction of her crew in their duties; and who shall, as a rule, command her when on special duty.

(2) He shall assign provisions and other articles to boats when they are sent on expeditions.

(3) If a boat is sent away from the ship at sea, he shall see that she is provided with sails, spars, oars, bucket, water, provisions, compass, lantern, candles, matches, rifles and cartridges, and such other articles as the special occasion or duty demands. A moderate supply of provisions and water shall be kept in all boats at sea.

(4) He shall, when at sea, keep the boats best adapted as lifeboats, one on each side, always ready for lowering. He shall see that in these boats are always kept life-preservers, water, bread, a compass, and a lantern with a reserve supply of oil and means of ignition; that the detaching apparatus is in order and ready for use, the steering oar shipped, and such other dispositions made as will render these boats most effective and safe in a sea way and as lifeboats. (5) He shall have the boat sails kept in readiness for use. If it is at any time necessary to unbend and stow them below for preservation, they shall be kept in bags, properly marked, with all their gear complete, so that they may be obtained without delay.

551. He shall see that the life buoys are in order and constantly in readiness; that they are frequently tested by dropping, with a line attached for recovery; and that when at sea or in a strong tideway an efficient person is stationed by them.

552. He shall prepare a dress board on which will be indicated the uniform of the crew, and place it in a conspicuous position.

553. Before entering port he shall see that the ship presents a neat appearance in all respects, that the anchors are ready, the boats prepared for service, and all dispositions made for anchoring.

554. (1) He is responsible for the condition of the anchors, chains, and moorings. He shall inspect and overhaul the chain cables whenever necessary, and see that they are properly marked and in good order.

(2) When moored he shall keep himself informed of the condition of the hawse, and, with the sanction of the captain, have it cleared when necessary.

555. (1) He shall keep a report book with the columns headed in accordance with the information required, and so placed that officers, desiring to make against any member of the crew a report not requiring immediate attention, can have access to it and enter the report therein.

(2) Reports requiring immediate attention shall be made to the officer of the deck, who shall at once refer them to the executive officer.

Boats.

Life buoys.

Dress board.

Entering port.

Ground tackle.

Report book.

Bumboats and

556. He shall regulate the bumboats and all traffic alongside or on board, and be watchful that no unauthorized articles for the traffic. crew, unwholesome fruit or food, or improper articles, are introduced on board.

maker.

557. He shall, with the approval of the captain, regulate the Ship's barber, prices that the barber, tailor, and shoemaker, and other men per- tailor, and shoeforming services for the crew, shall be permitted to charge, bearing in mind that the charges should be moderate, as the men are already paid for their services.

Air and gun ports at sea.

Records con

558. (1) He shall require that no ports shall be opened at sea without the captain's knowledge and consent; that they shall always be opened and closed by men specially appointed for that duty; that those on the lower decks shall be closed at sunset unless special authority is granted to keep them open, and that a report shall invariably be made to the officer of the deck when a port is opened or closed.

(2) He shall never permit either gun or air ports to be opened when there is any probability that the sea will enter to a dangerous extent.

559. (1) He shall, under the supervision of the captain, have cerning the crew. charge of the preparation and keeping of all of the books, records, and returns required by the Bureau of Navigation concerning the

Recruiting

officer.

Leave and liberty.

crew.

(2) He shall be allowed a yeoman for his clerical work. 560. He shall act as recruiting officer of the ship and enlist such men as may be required, subject to the provisions of these regulations.

561. (1) He shall, under orders and special directions from the captain, grant leave to officers junior to himself.

(2) He shall require officers who obtain leave from him to report their return to him.

(3) He shall be charged with the preparation of the lists of men to be granted liberty, and with the preparation of the monthly money lists, and shall be especially careful that the men are treated in these respects with the utmost fairness.

Absenting him- 562. The executive officer and the officer who succeeds him in self from the his absence (see art. 519, par. 2) shall not be away from the ship at ship. the same time, except on duty, or by the express permission of the captain.

General duties.

out.

SECTION 3.-DUTIES AS EQUIPMENT OFFICER.

563. The executive officer is the equipment officer of the ship, and shall perform the duties assigned to that officer and have charge of all stores and supplies of the Bureau of Equipment, except such as pertain to the navigator. He shall be allowed a yeoman for equipment work

When fitting 564. When fitting out, he shall carefully examine all of his equipment stores and supplies, and report to the captain any defects that he may discover.

Invoices and receipts.

Equipment

turns.

565. (1) When a ship is commissioned, he shall be furnished with invoices of all stores and supplies placed in his charge, and shall receipt for the same.

(2) If he finds any discrepancy, error, or omission in the invoices, he shall report it to the captain, who will have it rectified through a board of inspection before a receipt for the stores is given.

566. (1) He shall at once enter in the equipment books all books and re- receipts and expenditures of stores, and keep the accounts and render the returns prescribed in Chapter XXX (Accounts and Returns). (2) Stores issued for the manufacture of articles shall be expended on the books, and the manufactured articles entered therein and duly accounted for.

(3) He, under the captain, shall control the expenditure of all his equipment stores.

(4) He shall submit to the captain for his approval the weekly and monthly reports of receipts and expenditures of stores. (See art. 439.)

(5) He shall forward to the Bureau of Equipment at the end of each quarter the Coal Report (Bureau of Equipment Form No. 1) and Water Report (Bureau of Equipment Form No. 24).

(6) At the end of the cruise he shall turn in the equipment books to the equipment officer of the yard where the ship is put out of commission.

567. He shall make out requisitions for all equipment supplies Requisitions. under his charge, except the regular outfit when the ship is commissioned.

568. (1) Whenever coal is delivered on board a steamer, he Coal. shall enter it with the invoice price on the equipment books and immediately expend it as transferred to the engineer department.

(2) When transferring coal to the engineer department he shall furnish to the senior engineer an invoice of the same, stating amount and price.

(3) When coal is received on board of a sailing ship for galley or other use, the equipment officer shall keep an account of its expenditure in the same manner as of other equipment supplies.

The

569. (1) He shall hold the officers' messes to a strict accountability for the mess outfits of china, glass, and plated table ware. wardroom, steerage, and warrant officers' messes may, however, decline the whole or any part of such outfits.

(2) All articles of china or glass, broken, chipped, cracked, or otherwise rendered unfit for reissue, may be replaced by requisition, to be filled by the Bureau, if the losses, etc., have not exceeded fifteen per cent per annum on the total invoice value of these parts respectively of the outfit; and also when the excess in losses, etc., above the fifteen per cent has been deposited with the paymaster to the credit of the appropriation "Equipment of vessels. Allowance will be made for the ordinary wear of plated ware, but no percentage is allowed for damage or loss of plated ware.

"

(3) The equipment officer shall make a careful inspection and inventory of mess outfits at the end of each quarter and when the ship is put out of commission; he shall furnish the different messes with itemized statements of the losses in their outfits and of the amounts due the Government, and shall receive and deposit such amounts with the pay officer of the ship; and at the end of the cruise he shall be held responsible for all losses not covered by such amounts.

Mess outfits.

570. (1) He shall see that all equipage and supplies in his charge Care of supare properly cared for, and take such measures as are necessary for plies. their preservation.

(2) He shall issue equipment supplies for use in other departments only upon transfers approved by the captain.

Issue of supplies.

Accountabil

571. He shall be held accountable for the proper expenditure, transfer, or return into store of all equipment supplies for which he ity. has receipted.

List of supplies

572. Before entering port from a cruise, he shall prepare a list of equipment supplies required and submit it to the captain on or required to be before arrival.

submitted to captain.

Final survey

573. When a ship is put out of commission, he and the chief carat end of cruise. penter or carpenter shall not be detached, nor the yeoman for equipment work paid off or transferred, until the supplies that have been in the custody of the executive officer have been turned into store and the invoices thereof receipted by the general storekeeper.

General duties.

Keys.

Duties in regard to stores.

SECTION 4.-DUTIES AS CONSTRUCTION OFFICER.

574. The executive officer is the construction officer of the ship, and shall perform the duties assigned to that officer, and have charge of all stores and supplies of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. The chief carpenter or carpenter shall be his assistant in this duty. The yeoman for equipment work shall keep the accounts.

575. (1) He shall take charge of all duplicate and spare keys furnished to the ship, the custody of which is not, by regulation, confided to other officers, and hold them ready for issue when needed. (2) He shall, in connection with construction supplies and articles, perform all the duties in regard to examinations, invoices, receipts, accounts, issue, expenditure, preservation, care, survey, and preparation of requisitions, reports, and returns prescribed above for equipment stores. With the proper substitute of names, the rules for the performance of these duties will be found in articles 564, 565, 566, 567, 569, 570, 571, 572, and 573.

(3) His quarterly report of property returns to the Bureau of Construction and Repair shall embrace only such supplies as are increased or diminished during the quarter. The quarterly return of these articles will be limited to showing the number or quantity on hand at the beginning of the quarter, the receipts and expenditures during the quarter, and the number or quantity on hand at the end of the quarter, of articles which have been increased by receipts or diminished by expenditures during the quarter.

CHAPTER XI.

THE NAVIGATOR AND ORDNANCE OFFICER.

SECTION 1.-DUTIES AS NAVIGATOR.

576. (1) The navigator is the officer detailed by the Department Personality. to perform the navigation duties, and shall be the second line officer in rank below the captain, exclusive of any detailed for engineering duties.

(2) If detached, absent, disabled, placed under arrest, or suspended from duty, his duties devolve upon the line officer next below him in rank, exclusive of any detailed for engineering duties.

577. He shall be responsible for the care and good order of the steering gear in general, and of the compartments occupied by the steering machinery, the interior of the conning tower and chart house, navigator's office and storerooms.

General duties.

When fitting

578. When fitting out he shall make a careful inspection of all parts of the ship mentioned in article 577 and of everything con- out. nected with the navigation outfit. Should he discover any defects or deficiencies he shall immediately make a detailed written report to the captain.

Position of the

and ship.

579. (1) When under way he shall report in writing to the captain the position of the ship at 8 a. m., at 12 m., and at 8 p m., at such other times as the captain may require.

(2) He shall take such observations or make such calculations concerning the position of the ship as the captain may at any time require.

580. (1) He shall keep the compass record and prepare the compass reports in accordance with the instructions as laid down in the prescribed forms or issued from time to time.

(2) When the ship is under way and the weather permits, he shall each day ascertain by observation the error of the standard compass and report the result in writing to the captain.

(3) He shall prepare and keep corrected a table of deviations of the standard compass, a copy of which shall be so placed as to be accessible to the officer of the deck.

(4) All courses and bearings that are entered in the log, as well as bearings for computation, shall be those shown by the standard compass, and in case of bearings the ship's head "per standard compass" must be stated.

(5) He shall not move the standard compass, or any of its attachments or compensating magnets or appurtenances, from the position in which they were placed and secured when the ship was commissioned, unless authorized by the captain.

(6) He shall frequently examine all the compasses of the ship and see that they are in good order and ready for use, and that the spare compasses are properly stored.

Compasses.