ARTICLE 468.

All officers ordered upon surveys, are strictly required to perform that duty with the utmost attention and fidelity, and to make their reports with the strictest impartiality, so that, should they be called upon, they may be able conscientiously to make oath of their

correctness.

ARTICLE 469.

Copies of all surveys which may have been held, with an abstract of the same, shall be forwarded by the commanding officers of fleets, squadrons, or navy yards, to the Secretary of the Navy, quarterly; and of all other surveys, to the Navy Commissioners, made up to the last days of March, June, September, and December.

ARTICLE 470.

The quantities of articles must be stated at length, and not in figures, in all reports of survey.

CHAPTER XXIX.

CONVOYS.

ARTICLE 471.

The commanding officer of a vessel, who shall be appointed to convoy the trade of the United States, shall give the necessary printed and written directions and signals to the master of each vessel which is to sail under his protection.

ARTICLE 472.

He shall take a list of the vessels under his convoy, spécifying their names and descriptions; the places where bound, and to which they belong; the names of their masters; their owners or supercargoes, if any, and transmit a copy of the same to the Secretary of the Navy, with the date of their joining the convoy.

ARTICLE 473.

Before he shall take under his convoy any vessel bound to a belligerant port, he shall require satisfactory proof that there are no

articles on board such vessel of a contraband nature; and without such satisfactory evidence, he shall not be bound to take such vessel under his convoy, or to give her any protection against the other belligerant nation, unless specially directed.

ARTICLE 474.

Every officer charged with a convoy must be very vigilant in defending it from attack or surprise, and must never weaken the convoying force by detaching a part in chase beyond signal distance, nor must he separate from the convoy, without such separation shall be the best means of preserving a convoy from an

enemy.

ARTICLE 475.

He shall adopt all possible measures to prevent the separation of the convoy, and may direct such vessels to repeat his signals as he may deem proper.

ARTICLE 476.

When different convoys shall sail at the same time, or shall meet at sea, they shall sail together so long as their course shall be in the same direction; but the different convoys shall be kept as distinct from each other as circumstances will allow. 1

ARTICLE 477.

He will make report to the Secretary of the Navy, of the name of any vessel, and of the master, who shall disobey the instructions or signals for the convoy, or leave the convoy without permission, or otherwise misbehave, stating the particulars of his misconduct, so that insurance offices may be informed of the same.

ARTICLE 478.

Whenever the master of any vessel under convoy shall wilfully or repeatedly neglect or refuse to conform to the instructions or signals of the commanding officer of the convoying force, the said commanding officer may refuse him any further protection, and be released from any further responsibility for the safety of the vessel.

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CHAPTER XXX.

ARRESTS AND COURT MARTIALS.

ARTICLE 479.

On complaint being made against an officer, or in cases requiring immediate decision, any superior may suspend his inferior, and require him to confine himself within such limits as may be necessary, until further directions shall be received from the officer in command of the vessel, or of the squadron, or of the Secretary of the Navy, as the case may require; but no officer is to be placed under arrest, without authority from the Secretary of the Navy, or the commanderin-chief of a fleet or squadron upon a foreign station.

ARTICLE 480.

When an officer shall be suspended from duty, and reported to a superior officer, the superior officer will call upon the officer so suspended for such explanation as he may choose to furnish in relation to the offence with which he may be charged, and for a list of persons whom he may wish to have questioned in support of his explanation; and the superior officer aforesaid should institute an inquiry into the general facts and circumstances, for the purpose of regulating his further proceedings.

ARTICLE 481.

If, after such investigation, the officer ordering the same shall not deem the offence, as connected with the circumstances, sufficiently serious to require a trial by court martial, the officer against whom the complaint has been made shall not be continued under suspension for a longer period than ten days from the time the investigation was completed.

ARTICLE 482.

If, on the contrary, after an investigation has been made, the offi. cer ordering the same should consider the offence sufficiently important for investigation by a court martial, he shall transmit to the Secretary of the Navy, or to the commander of the squadron, as the case may require, a particular statement of the offences with which

the officer is charged, embracing, particularly, all the dates, places, and facts, which may be necessary to enable the proper officer to judge of the expediency of ordering a court martial; to frame charges and specifications, if a court should be ordered; and should also forward, with such statement, the explanation of the party accused, with a list of the witnesses proposed, and where they are to be found, and a summary statement of the information given by the different persons in the previous investigation. In such cases, the officer complained of may be continued under suspension until the Secretary of the Navy, or commander of a squadron, shall have directed whether or not he shall be arrested and brought to trial.

ARTICLE 483..

If the Secretary of the Navy, or commander of a squadron, when authorized by law, shall decide to order a court martial upon an officer, after an examination of the complaints, and report of the result, he will cause such charges and specifications to be preferred as he may consider proper, from the statements made to him, and will transmit the same, with an order for the arrest of the accused officer, and a copy of the charges and specifications, to be delivered to him, with the order for his arrest, so that he may have proper notice to prepare for his trial.

ARTICLE 484.

The Secretary of the Navy, or the commander of a squadron, when authorized by law to convene courts martial, will, in all cases, exercise his discretion in deciding whether a court martial shall be ordered, in consequence of charges or complaints against officers or others belonging to the navy, and whether any, and, if any, what acts of misconduct, as alleged in the complaint, shall be omitted in the charges and specifications which they may direct to be prepared. The report of the investigation which is directed to be forwarded with the application for the trial of any person, is intended to furnish such information as may enable the officer authorized to order courts martial to prevent their being convened upon insufficient grounds; and the introduction into the charges and specifications of matters that are frivolous in their character, or which do not appear to be susceptible of proof, by sufficient testimony. The

letter from the Secretary of the Navy, or other officer, which transmits charges and specifications to the president or judge advocate of the court, who may be directed to investigate the same, shall, in all cases, be filed with them as part of the record of the proceedings of the court.

ARTICLE 485.

If the commander of a vessel or squadron should, from any emergency of the service, be induced to relieve an officer from suspension, after his arrest had been requested, or from arrest, after it had been ordered, without withdrawing the complaint or charges which had been made against him, the officer so ordered to be relieved from suspension or arrest, is to return to his duty, and obey all orders, as though no suspension or arrest had taken place; but without prejudice to the future trial, or of inquiry into the charges and complaints which had been preferred against him, if the person invested with the authority for ordering courts martial should think proper to direct it. And if any commanding officer should be induced, from any circumstances, to order an officer to be released from suspension, after being notified of the charge against him, or from arrest, and to withdraw, or allow to be withdrawn, the charges or complaints which had been made against him, the said officer is to return to his duty, but without prejudice to the investigation of any complaint, on his part, relative to such suspension or arrest.

ARTICLE 486.

In making out charges, offences of different character shall not be embraced in the same charge; but separate charges shall be made for each offence of different character.

ARTICLE 487.

When a court martial shall be assembled, in conformity with the order for convening it, the persons ordered to be brought before it for trial shall be introduced before the court. The order for convening the court, and for the appointment of the judge advocate, shall then be read by the judge advocate.