at sea.

ARTICLE 32.

Boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers, shall receive acting appointments only, until they shall have served two years These appointments shall be revocable for misconduct or incapacity by the commander of a squadron, or of a vessel acting independently of any squadron. At the expiration of two years' sea service, if then within the United States, or at the expiration of their cruise, should they produce satisfactory testimonials of good conduct and capacity from their commanders, they may, if their services should be required, receive warrants of the same dates as their appointments.

ARTICLE 33.

No person shall be appointed second master until he shall be 21 years of age, and shall have passed such an examination by a board of naval officers, in seamanship, mathematics and navigation, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy, and produce satisfactory testimonials of general good conduct.

ARTICLE 34.

No person, not already an officer of the navy, shall be appointed a master, until he shall be 25 years of age, nor shall any person receive a warrant as master, until he shall have passed an examination in seamanship, mathematics and navigation, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy, and shall have produced the most satisfactory testimonials of general good conduct.

ARTICLE 35.

Midshipmen, whose warrants bear date in the same year, shall belong to the same class for examination, provided their age and length of service in the navy and at sea shall entitle them to an examination; but if either of these are insufficient, they are to be classed with those who are to be examined, when their qualifications in these respects shall be fully completed.

ARTICLE 36.

Midshipmen will not be promoted to lieutenants until they shall have been five years in the navy, and have performed three years'

sea-service, nor until they shall have passed such examination in seamanship, gunnery, mathematics, and in relation to steamengines, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, nor unless they produce satisfactory testimonials from the commanding officers of the vessels in which they may have sailed, of their professional and general good conduct, and of having kept regular journals. If, from any cause, a midshipman shall not be promoted within three years after he has passed his first or any subsequent examination, and shall not, in the mean time, have been two years at sea, he shall be examined again, and produce new testimonials of his conduct; and if he shall then fail to pass the required examination, he shall lose his standing in the class of the year with which he was originally examined, and be classed and examined again with those of the succeeding year; and if any midshipman or passed midshipman shall fail, from any cause, to pass, when examined for the second time, in their respective grades, he shall be dropped from the list, and no longer belong to the navy.

ARTICLE 37.

No lieutenant shall be promoted to a commander until he shall have performed at least three years sea-service as lieutenant.

ARTICLE 38.

No commander shall be promoted to a captain until he shall have performed at least three years' sea-service as commander.

ARTICLE 39.

Warranted master's mates are only eligible for promotion to second masters. Second masters are only eligible for promotion as masters; and masters are not considered eligible to further promotion except under extraordinary circumstances; but the promotion of a passed midshipman, who may be appointed or ordered to act as second master, or master, will not be effected by such acting appointment or order.

ARTICLE 40.

No person shall receive the appointment of assistant surgeon in the navy of the United States, unless he shall have been examined

and approved by a board of naval surgeons, who shall be designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Navy.

ARTICLE 41.

No person shall receive the appointment of surgeon in the navy of the United States, until he shall have served as an assistant surgeon at least two years, on board a public vessel of the United States, at sea, unless he shall have been examined and approved by a board of surgeons designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Navy.

ARTICLE 42.

No person shall be appointed a chaplain in the navy, who shall not be a regularly ordained or licensed clergyman, of unimpeached moral character, not exceeding thirty years of age.

ARTICLE 43.

Pursers shall not be appointed except between 21 and 35 years of age, nor until they shall have been examined by three pursers, and found fully competent to keep a set of books.

ARTICLE 44.

Pursers may nominate persons to act as their assistants, subject to the approval of their commanders; and if approved, the commander shall give them witten appointments to act as such; and the letters of acceptance from the assistants shall expressly state their agreement to be subject to the laws and regulations for the government of the navy.

ARTICLE 45.

Midshipmen are not to be required to serve for a longer period than twelve months, on board of a schooner, when it can be avoided without injury to the public service, before they shall have passed their examination for promotion.

ARTICLE 46.

The foregoing articles, numbered 19, 20, 21, and 22, or either of them, which regulate the promotion of different officers, may be

suspended (except so much as relates to their passing the required examinations to prove their qualifications) in favor of officers who shall have performed acts of distinguished bravery and good conduct.

ARTICLE 47.

Notice will be given by the Secretary of the Navy, to all persons entitled, of the time when, and place where, examinations are to be held, and of the classes of persons who are to attend.

ARTICLE 48.

If an officer shall fail to attend an examination to which he is entitled from his date, when notified, or shall not have sought or improved opportunities which may have been offered to see sufficient sea-service, without specifying any particular service or station, or, having attended, shall fail to pass the required examination, he shall not take rank with the class of his date, but with that with which he shall pass his examination, excepting he shall produce satisfactory proof that he was prevented from attending in consequence of employment on distant service in the navy, by sickness, or by other sufficient cause, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Navy; in which case, if he presents himself at the first examination thereafter which he can attend, he shall take rank with the class of his date, in the same manner as though he had been examined with them.

ARTICLE 49.

Assistant surgeons, second masters, passed midshipmen, and midshipmen, who shall be found unqualified for promotion, upon a second examination as such, shall at once cease to be officers of the navy.

ARTICLE 50.

If any person shall produce false certificates of age, time of service, or character, before a board of examination, such person shall, whenever it may be discovered, be brought before a court martial, to answer for such disgraceful conduct.

ARTICLE 51.

The time which an officer may be attached to, or doing duty on board a sea-going vessel of the navy, in commission, will be considered as sea-service within the meaning of these regulations.

ARTICLE 52.

Boards of officers who may be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy to examine assistant surgeons, second masters, and midshipmen, shall grant certificates to such as, in their opinion, prove themselves qualified for promotion, and shall number such certificates according to the relative qualifications of the different individuals, giving No. 1 to the best qualified, and the other numbers in regular order; which certificates shall be conclusive as to their relative rank, except as provided in article 31, for officers who cannot attend with their p proper class.

ARTICLE 53.

When an officer shall be appointed to the command-in-chief of a fleet or squadron, consisting of not less than ten ships of war above the class of sloops, he may be allowed a captain to assist him, if he shall request it, who will be styled "captain of the fleet."75

ARTICLE 54.

Every officer who shall be appointed to the command of a fleet or squadron, may be allowed a lieutenant, in addition to the complement of the vessel, as an aid, to assist him in performing his duties.

ARTICLE 55.

Whenever an officer shall be appointed to the command-in-chief of a fleet or squadron, the limits of his command shall be particularly specified in his instructions..

ARTICLE 56.

A surgeon of the fleet is not to be appointed without the express direction of the Secretary of the Navy, and, except under peculiar circumstances, none will be appointed to a squadron, where the number of persons belonging to it are not equal to fourteen hundred.