2. Staff-Officers senior to the officer so detailed shall have the right to communicate directly with the Commanding Officer. 3. Staff Officers se nior to Executive. In processions on shore, on courts-martial, summary courts, courts of In processions, inquiry, boards of survey, and all other boards, Line and Staff Officers shall on courts-martial, take precedence according to rank. 4. &c. In view The construction The foregoing are provisions of the statute law of the country. of the fact that their meaning and force have been sometimes misunderstood, of existing laws. they are republished for the information of the service, with the following declarations and regulations, promulgated as the views of the Navy Department upon the subject-matter, and its official construction of the law, as it exists, in relation thereto. By the force of naval law, and regulations made in conformity therewith, the following principles are established and exist as essentials of all military service, without which there can be neither command, discipline, nor responsibility. Precedence of command. I. Officers intrusted with the command of vessels of war or naval stations, or with the command or direction of any military expedition or duty, whatever those actually in their rank, must, while properly in such command or direction, have full command, authority, and precedence over all officers and persons, of whatever rank, serving in such vessel, station, or expedition, or in the execution of such duty. This authority and precedence will descend to the officer or person on whom such command or direction may devolve by reason of the death, disability, or absence of the person otherwise in command or direc tion. II. In case of the death, disability, or absence of an officer in military In case of death, command or direction, this command and direction, with all its authority disability, or aband precedence, devolves and rests upon the Line-Officer next in rank who sence. may be present. The direction of all courts and boards, and precedence thereon, and in all processions on shore, will devolve upon the officer next in rank who may be present, without regard to the corps to which he belongs. Officers of the III. Officers of the Staff Corps of the Navy will, on all occasions, be treated with the same respect as officers of corresponding rank in the Line, not in Staff-Corps. command, under like circumstances. Their legal rank carries with it the same personal dignity, and is to receive, in all respects, the same consideration. If they are at any time subordinated, for any purpose of organization or duty, to the exercise of authority delegated by law to their juniors in actual or relative rank, it is for reasons growing out of the necessities of military service, operating alike on all officers of both Line and Staff under like circumstances, and subject to the same conditions applicable to all. The right of military command and to additional quarters is restricted by law. except. IV. No officer of any grade of the Navy is authorized, by virtue of his own No privilege can mere rank and authority, to give any order or grant any privilege, permis- be granted to a sion, or liberty to his senior in rank of any corps; nor is any senior officer senior by a junior, required to receive such order, privilege, permission, or liberty from his junior, unless such junior is at the time in command of the vessel of war or naval station to which the senior is attached, or in command or direction of the military expedition or duty on which such senior is serving; and no commanding officer is authorized to delegate to any junior the authority to grant any permission, privilege, or liberty to his senior, but must himself receive and hear, under proper regulations, any request therefor from such senior, satisfying himself as to its propriety, and deciding the matter in the exercise of his own authority. Any officer on shipboard, however, who is intrusted, by general provision or special order of proper authority, with any duty, the present performance of which may involve the movements of the ship itself, or the attitude of the ship's company as a whole, represents the Commandant for that purpose, and is intrusted, for the time, with all the Aid or Execu manding Officer. authority necessary for the proper performance of such duty; and all officers of whatever rank, are required to assist in carrying out such duty, and to receive and execute his orders for that purpose; nor will he be interfered with therein, unless by the Commandant, or the officer next in command, who is entitled to relieve him in the performance of such duty. 5. The efficiency of every military organization requires of the commanding tive of the Com- authority, besides the general duties of command and direction, the additional duties of organization, police, and inspection; all these appertain to and go with the command. For the relief of the Commanding Officer they are usually intrusted, in their details, to subordinates, but they are performed by his authority and under his direction. On shipboard, the Secretary of the Navy, by authority of law, designates the senior Line-Officer to perform these duties in addition to the ordinary duties assigned to him as such Line-Officer attached to the ship. The officer so designated is called, for the time being, the "Aid or Executive of the Commanding Officer." This is not a new rank; nor has the officer, by virtue of the title, or in consequence of the detail, any new, "independent authority." It is merely a designation of the officer who, for the relief of the Commandant, and by his authority alone, carries out, on board the ship, the details of organization, inspection, and police; duties corresponding to those which, in the Army, are performed by the Adjutants, Inspectors, and Officers of the Day. Has authority Entitled to make personal examination. I. As the officer in charge of the police of the ship, and the execution of all over all detail, &c. provisions made for her general good condition, appearance, and safety, his duties are constant, and call him everywhere, and give him, as representative of the Commandant for that purpose, charge of, and authority over, the details necessary to the proper performance of all police duties. To this authority, all officers and persons are required to yield full and prompt acquiescence. II. As the Inspecting Officer of the ship, required, at stated periods, to examine and report her general condition and efficiency, in all her departments, he is entitled to make personal examination of and report upon all these, and, for that purpose, every facility is to be afforded him by every officer of every department. The reports of the Heads of Departments are made to the Commanding Officer. Take charge of III. As the officer to whom the details of the organization of the ship's parades, &c. company are intrusted, he is the proper person to station the officers and crew, and to prepare, form, parade, and present them in proper attitude for review and inspection by the Commandant or other proper officer; and, for this purpose, he has authority to take preliminary charge of all formations and parades, to see that the whole is properly organized and paraded, and to receive the reports of every part, and transmit them as a whole. Defining the del to the Executive. IV. These duties of organization, inspection, and police devolve upon the egated authority "Aid or Executive of the Commanding Officer of a vessel of war," by virtue of his detail as such "Aid or Executive," and they, and the exercise of the authority necessary to execute them, are recognized by all military law and usage, and by the statute which authorizes his designation. But they are duties pertaining to the command, delegated, under sanction of law, by the Commanding Officer to his "Aid or Executive," who, in carrying them out, is “executing the orders of the Commanding Officer," and the authority exercised as necessary to their execution is the authority of "the Commanding Officer," exercised by his "Aid or Executive," and not the authority of the "Aid or Executive" himself. By the express provision of the statute, this officer has "no independent authority" as such "Aid or Executive," but exercises only the authority necessarily delegated for the execution "of the orders of the Commanding Officer." This delegated authority, however, is recognized by the statute which confers on the "Aid or Executive," while exercising it,"precedence over all officers attached to the ship," of whatever rank or corps. But this special precedence is given to him only "while executing the orders of the Commanding Officer on board ship," and is not his under other circumstances. V. The officer in command of a ship of war is not authorized to delegate. The Commandhis power, except for the carrying out of the details of the general duties to ing Officer cannot delegate his powbe performed by his authority. The command is his, and he can neither except. delegate the duties of it to another, nor avoid its burdens, nor escape its responsibilities; and his "Aid or Executive," in the exercise of the power given to him for "executing the orders of the Commanding Officer," must keep himself constantly informed of the Commander's opinions and wishes thereon; and whenever and as soon as he may be uninformed or in doubt as to such opinions or wishes, he must remedy such defect by prompt and personal application, to the end that the authority of the Commandant may be used only to carry out his own views; and that he may not be, by its unwarranted exercise, in any measure relieved from his official responsibilities, which can neither be assumed by nor fall upon any other officer. The Executive of Officer has no other duties orauthority, VI. The details of these duties may be more fully defined by general or special orders and regulations, but the "Aid or Executive of the Command- the Commanding ing Officer of a vessel of war" has, as such "Aid or Executive," no other duties or authority except those which come within the scope of the above except. descriptions; and any other authority at any time to be exercised by the officer designated as such "Aid or Executive" must be such authority only as belongs to him by virtue of his rank in the line. This is his, in his own right, with all the power and precedence which belong to it, but it is to be exercised only according to the general rules governing alike all officers of all corps and every grade. VII. It is not necessary, nor consistent with military usage and efficiency, Executive not that the "Aid or Executive" should be required to announce with every order required to state. given, or authority exercised by him as such, that he is "executing the orders of the Commanding Officer." The delegated character of this authority is fully understood, and is defined by the statute, which contemplates obedience to it as such by "all officers attached to the vessel; " and the statute, while it provides that the officer detailed to act as "Aid or Executive" shall, when not impracticable, be next in rank to the Commanding Officer," still contemplates the same obedience when this is impracticable. But orders to seniors not given in the ordinary progress of military organization or duty are to be so announced. Officer. VIII. Any complaint or appeal growing out of the exercise of these duties Any complaints should be made to the Commanding Officer, and the right to make any such to be made to Comcomplaint or appeal will not be denied to any one. manding Officer. IX. The right of all officers, whether of the line or staff, senior to the offi- Communication cer detailed as "Aid or Executive," to communicate with the Commanding with Commanding Officer at all proper times and places, is not to be denied nor restricted; but this does not interfere with the duty of all such officers to recognize and acquiesce in the authority delegated to the "Aid or Executive" for the purpose of police, organization, and inspection as aforesaid, nor confer upon any such officer the right to interrupt the ordinary course of military organization or duty, while in actual execution, for the purpose of making such communication. Every officer in charge of a department has, of course, the general right, at all proper times, to communicate and confer directly with the responsible Commanding Officer concerning any matter relating to his department; and his duty to do so is absolute, whenever he thinks it necessary for the good of his department or of the service. SECTION II.-Officers. 1. The Line-Officers of the Navy are classed by law as follows: Vice-Admiral. Rear-Admiral. Line-Officers. Commodore. Captain. Commander. Lieutenant-Commander. Lieutenant. Officers of the Staff. Master. Military command is exercised by the above-designated officers in the order named. 2. The officers of the staff of the Navy consist of the Medical, Pay, and Engineer Corps, Chaplains, Professors of Mathematics, Naval Constructors, and Secretaries to Admiral and Vice-Admiral. 3. Military command. Relative rank. Medical Corps. Pay Corps. Engineer Corps. Chaplains. Professors of Mathematics. Staff officers can exercise no military command other than in the corps or department to which they belong, and over those placed under their control by competent authority. 4. The relative rank of the officers of the staff with those of the line of the Navy is regulated by law as follows: Medical Corps. Medical Directors have the relative rank of Captain. Pay Corps. Pay-Directors have the relative rank of Captain. Paymasters have the relative rank of Lieutenant-Commander and Lieuten ant. Passed Assistant Paymasters have the relative rank of Lieutenant or Master. Assistant Paymasters have the relative rank of Master or Ensign. Engineer Corps. Ten Chief Engineers have the relative rank of Captain. Forty-five Chief Engineers have the relative rank of Lieutenant-Commander or Lieutenant. Passed Assistant Engineer has the relative rank of Lieutenant or Master. Chaplains. Four Chaplains have the relative rank of Captain. Seven Chaplains have the relative rank of Commander. Seven Chaplains have the relative rank of Lieutenant-Commander or Lieutenant. Professors of Mathematics. Three Professors of Mathematics have the relative rank of Captain. Naval Constructors. Naval Constructors. Two Naval Constructors have the relative rank of Captain. Al other Naval Constructors have the relative rank of Lieutenant-Commander or Lieutenant. Assistant Naval Constructors have the relative rank of Lieutenant or Master. Secretaries to Admiral and Vice-Admiral. The Secretary to an Admiral or Vice-Admiral has the rank of a Lieutenant. Secretaries. 5. Officers of the Marine Corps by law take rank with the officers of similar Officers of the grades in the Army; the relative rank between officers of the Army and Marine Corps. Navy is as follows, lineal rank only being considered : Admiral with General. Vice-Admiral with Lieutenant-General. Rear-Admiral with Major-General. Commodore with Brigadier-General. Commander with Lieutenant-Colonel. Master with First Lieutenant. Ensign with Second Lieutenant. 6. Officers of the Navy are never to assume command of land forces on shore, Officers of the nor can any officer of the Army assume command of any vessel of the Navy Navy and Army of the United States, or of any officers or men belonging to them, unless by serving together. special authority for a particular service. But when officers of the Navy are emlpoyed on shore, on service with the Army of the United States, their relative rank will carry with it all precedence attaching to the rank with which it corresponds, except command, and will regulate their quarters. 7. Should the Commander-in-Chief be rendered incapable of exercising com- Commander-inmand, the line-officer of the fleet or squadron next in rank or seniority will Chief disabled. discharge his duties. 8. If the Commander-in-Chief be killed in battle, the line-officer highest in Death of Comrank, on duty on board the ship bearing his flag, is to succeed him provis- mander-in-Chief ionally, and until the senior officer in the fleet announces that he has taken in battle. command. It shall be the duty of any officer thus succeeding, provisionally, to inform the officer of the fleet or squadron next in seniority to the Commander-in-Chief, as soon as practicable, of the death of the latter. The flag of the deceased is to be kept hoisted until the battle is decided. 9. Death or disa mander of a ves sel. In case the commander of a vessel should be rendered incapable of commanding, or should die, the executive officer is to succeed him until relieved bility of comby orders from the Commander-in-Chief, or the Navy Department, even though there may be officers on board, as passengers, higher in rank than himself. In all cases where an Admiral, Vice-Admiral, Rear-Admiral, or a Commodore is embarked as a passenger, by due authority, the commanding officer of the vessel, if junior in rank, is to be amenable to his orders, and such senior officer, when so embarked, will carry his flag. 1 10. Officers, junior to the commander, embarked as passengers will not be assigned to duty unless the exigencies of the service shall make it necessary, when assigned to of which necessity the commanding officer will be the judge. When pas- duty. sengers are thus assigned to duty they will have the same right to com Passengers |