CHAPTER V.

NAVAL ADMINISTRATION AND DISCIPLINE,

SECTION 1.-THE EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY.

Duty of sub

255. All persons in the Navy are required to obey readily and strictly, and to execute promptly, the lawful orders of their ordinates. superiors.

Exercise of au

256. Superiors of every grade are forbidden to injure those under their command by tyrannical or capricious conduct, or by thority. abusive language. Authority over subordinates is to be exercised with firmness, but with justice and kindness.

257. Punishment shall be in strict conformity with the laws for the government of the Navy.

Punishments.

misconduct.

258. (1) In order to avoid unnecessary recourse to courts of Inquiry into inquiry and general courts-martial, it is directed that where an complaints of officer or other person shall be reported for grave misconduct to his immediate commanding officer, the latter shall institute a careful inquiry into the circumstances on which the complaint is founded. He shall call upon the complainant for a written statement of the case, together with a list of his witnesses, mentioning where they may be found, and a memorandum of any documentary evidence bearing upon the case which may be obtainable.

(2) He shall also call upon the accused for such counter statement or explanation as he may wish to make, and for a list of the persons he desires to have questioned in his behalf. If the accused does not desire to submit a statement, that fact should be set forth in writing.

(3) In the infliction of punishment upon enlisted men for lesser offenses, commanding officers of vessels and marine barracks should in ordinary cases resort to the authority conferred upon them by the provisions of article 24 of the Articles for the Government of the Navy, instead of convening summary courtsmartial for the trial thereof. The certainty of prompt punishment is more conducive to discipline than punishment deferred long after the offense.

Minor offenses.

259. Officers making reports or complaints shall confine them- Reports, comselves exclusively to facts; and statements submitted in reply to plaints, etc., to be in temperate or in explanation thereof must be couched in temperate language language. and relate specifically to the matters referred to therein. Officers to whom such reports or complaints are submitted for statement must not reply by making counter charges. Officers desiring to prefer charges against others should make them independently. Opinions must not be expressed, nor the motives of others impugned. 260. If, after the investigation of a report against an officer or Captain to take other person in the Navy, the captain shall not deem the offense action upon reone requiring the action either of a court of inquiry or court- ports not necesmartial, he shall himself take such action as he may think neces- higher authority. sary, within the limits of punishment allowed him by law.

sary to refer to

Cases requiring trial.

Further proceedings.

Officer fur

261. If, upon such investigation, the commanding officer shall be satisfied that the charge is such as to call for judicial action, he may place the accused under suspension or in confinement, as the case may require, neither of which, however, shall be considered as a punishment. He shall transmit to the Secretary of the Navy, through the Bureau of Navigation, or, in the case of officers or enlisted men of the Marine Corps, through the Commandant of the Marine Corps, or to the commander-in-chief of the fleet or squadron, as the case may require, a particular statement of the misconduct with which the accused is charged, embracing such details of the circumstances and of the time and place at which they occurred, with lists of witnesses and statement of the accused, as may enable the convening authority to decide upon the propriety and expediency of ordering a court, and to frame charges and specifications, should it be ordered.

262. (1) Should the Secretary or commander-in-chief decide that no trial is to take place, the accused shall be at once released and restored to duty. But if it be decided that the accused shall be brought to trial, the court shall be assembled for that purpose as soon as the nature of the case and the interests of the public service will allow, unless, meanwhile, such information or explanation shall reach the convening authority as to make it advisable to withdraw the charges and restore the accused to duty.

(2) When a trial has been decided upon, the accused shall, as soon as practicable, be furnished with a copy of the charges and specifications, and at the same time be placed formally under arrest for trial.

(3) When the trial of an enlisted man by general court-martial is ordered, the judge advocate shall be furnished with all information available and necessary to the prosecution of the case.

263. Whenever an accusation is made against an officer, either nished with copy by report or by endorsement upon a communication, a copy of such report or endorsement shall be furnished him at the time.

of accusation.

Temporary re- 264. The captain of a ship or other competent authority may lease no bar to release temporarily and put on duty an officer under suspension future trial or investigation. or arrest, should an emergency of the service or other sufficient cause make such measure necessary. The order for temporary release shall be in writing and shall assign the reasons. Should the officer be under charges, they need not be withdrawn; and such temporary release and restoration to duty shall not be a bar to any subsequent investigation or trial of the case that the convening authority may think proper to order, nor to the investigation of any complaint the accused may make in regard to the suspension or arrest.

Charges not to

vived.

265. Offenses shall not be allowed to accumulate in order be held back to that sufficient matter may thus be collectively obtained for a trial, accumulate nor old offenses re- without giving due notice to the offender; and no officer who has been formally reprimanded for an offense shall be subsequently tried therefor, nor shall that offense be the subject again of inquiry, except when it may be indispensable to prove a particular habit charged; a private reprimand, however, is no bar to subsequent investigation and trial. (Op. Att. Gen., June 15, 1906.)

Officers to sup266. (1) In the event of a riot or quarrel between persons bepress quarrels. longing to the Navy, it shall be the duty of the senior line officer present to suppress the disturbance, and, if necesssary, to arrest those engaged in it even though they be his superiors in rank; and all persons belonging to the Navy who may be present shall

render prompt assistance and obedience to the officer thus engaged in the restoration of order.

(2) Should there be no line officer present, the senior officer of the Navy or of the Marine Corps, who may be present, shall exercise the same authority and be entitled to the same obedience.

SECTION 2.-ARREST OR SUSPENSION.

Arrest of an

267. (1) Every officer, when placed under arrest, shall deliver up his sword, through the arresting officer, to the captain of the officer. ship, commander-in-chief of the fleet or squadron, or commandant of the navy yard or station.

(2) He shall confine himself to the limits assigned him at the time of his arrest or afterwards, under pain of dismissal from the service.

(3) He shall not visit officially his commanding or other superior officer, unless sent for; and in case of business requiring attention, he shall make it known in writing.

268. No officer placed under suspension or arrest shall be con- Unnecessary fined to his room or restrained from the proper use of any part confinement. of the ship to which before his suspension or arrest he had a right, except the quarter-deck, poop, and bridges, unless such confinement or restraint shall be necessary for the safety of the ship or the preservation of good order and discipline; but neither shall be imposed for a longer time than absolutely necessary.

officer.

269. (1) Whenever a commanding officer orders a pay officer Arrest or susunder suspension or arrest, he shall take possession of the safe pension of a pay and the keys of the pay department storerooms, and immediately cause a seal to be placed on the safe in the presence of the pay officer suspended. The senior officer present shall immediately thereupon direct a board, consisting of at least three officers, to take an inventory of the money and papers and, except in an extreme emergency, of the stores; and shall appoint a suitable person to take immediate charge thereof, who shall be present at such inventory.

(2) Should the pay officer be released from suspension or ar- Restoration of rest and restored to duty, the senior officer shall, in the same a pay officer to duty. manner and under the same conditions as stated above, cause a second inventory of the money, papers, and stores to be taken, and the pay officer restored to duty shall be held responsible only for the money and stores then on hand, as thus ascertained. The pay officer in question and the person appointed to take charge shall both be present when the above inventories are taken, and they shall each be furnished with copies of the same.

en.

When inven

(3) Whenever in either of the above cases the senior officer deems it impracticable to have an inventory taken of the stores, tory of stores he shall furnish the pay officer with a certificate to that effect. can not be tak(4) If the pay officer restored to duty after temporary sus- Accounts in pension is satisfied with the vouchers for expenditures of all cases of tempokinds furnished by the officer who has acted in his stead, he shall rary suspension. state the fact in writing, which will relieve the officer who has so acted from rendering accounts to the Auditor for the Navy Department and to the Navy Department.

(5) Before a pay officer under suspension or arrest is taken Books and permanently from the ship or station to which he has been at- vouchers of pay tached, a reasonable time shall be allowed him to close up his officers in arbooks and complete his vouchers; and no books or vouchers nec

rest.

Officers in ar

rest can not in sist on being tried.

Restraint of prisoners to be tried.

Treatment of prisoners.

Release of prisoners. Investigation of reports.

Investigation to be delayed.

Punishments

on Sunday.

essary to the perfect settlement of his accounts shall, under any circumstances, be taken from his personal charge, unless absolutely necessary for the public interest, in which case a detailed receipt for the same shall be furnished him by the person appointed to take charge of, or relieve him from, his duties.

270. No officer can demand a court-martial on himself or any other person, or persist in considering himself under the restraint of arrest after he has been released by proper authority, or to refuse to return to duty.

SECTION 3.-PUNISHMENTS.

271. When any enlisted person is confined for a longer time than ten days to await trial by court-martial, the captain shall keep in view the fact that this confinement is protracted simply to insure the appearance of the prisoner before the court by which he is to be tried. He should not, therefore, be subjected to greater rigor than is necessary to effect that object.

272. (1) The captain shall assure himself that persons in confinement suffer no cruel or unusual treatment at the hands of his subordinates.

(2) He shall direct the release of every person upon the expiration of the term of confinement.

273. (1) All reports of misconduct shall be investigated by the captain before punishment is adjudged. After morning inspection he shall be furnished by the executive officer with a list of persons reported for offenses during the preceding day. After inquiring into the facts in each case at the mast, giving to both accuser and accused an impartial hearing, he shall assign a punishment, when necessary, and affix his signature in the report book.

(2) The investigation of a report, except where summary action is deemed necessary, shall be deferred until the morning following the day on which the report is made; but longer delay shall be avoided.

274. Extra duty as punishment shall be discontinued on Sunday. Dimensions of 275. Cells for the confinement of prisoners shall not be less ships' prisons. than 6 feet long and 34 feet broad, with the full height between decks, and shall be properly ventilated. They shall not be altered without the authority of the Navy Department.

Prisons and 276. (1) Prisoners shall not be confined in any other spaces other spaces used than those which have been designated by the Navy Department for confinement. as prisons or spaces proper to be used as such. In case of necessity, extra spaces may be authorized by a commander-in-chief on a foreign station, by a senior officer present, or by a captain of a ship acting singly, and the senior medical officer shall be called upon to report whether such spaces are fit for prison use.

Confinement of (2) Intoxicated men shall not be confined in any place or manintoxicated men. ner that may be dangerous to them in their condition. Personal interference in the arrest of

drunken men.

Punishments

277. No officer shall assist personally in the arrest of a drunken man further than may be absolutely necessary, but the arrest shall always be made by persons not above the grade of petty officer, who are to be instructed to use no greater force than that required to restrain or confine the offender.

278. Entries in the log regarding punishments shall include to be entered in the name, rank, or rating of the offender, the date and nature of log book. the offense, and the kind and degree of punishment. The date of

CHAP. V.]

REDRESS OF WRONGS; APARTMENTS.

every suspension, arrest, confinement, and restoration to duty shall also be entered upon the log book. (A. G. N., Art. 24.)

Admonition

in course of

75

Entire discharge from arrest or punish

279. An admonition or caution in the ordinary course of duty shall not be considered as a reprimand in the sense of punishment. duty. 280. Whenever any person in the Navy who has been placed under suspension, in arrest, or confinement, or otherwise punished for misconduct, is released and entirely discharged by competent ment a final bar. authority, such discharge shall be a bar to further disciplinary proceedings in the case by any naval authority. (Art. 265.)

SECTION 4.-REDRESS OF WRONGS.

Oppression by or misconduct 281. If any person in the Navy considers himself oppressed by his superior, or observes in him any misconduct, he shall not fail of superior. in his respectful bearing toward him, but shall represent such oppression or misconduct to the proper authority. He will be held accountable if his representations are found to be vexatious, frivolous, or false.

redress. 282. Any application for redress of wrong shall be made in Application for writing through the immediate commanding officer to the commander-in-chief of the fleet or squadron, or to the senior officer present, and it shall be the duty of the latter to take such action in the matter as, in his judgment, justice and the good of the service demand.

283. If, in the opinion of the commander-in-chief or senior officer present, a trial by court-martial is necessary, and the alleged wrong has occurred within the waters of the United States, he shall submit a succinct report of the case, together with all the correspondence relating thereto, to the Secretary of the Navy unless, as commander-in-chief of a fleet or squadron within the waters of the United States, he is expressly authorized by the President to order courts-martial, in which case he shall proceed at once to prefer charges against the offender and convene a court for his trial.

SECTION 5.-APARTMENTS.

284. (1) A flag officer, when embarked in a ship having two cabins, may select either of them; the captain shall occupy the other.

(2) In case there is no flag officer embarked the captain may occupy either cabin.

285. (1) A chief of staff other than the captain of a flagship, shall be provided for in the cabin and mess of the flag officer. (Art. 397.)

(2) The captain shall not be required to share his accommodations with a chief of staff; if there is but one cabin available for the commander-in-chief, the captain, and the chief of staff, they shall occupy it jointly, and the choice of accommodation shall be in the order named.

286. All commissioned officers not in command, above the rank of ensign, shall be wardroom officers. Ensigns assigned to duty as watch and division officers shall also be wardroom officers.

287. (1) When the wardroom staterooms are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the ship, the forward room on the starboard side shall be occupied by the executive officer and the next room by the navigator. All other rooms on the starboard

Report of

wrongs.

Apartments of flag officer.

Apartments of captain.

Apartments of chief of staff.

Flagship with single cabin.

Wardroom

officers.

Staterooms for wardroom officers.