Personal staff

may be accom

modated in cabin.

Junior off

cers.

Other officers.

Passengers.

Storerooms not

other purposes.

side shall be occupied by line officers not detailed for engineering duties, in the order of rank.

(2) On the port side the forward room shall be occupied by the officer in charge of the engineer department, the second by the paymaster, the third by the senior medical officer, the fourth by the senior marine officer if there be one attached to the ship, the fifth by the chaplain, the others by the remaining staff officers, marine officers, and line officers detailed for engineering duties, entitled to quarters in the wardroom, in the order of their rank.

(3) Spare rooms shall be assigned by the captain, and he shall give preference to officers who keep a watch.

(4) In ships having staterooms arranged otherwise than as above mentioned, a plan of assignment of quarters will be supplied from the Department before the ship is commissioned.

(5) Until actually needed for a chief of staff, the quarters for such officer, when not within the cabin limits, may be assigned by the captain to the executive officer.

288. A flag officer may assign quarters in his own cabin to any member of his personal staff; and while so accommodated he shall mess with the flag officer and have no title to quarters elsewhere. (Art. 397.)

289. Ensigns not watch and division officers, second lieutenants in the Marine Corps not in command of a detachment if there be one on board, pay officers having the rank of ensign not heads of departments, midshipmen, and clerks shall occupy the junior officers' quarters.

290. The commissioned warrant officers and each warrant officer shall have a room forward of the junior officers' quarters if there is sufficient space; if not, two of them shall occupy one room jointly. The rooms shall be occupied as designated by the Department.

291. No officer embarked as a passenger shall be entitled to a stateroom to the exclusion of an officer belonging to the complement of the ship.

292. No storeroom or office shall be used for a sleeping apartto be used for ment except by authority, nor shall any such room be used for any other purpose than the public service for which it is allotted, unless in cases of emergency, such emergency and consequent changes being immediately reported to the Department.

Messing of officers.

Receiving

ship.

Cabin messes.

Officers as pas

sengers.

SECTION 6.-OFFICERS' MESSES.

293. (1) Officers shall mess in the apartments assigned therefor, except as hereinafter provided. Separate messes shall not be formed in the same apartment, nor shall meals be taken in rooms or at other places than at the regular mess table, except in case of sickness. In vessels having no junior officers' mess, clerks shall mess with the warrant officers.

(2) The captain and other officers attached to a receiving ship shall live and mess on board unless specially exempted by the Secretary of the Navy.

294. Cabin officers in ships with two cabins may, if they prefer it, form one mess. A flag officer may have any of his personal

staff in his mess.

295. Officers embarked as passengers shall mess in the apartment to which they would belong if attached to the ship.

296. (1) In all officers' messes the senior line officer present Senior line ofin line of succession to the command shall preside and have the ficer to preside. power to preserve order. (Arts. 44 and 266.)

(2) When no line officer in succession to the command is present, the senior of the other line officers present or, when there are none, the senior officer present, whether of the staff or the Marine Corps, shall preside.

(3) The officers of the mess shall be assigned permanent seats at the mess tables alternately, in the order of rank, to the right and left of the presiding officer. The seat opposite the presiding officer shall be occupied by the mess treasurer.

297. (1) Each officers' mess shall elect a mess treasurer, who Mess treasurer. shall have charge of all matters relating to the service and expenditure of the mess. All officers of a mess are eligible to election as mess treasurer, and if elected shall so serve; but no officer shall be required to serve more than two months consecutively.

(2) The mess treasurer shall keep an account of all receipts Duties of mess and expenditures, from which an abstract of the financial con- treasurer. dition of the mess may at any time be ascertained. At the close of each month he shall render to the mess a statement of the accounts of the mess, with his receipts and expenditures, together with any bills remaining unpaid.

(3) He shall incur no indebtedness which can not be discharged by the funds appropriated for the mess, and he shall see that all bills are paid before leaving port. If, however, from the unexpected sailing of the ship, or from circumstances beyond his control, he is forced to leave any bills unpaid, he shall report the number and amount to the captain, who will take all measures to have them paid as soon as possible.

(4) He shall detail mess attendants for duty within the mess, subject in permanent details to confirmation by the excutive officer. (Art. 563.)

Audit of mess

(5) The mess treasurer's accounts shall be audited by a board composed of the executive officer and two other officers elected by accounts. the mess. The members of the auditing board shall, after examining the accounts, certify them by their signatures, with such comment as they see fit to make, and then submit the accounts to the commanding officer. If the condition of the mess, as shown by the mess treasurer's monthly accounts, be unsatisfactory in any respect, the commanding officer shall take such action as may be appropriate or, if necessary, report the matter to the commander-in-chief.

Before pro

cruise.

(6) When a vessel is in a United States port and preparing to proceed on a cruise the commanding officer may sanction supplies ceeding on for officers' messes being received on board, at the risk of the dealers, to be paid for as consumed, in not less than quarterly installments; provided the dealer shall agree thereto in writing. A statement of all agreements so made and the payments thereon shall be included in the mess treasurer's accounts each month until the obligation is fully discharged.

(7) Neither the steward nor any other person shall, without written authority from the mess treasurer, be permitted to incur indebtedness on shore in the name of the mess.

298. (1) Every officer attached to a seagoing ship shall pay Mess bills. monthly, in advance, the full amount of the mess bill to the mess

Wine messes.

treasurer; and no officer shall be excused from such payment unless ordered on detached duty or sent to a hospital. (Art. 293, par. 2.)

(2) An officer ordered temporarily to duty away from the vessel to which he is attached is “ordered on detached duty" within the meaning of this article, and is entitled to a rebate on his mess bill for the period of his absence.

299. (1) Wardroom and junior officers may form wine messes, but no officer shall be required to become a member thereof. Suitable locker room for wine-mess stores shall be provided when fitting a ship for sea.

(2) The provisions of article 297 shall be held to apply in all respects to wine messes.

(3) The law regarding the introduction and use of distilled liquors on board ship shall be rigidly observed. (A, G. N., Art. 13.)

CHAPTER VI.

A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

SECTION 1.-ON ASSUMING COMMAND.

300. (1) The title "commander-in-chief," when occurring in naval laws, regulations, and other documents, shall be held to refer to the officer designated as such in his orders from the Navy Department, or to the officer who succeeds him as provided for in article 321.

(2) The duties, prerogatives, and honors of a commander-inchief commence on the date of hoisting his flag and continue until it is finally hauled down.

Title.

Period of duty.

301. A commander-in-chief shall, upon the date of assuming To announce command, announce the fact in a general order to the fleet, setting his staff. forth the authority for his assumption of command. At the same time, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, he shall announce the officers who are to serve upon his staff, both personal and fleet.

302. He shall, as soon as possible, make himself familiar with the condition and capabilities of the ships of his command, and thoroughly inform himself as to the qualities of their officers and trews, armament, speed under different circumstances, economy of service, and capacity for warlike stores; as to the skill, capacity, judgment, and aptitude of their several captains, and as to such other matters as may be necessary in order to enable him to make the best selections of officers, men, or instruments for the performance of any important public duty.

To become familiar with his command.

station.

303. He shall make himself familiar with the facilities for To become famaking repairs and obtaining supplies at the various ports within miliar with his the limits of his station, and with the climatic and sanitary condition of the latter, in order that the service of ships may be directed as far as possible with a view to their economic administration and efficient condition.

ships.

304. He shall use every exertion to equip the ships of his com- Equipment mand expeditiously and keep them ready for service. If he dis- and condition of covers any defects in the ships, their armament, or equipment, whereby they are rendered unfit for their destined service, he shall report the details of such defects to the Secretary of the Navy.

305. (1) He shall regulate exercises and sanitary duties in To regulate general instructions to the ships of his command. These instruc- exercises and tions must be in accordance with the laws and regulations governsanitary duties. ing the Navy, the orders emanating from the Secretary of the Navy, and the usages of the naval service.

(2) Copies of all standing orders, instructions, and routine issued to a fleet shall be forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy.

Inspection.

dition of a ship reported on.

SECTION 2.--GENERAL DUTIES,

306. (1) The commander-in-chief shall inspect every ship of his command as follows:

(a) As soon as practicable after assuming command, or after a ship has joined his command.

(b) Semiannually from the date of the first inspection.

(c) Immediately before the departure of a ship from his command, if not inspected within the previous six months.

(d) At such other times as he may deem necessary.

(2) The inspections prescribed in this article, except the last, shall be conducted in a careful and deliberate manner, and full reports, according to prescribed forms, with such additional information as may be important, shall be made to the Secretary of the Navy. The additional inspections provided for under d may be more or less complete, and may be reported or not, at his discretion.

Circumstances 307. (1) He shall take into consideration the length of time a affecting the con- ship has been in commission, and mention any special circumstances that may have interfered with routine drills and duties, such as long-continued special service, exposure to inclement or enervating weather, or prevailing sickness.

Report to cover general efficiency of personnel.

The efficient

(2) He shall be governed in making out his report by the ability and readiness of a ship to perform any service or duty required, so far as these qualities depend upon the efforts of her personnel, and by his observation, if sufficiently extensive, of her proficiency at drills, accuracy at target practice, and other important qualities. (3) He shall examine particularly into the means taken to precondition of the serve the hull, decks, steam machinery, boilers, guns and their carriages, masts, rigging, sails, and stores. He shall not fail to mention in his report any neglect on the part of the captain or any other officer to maintain the ship in the most efficient condition possible.

ship.

Stations and exercise at the armament.

Closing watertight doors.

Improvements suggested.

Sanitary condition.

Laws and regulations enforced.

(4) He shall satisfy himself that the ship, whenever cleared for action, is fully prepared for service, especially as regards the stations of officers and men, the systems of communication, and the fire control; that all gun, torpedo, ammunition supply, and rangefinding crews are sufficiently exercised at the armament to maintain their proficiency; that all instruction and training of such crews are in accordance with the instructions prescribed from time to time by the Department; and that the efficiency of the ship as a whole is not impaired by unnecessary changes among officers and men in their stations at the armament.

(5) He shall make a most strict and careful inquiry and report as to the observance of the regulations in respect to closing watertight doors.

(6) He shall examine into and report on any suggestions of the captain, or any of the other officers, calculated to increase the efficiency of the ship.

(7) He shall examine into and report on the general sanitary condition of the ship.

(8) He shall satisfy himself that the laws and regulations governing the Navy, the particular instructions from the Navy Department, and the usages of the naval service are enforced. Officers' messes (9) He shall inquire into the orders relating to smoking, and and privileges. ascertain if officers' messes are in a satisfactory condition and conducted with fairness to all officers and according to regulations,