Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/306

294 NAVY Engineer. Pay master. Petty officers. Regula tions for admis- Regula- tions for promo tion. The engineer, when first appointed to a steam-vessel, carefully examines the engines, screw (or paddles), and the boilers, and reports to the commanding officer any defects he discovers. He takes charge of all the engineer s stores and tools, and keeps account of receipts and expenditure. He is never to quit the engine-room during his watch, and visits it frequently at all times day and night. The engine- room artificers, leading stoker, and stokers are under his immediate control. The paymaster (formerly purser) has the charge of all moneys belonging to the crown, the conduct of all cash transactions, and the charge of all the ship s provisions, and of the serving them out for the use of the crew. The regulations and instructions for his guidance are minutely detailed in the general printed instructions, with all the various forms established for the keeping of his accounts with the accountant-general of the navy, to whom he is immediately responsible. To assist him in the performance of his duties there are assistant paymasters and clerks. The captain, who is responsible for the strict performance of the duties of all the officers under his orders, acts as a check on the paymaster in many parts of his duty regarding the slop-books, muster-books, &c. He has also to count at uncertain times the cash in charge of the paymaster, and to see that it corresponds with the balance per account. For store duties the paymaster has also a steward under his immediate orders. The duties of the medical inspectors of hospitals and fleets, the medical officer of a ship and his assistants, the secretary to the commander-in-chief, the chaplain, the naval instructor, and inspectors of machinery afloat are too obvious to require specification. The petty officers are very numerous ; they are classified as chief petty officers and first and second class working petty officers. The regulations under which candidates for the several branches of officer are received into the navy will be found in the Navy List, which is published quarterly under the authority of the lords com missioners of the Admiralty. The limits of age vary with the line chosen. Cadets are entered between the ages of twelve and thirteen and a half, and. they must pass after entry two years in study on board the "Britannia" before final examination and transmission to a sea-going training ship. Since the foundation and opening of Greenwich Naval College, on 1st February 1873, very great facilities have been given for the higher education of naval officers of all ranks from sub-lieutenants to captains. Engineer officer students are also received. By an order in council, the following regulations are estab lished for the promotion of commissioned officers of the navy. Midshipmen are required to servo five years as midshipmen or cadet on board some of Her Majesty s ships to render them eligible to the rank and situation of lieutenant ; and they must be nineteen years of age. To qualify an officer for sub-lieutenant, he must have served the time, and passed the examination, required to qualify for a lieutenancy. No lieutenant can be promoted to the rank of commander except for gallantry in action until he has served four years as lieutenant, three of them at sea ; and no commander to the rank of captain except for gallantly in action until he has served two years as commander, one oif them at sea. Captains become admirals in succession according to their seniority on the list, provided they shall have commanded four years in a rated ship during war, or six years during peace, or five years in war and peace combined. Appointments as navigating lieutenant (formerly master) are no longer made. The old list of masters, now sub divided into staff captains, staff commanders, and navigating lieutenants, will gradually die out, and the duties will be per formed by lieutenants and commanders. No person can be appointed gunner unless ho shall have served seven years, one of them as gunner s mate or other petty officer, or seaman gunner, on board one or more of Her Majesty s ships; and he must produce a first class certificate in gunnery, and certificates of his good conduct, and undergo the necessary examination. No person can be appointed boatswain unless he shall have served seven years,. one complete year with the rating, and actually doing the duty, of a petty officer in Her Majesty s navy; and he must produce certifi cates of good conduct, and undergo the necessary examination. No person can be appointed carpenter unless he has been six months a carpenter s mate or caulker, or twelve months with the rating of 1793. 1803. 1815. 1821. 1836. Admirals 11 45 70 63 43 19 36 73 59 59 19 51 77 68 63 444 666 824 828 755 160 410 762 776 823 1,408 2,461 3,211 3,797 2,976 shipwright or carpenter s crew, on board one or more of Her Majesty s ships. No person can be appointed chaplain to one of Her Majesty s ships until he has received priest s orders. No person can be appointed paymaster or assistant-paymaster unless he shall have been rated and have discharged the duties of a clerk for three complete years, and shall produce good certificates. Admission to this class is by limited competition for assistant- clerkships. Admission to the medical class is by open competition. Promotion from surgeon to staff surgeon is conferred on qualified officers twelve years from date of entry. The long-continued wars towards the close of last century neces- Number sarily created a prodigious increase of the commissioned officers of of the navy. Their numbers in the following five peace years were officers. In the year 1857 there were on the active list of the navy 371 captains, 530 commanders, 1122 lieutenants, and on the retired and reserved list 129 captains, 243 commanders with rank of captain (besides 113 commanders on reserved half-pay), 254 lieutenants with rank of retired commanders (besides 618 on reserved half-pay). The total number of captains was therefore 743, commanders 897, lieutenants 1740. The warrant-officers increased from the average of about 400 in 1793 and 700 in 1821 to upwards of 1000 in 1857. The total number of officers of the royal navy and royal marines in 1857 was upwards of 7300, excluding mates and midshipmen, clerks, warrant-officers, and engineers, who may be computed at 3000, making a grand total of 10,300 officers of all ranks. The chronic disproportion between the number of officers on the Rules active list and the number for whom it was possible to find employ- for ment led to many difficulties. Promotion stagnated, and officers retire- in the higher ranks remained in the service long after the time ment. when in the ordinary course of things they should have been retired for age or infirmity. Several schemes of naval retirement were proposed to remedy the evil. Mr Childers, when first lord of the Admiralty in 1870, framed a scheme much of which remains in force, although amendments in it have be.en found necessary. Full details are given in the Navy List, and a large body of in teresting matter connected with the subject may be found in a parliamentary paper dated llth July 1872. The active list has been reduced to the number in each rank which is deemed to be sufficient for the purposes of the navy, and provision is made for a regular flow of promotion by requiring the retirement of officers at certain specified ages, or after non-service afloat, irrespective of age, for a given number of years. Improved retired pay has been accorded. As the regulations stand at present admirals and vice-admirals are compulsorily retired at the age of sixty-five ; rear-admirals at sixty, or if their flag has not been hoisted for ten years ; captains are retired at the age of fifty-five, "or at any age if seven years have elapsed since they last served " ; commanders at the age of fifty; liau tenants at forty-five, "or at any age if five years have elapsed since they last served"; sub-lieutenants (by order in council 5th February 1872) are compulsorily retired at the age of forty. Permission has been given to flag-officers, captains, commanders, and lieutenants to retire some years sooner than the age of com pulsory retirement, and arrangements have been made by which they may commute their retired pay, or a part of it, for a lump sum. Staff captains are retired at the age of sixty, "or at any age if they have not served seven years " ; staff commanders at fifty-five ; and navigating lieutenants at forty-five, or after five years non- service. Chief engineers are retired at fifty-five, or after five years non-service. Chaplains and naval instructors are retired at the age of sixty, or in case of non-service by the former after five years, by the latter after three years 3 . Of medical officers, inspectors and deputy-inspectors of hospitals are retired at sixty, or after five years non-service; fleet surgeons, staff surgeons, and surgeons at fifty- five, or in each case after five years non-service. Paymasters are retired at sixty. Permission is accorded to these officers also to retire five years sooner than the maximum age. A maximum establishment of warrant-officers has been fixed, and ages specified at which retirement is compulsory. The object has been to favour promotion, the employment of none but vigorous men, and to reduce the list to the maximum number it is considered desirable to employ. At present (1883) the total number of the officers of Present the royal navy and royal marines is about 7900. Of these num ber upwards of 2100 are in the ranks of engineer officers, sub- gj cers lieutenants, midshipmen, naval cadets, clerks, &c., and warrant-officers.