Officers Commanding Vessels.

293..Should the Commanding Officer of a vessel be compelled to strike his flag, he is to take special care to destroy all signals and papers, the possession of which by an enemy might be injurious to the United States, and he will keep them so prepared, with weights attached to them that they will sink immediately on being thrown overboard.

294..In case of danger to his ship, where she is likely to be lost or destroyed, or where it is necessary to abandon her, the Commanding Officer should be the last person to leave the vessel. He should first provide for the safety of his officers and crew.

295. In case of shipwreck, or any other disaster whereby the ship may be lost, the Commander, with the officers and men, shall stay by her as long as possible, and save all they can. He shall particularly endeavor to save the log, muster, pay and receipt books, and other valuable papers.

296..In every case of the loss or capture of a vessel of the Navy, it is hereby made the duty of her Commander to cause immediately the officers of divisions to ascertain carefully the loss of clothing and bedding sustained by their men, and to report to him, in writing, the result of their investigation. These reports, drawn up in a uniform way, and signed by himself and those officers respectively, he is to submit, without delay, to the Navy Department.

297..In the event of loss of accounts occurring from the loss or capture of a vessel of the Navy, he will order the Paymaster to open fresh ones with the survivors, commencing them from the date of the disaster, and giving to each person the rate he held at the time the accounts were lost; and these accounts, so made out, are to accompany the survivors on their being transferred to a vessel or station, the Paymaster of which is to govern himself by them in making payments or issues, until he receives further instructions concerning them from the Navy Department or the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury.

298..When, from the loss of a vessel, or from any cause, the descriptive lists of the crew are lost, it shall be the duty of the Commanding Officer to make application for such descriptive lists to the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, forwarding, with his letter of application, a list containing the names and rating of the crew at the time of their enlistment.

Officers Commanding Vessels.

299..If shipwrecked within the United States, he shall, after doing all in his power to save the public property, repair, as soon as practicable, to the nearest navy yard or station, and, in all cases, make the earliest possible report to the Navy Department.

300...He shall, in case of shipwreck without the United States, lose no time in returning to the fleet or squadron to which he may belong, or, if acting alone, to the United States, with his officers and crew, to effect which he may dispose of the property saved, or draw bills, as he may deem most advantageous to the public interests.

301..No Commanding Officer of a vessel will, on entering a United States port, take his ship to a navy yard without first discharging his powder at a magazine.

302..Commanding Officers of vessels, under the orders of the Commandant of a navy yard or station, will not give liberty to officers or men without the authority of said Commandant first obtained.

303..The Commanding Officer of a vessel arriving at any port in the United States is to see that a requisition is forwarded, the day of his arrival, for money to pay off all the crew who may be ordered to be discharged, or whose terms of service have expired.

304..When men are paid off, at the end of a cruise, the Commanding Officer will be present in person, and he will not delegate this duty to his Executive Officer.

305..The Commanding Officer is then and there to sign the honorable discharges of such men as he may deem worthy of them, or he is to mark the honorable discharges of previous cruises as called for in the honorable discharge.

306..It will be the duty of a Commanding Officer to have the regular routine of the ship, as prescribed by law, continue till he turns the vessel over to the Commanding Officer of the station. The Commanding Officer of a vessel will be present at the inspection to be made previous to delivering his vessel to the Commander of the station.

307..He will see that all furniture and other articles that he received from the station are accounted for, and will make such explanations as are necessary in regard to changes in the vessel.

308..If it is discovered that unauthorized changes have been

Officers Commanding Steam-vessels.

made by the Commanding Officer of a vessel, and if he cannot justify them to the Secretary of the Navy, the expense of such alterations must be borne by the Commanding Officer.

309..A Commanding Officer will not leave his vessel until he is satisfied that all returns have been properly made, and all instruments, &c., turned over to the proper authority.

310..Before relinquishing command, he is to sign the Midshipmen's journals, and give to each one such a letter as he may deem proper for presentation to the Board of Examiners, as provided for under head of general instructions, par. 812.

311..The authority of the Commanding Officer of a vessel will cease when his pennant is hauled down and the vessel turned over to the Commander of the station. At the same time, he is held responsible that her yeoman is not discharged until all his accounts are settled.

OFFICERS COMMANDING STEAM-VESSELS.

312..When an officer shall be appointed to the command of a steam-vessel, he is to observe carefully the following directions, in addition to those prescribed in the next preceding section, relating to "Officers Commanding Vessels."

313..He is to use all possible diligence to make himself acquainted with the principles and construction of the engines, the intention and effect of the various parts of the machinery, the time the engines were constructed, the repairs they may have undergone, the period when the last repairs were made, and when the vessel last received new boilers.

314..As a material saving in the consumption of fuel may be produced by reducing the engine power, without reducing essentially the speed, and as occasions for this exercise of economy may frequently occur, he is to make himself acquainted with the principle and effect of the expansion of steam, and to require that the expansion gear should at all times be brought into play when the engines are not worked up to their full power.

315..In order to ascertain the capabilities of the ship under his command, he is, as soon as he proceeds to sea, to make careful and repeated trials by using the steam expansively, under every variety

Officers Commanding Steam-vessels.

of wind and weather, draught of water, and other circumstances, so as to be able at all times to apply the principle of expansion, according to the nature of the service on which he may be engaged, and to calculate with accuracy the number of days the ship can be under steam without being obliged to put into port for fuel.

316..Vessels under steam will never use more than two-thirds of their boiler-power unless in an emergency, which must be fully entered and explained upon the log, and a special report of the same made to the Bureau of Steam Engineering.

317..When paddle-wheel steamers are running long distances in the trades, with the wind free, the paddles in the water are to be removed and the vessel navigated under sail alone. Under other circumstances, steam may be used according to the foregoing paragraph.

318..As to the use of sails, either with or without the use of steam, or as to moderating the steam when running head to wind and sea, each Commanding Officer must be guided by his own judgment, but with the understanding that he must be prepared to justify every expenditure of fuel for steaming purposes, if called upon to do so. His judgment will necessarily be based upon a consideration of the urgency and nature of the service to be performed, of the wind and weather, and upon the difficulties of the navigation, and the qualities of the vessel; but he is to take care, first, that steam is not used at all when the service can be performed without it; secondly, that sail is never dispensed with when it can be employed to advantage to assist the steam; and, thirdly, that full steam power is never employed, unless in chase, or absolutely necessary, the cause for which must be reported to the Department in writing.

319..He is carefully to inform himself of the usual daily consumption of coals, and to obtain all information in regard to the most economical and efficient use of the engines and their appendages.

320..To prevent accidents by spontaneous combustion, he is to order the greatest care to be observed that the coals are not taken on board when wet and that when on board they are kept as dry as possible. When a fresh supply is received he is to direct that those remaining in the coal-bunkers be, as far as practicable, so stowed as to be used first.

Officers Commanding Steam-vessels.

321..He is, before leaving the port where the vessel was fitted, to cause all the spare gear belonging to the engines and machinery to be taken on board, and he is to land no part of it at any port where he may touch, without the written authority of the Commanding Officer of the station, or of the Commander of the squadron to which he belongs.

322..Whenever he joins his Commanding Officer after separation, or when he arrives at any port where there is a superior officer in command, he shall report the number of hours the vessel was under steam and under sail, and the circumstances which rendered the use of steam necessary.

323..When practicable, he shall, before going to sea, cause the boilers to be filled with fresh water.

324..He will direct the Engineer to have the flues, chimneys, and boilers cleaned whenever it may be necessary, and when repairs or cleaning are required for the engines or boilers, they are to be made, as far as practicable, by the engineers, firemen, and coal-heavers of the vessel.

325..He shall take care that the proper lanterns, to prevent collision at sea, be kept in good order, and always lighted at night, except when it may be expedient to conceal all lights.

326..He is to have the force-pumps, hose, and all other means for extinguishing fires, kept constantly in order and ready for immediate use; and he is to require the utmost care to be taken at all times in the storage of stores, the use of lights and fires, and in the adoption of all other precautionary measures to prevent danger from fire.

327..He shall examine the steam-log daily, and if satisfied of its correctness, sign it every month, or oftener, should the vessel in the meantime arrive at any port.

328.. The Commander of the vessel shall transmit to the Department, by the first safe opportunity after the close of the months of March, June, September, and December, a fair copy of the steam log-book for the preceding quarter, and whenever a steamer is placed in ordinary, for the period which has not been previously transmitted.

329..He will require the steam engineers to conform to the orders of the officer of the deck for the time being; but they are not, ex