FORTY—FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 117. 1871. 537 titles and grades herein established shall be inserted; and no existing Existing comcnmmission shall be vacated in the said several staff corps, except by ml“l°“” ”°l‘l’° the issue of new commissions required by the provisions of this act, 2§pi8€g?;?d’°x` and no officer shall be reduced in rank or lose seniority in his own Officers nptto corps by any change which may be required under the provisions of E§nfd£g°d‘” this act; and the officers of the staff corps of the navy shall take Precedence of precedence in their several corps, and in their several grades, and with Omcm <>*" 8*** officers of the line with whom- they hold relative rank, according to corps` length of service in the navy ': Provided, That in estimating the length Length of sercf service for this purpose, the several officers of the staH` corps shall vm gw °“l‘ respectively take precedence in their several grades and with those mm ` officers of the line of the navy with whom they hold relative rank who have been in the naval service six years longer than such officers of said staff corps have been in said service: Arid provided further, That Chiefsofbuin estimating such length of service, officers who have been advanced or '°‘?“ may b" "P’ lost numbers on the nav re ist r sh ll b n "der d hvd pointed from y g e a e co sr e as avrng game ,,,;,,,,;;,,,,,1;, or lost length of service accordingly: And provided further, That chiefs of bureau may be appointed from officers having the relative rank smgomcm of captain in the staff corps of the navy on the active list: And provided *9 h¤"°_¤° ¤ddifurther, That no staff officer shall, in virtue of his relative rank or pre- gggxcffhtm cedence, have any additional right to quarters: And provided further, ‘Certain statf That any staff onicer of the navy who has performed the duty of chief of °m°‘€'; ‘;lb‘; °x' a bureau of the Navy Department for a full term shall thereafter be ex- SEE, ggcssea empt from sea duty, except in time of war. Sec. 11. That officers of the medical, pay, and engineer corps, chap- _Rank ofrclains, and professors of mathematics, and also constructors, who shall gg8d °Hi°°” °f . , e medical, pay, have served faithfully for forty-five years, shall, when retired, have the and engineer relative rank of commodore; and officers of these several corps who <>°fP5»¤h¤Pl¤i¤'» have been or shall be retired at the age of sixty-two years, before having &°’ served for forty-dve years, but who shall have served faithfully until retired, on the completion of forty years from their entry into the service, shall also from that time have the relative rank of commodore ; and staff officers who have been or shall be retired for causes incident to the service before arriving at sixty-two years of age shall have the same rank on the retired list as pertaincd to their position on the active list: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this section shall be con- Psy ¤¤¥ i¤· strued to increase the pay now provided for said several staff officers. "°°s°d' Sec. 12. That the chiefs of the bureau of medicineand surgery, pro- _Chi¤f¤¤f¤<>¤‘— visions and clothing, steam engineering, and construction and repair, shall gyyebgggtym have the relative rank of commodore while holding said position, (or if and title. heretofore or hereafter retired therefrom by reason of age or length of service,) and shall have, respectively, the title of surgeon-general, pay- master·general, engineer·in-chief, and chief-constructor: Provided, That Provivm when the office of chief of bureau is filled by a line officer below the rank of commodore, said officer shall have the relative rank of commo- _ dore during the time he holds said office : And providedfurtfzer, That the m_€;¥eg€°h*°f° pay of chiefs of bureau in the Navy Department shall be the highest ` pay of the grade to which they belong, but not below that of commodore; and officers of the staff now on the retired list shall have the rank mR¤¤k <>f¤*~¤U` thereon to which they would have been entitled had they remained in the QQ23S,?;? °° active list, unless they shall be entitled to higher rank. That command- Commandings ing officers of vessels of war and of naval stations shall take precedence g£H£;:_s;;(;’:‘;f over all officers placed under their command, and the Secretary of the ,,,,1 Smionsm Navy may, in his discretion, detail a line officer to act as the ard or exec- gko precedence, utive of the commanding officer of a vessel of war, or naval station, im Omen, which officer shall, when not impracticable, be next in rank to said com- may be denmsd manding officer, and who, as such aid or executive, shall, while executing gg 1::%; gig] *° the orders of the commanding officer, on board such vessel, or at such 0,5%,; 8 station, take precedence over all ofhccrs attached to such vessel or ugglgoand pm
