Articles for Government of the Navy (1800 Act)

The "Articles for the Government of the United States Navy" that regulated Navy justice for 176 years, claim a venerable providence that dates to the reign of King Charles II.

The initial version of the articles was enacted on 28 November 1774 by the Second Continental Congress and were directly lifted with alterations in language to suit the American's lack of a royal sovereign from the articles that regulated the Royal Navy that were first enacted in 1661.

The first version enacted by Congress of the United States proper entitled "An Act for the Government of the Navy of the United States" were enacted 2 March 1799. The version on this page that was still in force during the first three years of the Civil War were enacted the following year.

The articles do mention flogging as a punishment, but legislation passed in 1850 abolished the punishment. Legislation entitled "An Act to Provide a More Efficient Discipline for the Navy" was enacted on 2 March 1855 to codify legal punishments at a summary court martial in place of flogging after input from various committees during the previous five years.

The third version of the articles were enacted 17 July 1862. Further versions were enacted by Congress in the ensuing decades and were finally superseded in 1951 by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

AN ACT FOR THE BETTER GOVERNMENT OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.

Section 1. Be it enacted, &c.. That from and after the first day of June next, the following rules and regulations be adopted and put in force, for the government of the navy of the United States:

Article 1. The commanders of all ships and vessels-of-war belonging to the navy are strictly enjoined and required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination, and be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all such as are placed under their command, and to guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct all such as are guilty of them, according to the usage of the sea-service.

Article 2. The commanders of all ships and vessels in the navy, having chaplains on board, shall take care that divine service be performed in a solemn, orderly, and reverent manner, twice a day, and a sermon preached on Sunday, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent it; and that they cause all, or as many of the ship's company as can be spared from duty, to attend at every performance of the worship of Almighty God.

Article 3. Any officer or other person in the navy who shall be guilty of oppression, cruelty, fraud, profane swearing, drunkenness, or any other scandalous conduct, tending to the destruction of good morals, shall, if an officer, be cashiered, or suffer such other punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge; if a private, shall be put in irons or flogged, at the discretion of the captain, not exceeding twelve lashes; but if the offense require severer punishment, he shall be tried by a court-martial, and suffer such punishment as said court shall inflict.

Article 4. Every commander or other officer who shall, upon signal for battle, or on the probability of an engagement, neglect to clear his ship for action, or shall not use his utmost exertions to bring his ship to battle, or shall fail to encourage, in his own person, his inferior officers and men to fight courageously, such offender shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge; or any officer neglecting, on sight of any vessel or vessels of an enemy, to clear his ship for action, shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge; and if any person in the navy shall treacherously yield, or pusillanimously cry for quarters, he shall suffer death, on conviction thereof by a general court-martial.

Article 5. Every officer or private who shall not properly observe the orders of his commanding officer, or shall not use his utmost exertions to carry them into execution, when ordered to prepare for, join in, or when actually engaged in battle; or shall at such time basely desert his duty or station, either then or while in sight of an enemy, or shall induce others to do so, every person so offending shall, on conviction thereof by a general court- martial, suffer death, or such other punishment as the said court shall adjudge.

Article 6. Every officer or private who shall, through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, in time of action, withdraw from or keep out of battle, or shall not do his utmost to take or destroy every vessel which it is his duty to encounter, or shall not do his utmost endeavor to afford relief to ships belonging to the United States, every such offender shall, on conviction thereof by a general court-martial, suffer death, or such other punishment as the said court shall adjudge.

Article 7. The commanding officer of every ship or vessel in the navy, who shall capture or seize upon any vessel as a prize, shall carefully preserve all the papers and writing found on board, and transmit the whole of the originals, unmutilated, to the judge of the district to which such prize is ordered to proceed, and shall transmit to the Navy Department, and the agent appointed to pay the prize money, complete lists of the officers and men entitled to a share of the capture, inserting therein the quality of every person rating, on pain of forfeiting his whole share of the prize money resulting from such capture, and suffering such further punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 8. No person in the navy shall take out of a prize, or vessel seized as a prize, any money, plate, goods, or any part of her rigging, unless it be for the better preservation thereof, or absolutely necessary for the use of any of the vessels of the United States, before the same shall be adjudged lawful prize by a competent court; but the whole, without fraud, concealment, or embezzlement, shall be brought in, and judgment passed thereon, upon pain that every person offending herein shall forfeit his share of the capture, and suffer such further punishment as a court-martial, or the court of admiralty in which the prize is adjudged, shall impose.

Article 9. No person in the navy shall strip of their clothes, or pillage, or in any manner maltreat, persons taken on board a prize, on pain of such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 10. No person in the navy shall give, hold, or entertain any intercourse or intelligence to or with any enemy or rebel, without leave from the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Navy, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, or the commander of a squadron; or, in case of a vessel acting singly, from his commanding officer, on pain of death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 11. If any letter or message from an enemy or rebel be conveyed to any officer or private of the navy, and he shall not within twelve hours make the same known, having opportunity so to do, to his superior or commanding officer; or if any officer commanding a ship or vessel, being acquainted therewith, shall not, with all convenient speed, reveal the same to the commander-in-chief of the fleet, commander of a squadron, or other proper officer, whose duty it may be to take cognizance thereof, every such offender shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 12. Spies, and all persons who shall come or be found in the capacity of spies, or who shall bring or deliver any seducing letter or message from an enemy or rebel, or endeavor to corrupt any person in the navy to betray his trust, shall suffer death, or such other punishments a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 13. If any person in the navy shall make, or attempt to make, any mutinous assembly, he shall, on conviction thereof by a court-martial, suffer death; and if any person as aforesaid shall utter any seditious or mutinous words, or shall conceal or connive at any mutinous or seditious practices, or shall treat with contempt his superior, being in the execution of his office; or, being witness to any mutiny or sedition, shall not do his utmost to suppress it, he shall be punished at the discretion of a court-martial.

Article 14. No officer or private in the navy shall disobey the lawful orders of his superior officer, or strike him, or draw, or offer to draw, or raise, any weapon against him while in the execution of the duties of his office, on pain of death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall inflict.

Article 15. No person in the navy shall quarrel with any other person in the navy, nor use provoking or reproachful words, gestures, or menaces, on pain of such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 16. If any person in the navy shall desert to an enemy or rebel, he shall suffer death.

Article 17. If any person in the navy shall desert, or shall entice others to desert, he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge; and if any officer, or other person belonging the navy, shall receive or entertain any deserter from any other vessel of the navy, knowing him to be such, and shall not with all convenient speed, give notice of such deserter to the commander of the vessel to which he belongs, or to the commander-in-chief, or to the commander of the squadron, he shall, on conviction thereof, be cashiered, or be punished at the discretion of a court-martial. All offenses committed by persons belonging to the navy while on shore, shall be punished in the same manner as if they had been committed at sea.

Article 18. If any person in the navy shall knowingly make or sign, or shall aid. abet, direct, or procure, the making or signing, of any false muster, or shall execute, or attempt, or countenance, any fraud against the United States, he shall, on conviction, be cashiered, and rendered forever incapable of any future employment in the service of the United States, and shall forfeit all the pay and subsistence due him, and suffer such other punishment as a court-martial shall inflict.

Article 19. If any officer, or other person, in the navy, shall, through inattention, negligence, or any other fault, suffer any vessel of the navy to be stranded, or run upon rocks or shoals, or hazarded, he shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 20. If any person in the navy shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform the duty assigned him, or leave his station before regularly relieved, he shall suffer death, or such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge; or, if the offender be a private, he may, at the discretion of the captain, be put in irons, or flogged not exceeding twelve lashes.

Article 21. The crime of murder, when committed by any officer, seaman, or marine, belonging to any public ship or vessel of the United States, without the territorial jurisdiction of the same, may be punished with death by the sentence of a court-martial.

Article 22. The officers and privates of every ship or vessel appointed as convoy to merchant or other vessels, shall diligently and faithfully discharge the duties of their appointment, nor shall they demand or exact any compensation for their services, nor maltreat any of the officers or crew of such merchant or other vessels, on pain of making such reparation as a court of admiralty may award, and of suffering such further punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 23. If any commander or other officer shall receive, or permit to be received, on board bis vessel, any goods or merchandise, other than for the sole use of his vessel, except gold, silver, or jewels, and except the goods or merchandise of vessels which may be in distress, or shipwrecked, or in imminent danger of being shipwrecked, in order to preserve them for their owners, without orders from the President of the United States or the Navy Department, he shall, on conviction thereof, be cashiered, and be incapacitated forever afterwards for any place or office in the navy.

Article 24. If any person in the navy shall waste, embezzle, or fraudulently buy, sell, or receive, any ammunition, provisions, or other public stores; or if any officer or other person shall, knowingly, permit, through design, negligence, or inattention, any such waste, embezzlement, sale, or receipt, every such person shall forfeit all the pay and subsistence then due him, and suffer such further punishment as a court-martial shall direct.

Article 25. If any person in the navy shall unlawfully set fire to or burn any kind of public property, not then in the possession of an enemy, pirate, or rebel, he shall suffer death; and if any person shall, in any other manner, destroy such property, or shall not use his best exertions to prevent the destruction thereof by others, he shall be punished at the discretion of a court-martial.

Article 26. Any theft, not exceeding twenty dollars, may be punished at the discretion of the captain; and above that sum, as a court-martial shall direct.

Article 27. If any person in the navy shall, when on shore, plunder, abuse, or maltreat, any inhabitant, or injure his property in any way, he shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge

Article 28. Every person in the navy shall use his utmost exertions to detect, apprehend, and bring to punishment, all offenders, and shall, at all times, aid and assist all persons appointed for this purpose, on pain of such punishment as a court-martial shall adjudge.

Article 29. Each commanding officer shall, whenever a seaman enters on board, cause an accurate entry to be made in the ship's books of his name, time, and term of service; and, before sailing, transmit to the Secretary of the Navy a complete list or muster-roll of the officers and men under his command, with the date of their entering, time and terms of their service annexed; and shall cause similar lists to be made out on the first day of every second month, to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Navy, as opportunities shall occur; accounting in such lists, or muster-rolls, for any casualties which may have taken place since the last list or muster-roll. He shall cause to be accurately minuted on the ship.s books the names of, and times at which any death or desertion may occur; and in case of death, shall take care that the purser secure all the property of the deceased for the benefit of his legal representative or representatives. He shall cause frequent Inspections to be made into the condition of the provisions, and use every precaution for its preservation. He shall, whenever he orders officers and men to take charge of a prize, and proceed to the United States, and whenever officers or men are sent from his ship for whatever cause, take care that each man be furnished with a complete statement of his account, specifying the date of his enlistment, and the period and terms of his service; which account shall be signed by the commanding officer and purser. He shall cause the rules for the government of the navy to be hung up in some public part of the ship, and read once a month to his ship's company. He shall cause a convenient place to be set apart for sick or disabled men, to which he shall have them removed, with their hammocks and bedding, when the surgeon shall so advise, and shall direct that some of the crew attend them and keep the place clean; and, if necessary, shall direct that cradles, and buckets with covers, be made for their use; and when his crew is finally paid off, he shall attend in person, or appoint a proper officer, to see that justice be done to the men, and to the United States, in the settlement of the accounts. Any commanding officer offending herein, shall be punished at the discretion of a court-martial.

Article 30. No commanding officer shall, of his own authority, discharge a commissioned or warrant officer, nor strike nor punish him otherwise than by suspension or confinement, nor shall he, of his own authority, inflict a punishment on any private beyond twelve lashes with a cat-of-nine-tails, nor shall he suffer any wired, or other than a plain cat-of-nine-tails, to be used on board his ship; nor shall any officer who may command by accident, or in the absence of the commanding officer, (except such commander be absent for a time by leave,) order or inflict any other punishment than confinement, for which he shall account on the return of such absent commanding officer. Nor shall any commanding officer receive on board any petty officers or men, turned over from any other vessel to him, unless each of such officers or men produce to him an account, signed by the captain and purser of the vessel from which they came, specifying the date of such officer's or man's entry, the period and terms of service, the sums paid, and the balance due him, and the quality in which he was rated on board such ship. Nor shall any commanding officer, having received any petty officer or man as aforesaid, rate him in a lower or worse station than that in which he formerly served. Any commanding officer offending herein shall be punished at the discretion of a court-martial.

Article 31. Any master-at-arms, or other person of whom the duty of master-at-arms is required, who shall refuse to receive such prisoners as shall be committed to his charge, or. having received them, shall suffer them to escape, or dismiss them without orders from proper authority, shall suffer in such prisoners' stead, or be punished otherwise at the discretion of a court-martial.

Article 32. All crimes committed by persons belonging to the navy, which are not specified in the foregoing articles, shall be punished according to the laws and customs in such cases at sea.

Article 33. All officers not holding commissions or warrants, or who are not entitled to them, except, such as are temporarily appointed to the duties of a commissioned or warrant officer, are deemed petty officers.

Article 34. Any person entitled to wages or prize money may have the same paid to his assignee, provided the assignment be attested by the captain and purser; and in case of the assignment of wages, the power shall specify the precise time they commence. But the commander of every vessel is required to discourage his crews from selling any part of their wages or prize money, and never to attest any power of attorney, until he is satisfied that the same is not granted in consideration of money given for the purchase of wages or prize money.

NAVAL GENERAL COURTS-MARTIAL.

Article 35. General courts-martial may be convened as often as the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Navy, or commander-in-chief of the fleet, or commander of a squadron, while acting out of the United States, shall deem it necessary: Provided, That no general court-martial shall consist of more than thirteen, nor less than five members, and as many officers shall be summoned on every such court as can be convened without injury to the service, so as not to exceed thirteen, and the senior officer shall always preside, the others ranking agreeably to the date of their commission; and in no case where it can be avoided without injury to the service, shall more than one-half the members, exclusive of the president, be junior to the officer to be tried.

Article 36. Each member of the court before proceeding to trial shall take the following oath or affirmation, which the judge advocate, or person officiating as such, is hereby authorized to administer: "I, A B., do swear [or affirm] that I will truly try, without prejudice or partiality, the case now depending, according to the evidence which shall come before the court, the rules for the government of the navy, and my own conscience ; and that I will not by any means divulge or disclose the sentence of the court, until it shall have been approved by the proper authority, nor will I at any time divulge or disclose the vote or opinion of any particular member of the court, unless required so to do before a court of justice in due course of law." This oath or affirmation being duly administered, the president is authorized and required to administer the following oath or affirmation to the judge advocate, or person officiating as such: "I, A. B., do swear [or affirm] that I will keep a true record of the evidence given to and the proceedings of this court; nor will I divulge or by any means disclose the sentence of the court until it shall have been approved by the proper authority; nor will I at any time divulge or disclose the vote or opinion of any particular member of the court, unless required so to do before a court of justice in due course of law.

Article 37. All testimony given to a general court.martial shall be on oath or affirmation, which the president of the court is hereby authorized to administer; and if any person shall refuse to give his evidence as aforesaid, or shall prevaricate, or shall behave with contempt to the court, it shall and may be lawful for the court to imprison such offender at their discretion: Provided, That the imprisonment in no case shall exceed two months. And every person who shall commit wilful perjury on examination on oath or affirmation before such court, or who shall corruptly procure, or suborn, any person to commit such wilful perjury, shall and may be prosecuted by indictment or information in any court of justice of the United States, and shall suffer such penalties as are authorized by the laws of the United States in cases of perjury, or the subornation thereof. And in every prosecution for perjury, or the subornation thereof, under this act, it shall be sufficient to met forth the offense charged on the defendant, without setting forth the authority by which the court was held, or the particular matters brought or intended to be brought before the said court.

Article 38. All charges on which an application for a general court-martial is founded shall be exhibited in writing to the proper officer, and the person demanding the court shall take care that the person accused be furnished with a true copy of the charges, with the specifications, at the time he is put under arrest; nor shall any other charges, than those so exhibited, be urged against the person to be tried before the court, unless it appear to the court that intelligence of such charge had not reached the person demanding the court, when the person so to be tried was put under arrest, or that some witness material to the support of such charge, who was at that time absent, can be produced; in which case reasonable time shall be given to the person to be tried to make his defence against such new charge. Every officer so arrested is to deliver up his sword to bis commanding officer, and to confine himself to the limits assigned him, under pain of dismission from service.

Article 39. When the proceedings of any general court-martial shall have commenced, they shall not be suspended or delayed on account of the absence of any of the members, provided five or more be assembled; but the court is enjoined to sit from day to day, Sundays excepted, until sentence be given. And no member of said court shall, after the proceedings are begun, absent himself therefrom, unless in case of sickness, or orders to go on duty from a superior officer, on pain of being cashiered.

Article 40. Whenever a court-martial shall sentence an officer to be suspended, the court shall have the power to suspend his pay and emoluments for the whole, or any part of the time of his suspension.

Article 41. All sentences of courts-martial which shall extend to the loss of life, shall require the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present; and no such sentence shall be carried into execution until confirmed by the President of the United States; or, if the trial take place out of the United States, until it be confirmed by the commander of the fleet or squadron. All other sentences may be determined by a majority of votes, and carried into execution on confirmation of the commander of the fleet, or officer ordering the court, except such as go to the dismission of a commissioned or warrant officer, which are first to be approved by the President of the United States. A court-martial shall not, for any one offense not capital, inflict a punishment beyond one hundred lashes.

Article 42. The President of the United States, or, when the trial takes place out of the United States, the commander of the fleet or squadron, shall possess full power to pardon any offense committed against these articles, after conviction, or to mitigate the punishment decreed by a court-martial. Section 2.

Article 1. And be it further enacted. That the courts of inquiry may be ordered by the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Navy, or the commander of a fleet or squadron, provided such court shall not consist of more than three members, who shall be commissioned officers, and a judge advocate, or person to do duty as such; and such courts shall have power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and punish contempt, in the same manner as courts-martial. But such court shall merely state facts, and not give their opinion, unless expressly required so to do in the order for convening; and the party whose conduct shall be the subject of inquiry, shall have permission to cross-examine all the witnesses.

Article 2. The proceedings of courts of Inquiry shall be authenticated by the signature of the president of the court and judge advocate, and shall, in all cases not capital, or extending to the dismission of a commissioned or warrant officer, be evidence before a court-martial, provided oral testimony cannot be obtained.

Article 3. The judge advocate, or person officiating as such, shall administer to the members the following oath or affirmation "You do swear, [or affirm,] well and truly to examine and inquire, according to the evidence, into the matter now before you, without partiality or prejudice." After which the president shall administer to the judge advocate, or person officiating as such, the following oath or affirmation: "You do swear, [or affirm,] truly to record the proceedings of this court, and the evidence to be given in the case in hearing."

Section 3. And be it be further enacted, That in all cases where the crews of the ships or vessels of the United States shall be separated from their vessels, by the the latter being wrecked, lost, or destroyed, all the command, power, and authority given to the officers of such ships or vessels shall remain and be in full force as effectually as if such ship or vessel were not so wrecked, lost, or destroyed, until such ship's company be regularly discharged from, or ordered again into, the service, or until a court-martial shall be held to inquire into the loss of such ship or vessel; and if, by the sentence of such court, or other satisfactory evidence, it shall appear that all or any of the officers and men of such ship's company did their utmost to preserve her, and after the loss thereof behaved themselves agreeably to the discipline of the navy, then the pay and emoluments of such officers and men, or such of them as shall have done their duty as aforesaid, shall go on until their discharge or death; and every officer or private who shall, after the loss of such vessel, act contrary to the discipline of the navy, shall be punished, at the discretion of a court martial, in the same manner as if such vessel had not been so lost.

Section 4. And be it further enacted, That all the pay and emoluments of such officers and men, of any of the ships or vessels of the United States taken by an enemy, who shall appear by the sentence of a court martial, or otherwise, to have done their utmost to preserve and defend their ship or vessel, and after taking thereof, have behaved themselves obediently to their superiors, agreeably to the discipline of the navy, shall go on, and be paid them until their death, exchange, or discharge.

Section 5. And be it further enacted. That the proceeds of all ships and vessels, and the goods taken on board of them, which shall be adjudged good prize, shall, when of equal or superior force to the vessel or vessels making the capture, be the sole property of the captors; and when of inferior force, shall be divided equally between the United States and the officers and men making the capture.

Section 6. And be it further enacted, That the prize money belonging to the officers and men shall be distributed in the following manner:

  1. To the commanding officers of fleets, squadrons, or single ships, three-twentieths, of which the commanding officer of the fleet or squadron shall have one-twentieth, if the prize be taken by a ship or vessel acting under his command, and the commander of single ships two-twentieths; but where the prize is taken by a ship acting independently of such superior officer, the three-twentieths shall belong to her commander.
  2. To sea lieutenants, captains of marines, and sailing masters, two-twentieths; but where there is a captain without a lieutenant of marines, these officers shall be entitled to two-twentieths and one-third of a twentieth, which third, in such case, shall be deducted from the share of the officers mentioned in article No. 3 of this section.
  3. To chaplains, lieutenants of marines, surgeons, pursers, boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and masters' mates, two-twentieths.
  4. To midshipmen, surgeons' mates, captains' clerks, schoolmasters, boatswains' mates, gunners' mates, carpenters mates, ships' stewards, sailmakers, masters-at-arms, armorers, cockswains, and coopers, three-twentieths and a half.
  5. To gunner's yeomen, boatswain's yeomen, quartermasters, quarter gunners, sailmakers' mates, sergeants and corporals of marines, drummers, lifers, and extra petty officers, two-twentieths and a half.
  6. To seamen, ordinary seamen, marines, and all other persons doing duty on board, seven-twentieths.
  7. Whenever one or more public ships or vessels are in sight at the time any one or more ships are taking a prize or prizes, they shall all share equally In the prize or prizes, according to the number of men and guns on board each ship in sight. No commander of a fleet or squadron shall be entitled to receive any share of prizes taken by vessels not under his immediate command ; nor of such prizes as may have been taken by ships or vessels intended to be placed under his command, before they have acted under his immediate orders; nor shall a commander of a fleet or squadron, leaving the station where he had the command, have any share in the prizes taken by ships left on such station after he has gone out of the limits of his said command.

Section 7. And be it further enacted. That a bounty shall be paid by the United States, of twenty dollars, for each person on board any ship of an enemy at the commencement of an engagement, which shall be sunk or destroyed by any ship or vessel belonging to the United States of equal or inferior force, the same to be divided among the officers and crew, in the same manner as prize money.

Section 8. And be it further enacted, That every officer, seaman, or marine, disabled in the line of his duty, shall be entitled to receive for life, or during his disability, a pension from the United States, according to the nature and degree of his disability, not exceeding one-half his monthly pay.

Section 9. And be it further enacted, That all money accruing, or which has already accrued to the United States, from sale of prizes, shall be and remain forever a fund for the payment of pensions and half-pay, should the same be hereafter granted, to the officers and seamen who may be entitled to receive the same; and if the said fund shall be insufficient for the purpose, the public faith is hereby pledged to make up the deficiency; but if it should be more than sufficient, the surplus shall be applied to the making of further provision for the comfort of the disabled officers, seamen, marines, and for such as, though not disabled, may merit by their bravery, or long and faithful services, the gratitude of their country.

Section 10. And be it further enacted, That the said fund shall be under the management and direction of the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of War. for the time being, who are hereby authorized to receive any sums to which the United States may be entitled from the sale of prizes, and employ and invest the same, and the interest arising therefrom, in any manner which a majority of them may deem most advantageous. And it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to lay before Congress annually, in the first week of their session, a minute statement of their proceedings relative to the management of said fund.

Section 11. And be it further enacted, That the act passed the second day of March, in the year of one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, entitled "An act for the government of the navy of the United States," from and after the first day of June next, shall be, and is hereby, repealed.

Approved April 23, 1800

Extract from the proviso in the act making appropriations for the naval service, September 28, 1850. "Provided, That flogging in the navy and on board vessels of commerce be, and the same is hereby, abolished from and after the passage of this act."