Regulations for the government of the United States Navy (1865)

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ARTICLE XXIV.

Surveys.

1062 Whenever articles are received under a contract or purchase at a navy yard, or station on shore, concerning which there is no regular inspector thereat, or received on board ship directly from a contractor or furnisher, a proper officer with the master workman under whose direction they are to be used, or the officer to whose department they may pertain, are to inspect them carefully in order to guard the government against imposition or loss, and his report, in ordinary cases, may be deemed sufficient ; but if they be in doubt, or their decision be questioned, the Commanding Officer is then to have the inspection or survey made by at least three competent persons, of whom the master workman or department officer aforesaid is, if practicable, to be one, and their decision, when approved by the Commanding Officer, is to be regarded as conclusive.

1063 All applications for surveys upon articles supposed to be defective or unfit for use, or to be unequal to sample, or deficient in quality, must be made in writing, according to the prescribed form, (No. 19, Appendix,) by the person having charge of the same, to his immediate Commanding Officer, and if he deems such survey necessary he will, if acting independently, order it at once, or if not so acting, but serving in a fleet, he will transmit the same to the Commanding Officer of the division or squadron to which he belongs, who unless otherwise directed by the Commander-in-Chief, will order such survey. When not in company with the Commander of a division or squadron, Commanders of vessels are to transmit the applications in view, when approved by themselves, to the senior officer present.

1064 Officers who may order surveys upon articles reported as defective, or requiring repairs, will, when practicable, select at least two commissioned officers for that duty, of a rank proportioned to the importance of the survey to be held, so that the United States may not be exposed to loss from the inexperience of the surveying officers, and, when it can be done, the officers shall be selected from other vessels than those to which the articles may belong.

1065 Surveying officers may call upon the person having charge of the articles to he surveyed, or upon any other person, for information which may assist them in making correct statements upon the subject they may have been directed to investigate ; and if any person shall endeavor to deceive the surveying officers by knowingly giving false statements, or if the surveying officers shall discover, or find reason to suspect, any fraud, they shall notice it particularly in their report.

1066 The report of officers directed to survey articles represented to be unfit for service must specify by whose order the survey was held, each particular article surveyed, the state in which found, and the most proper disposition to be made of it ; and if the articles are found to be damaged, or of improper quality, their report must further state, if possible, by whom they were furnished, and whether the damage or injury was or was not owing to the misconduct or neglect of any particular person or persons. Contractor's and inspector's marks must be noted.

1067 When officers are ordered to ascertain the quantity of articles, they are not to take the account of them from the officer who has charge of them, unless it shall be impracticable to make a personal examination, or they shall be directed to take the account from him by the person ordering the examination, and when the quantity of articles shall be so taken, it must be particularly noted in their report, with the reasons why it was so taken, and they shall state what, if any, articles are found to be defective.

1068 Reports of all surveys, except such as are hereafter provided for in this section, shall be made in triplicate, one part of which shall be written on the back of the order, or attached to it, and be furnished to the officer who requested the survey, another to the Commander of the vessel, and a third shall be transmitted to the proper bureau of the Navy Department, by the officer ordering the survey.

1069 Discrepancies between the marks and contents of packages as to quantity or kind are to be determined and reported upon by a board of survey. It must embrace the marks of the parties who furnished and inspected them.

1070 No stores, provisions, or clothing, are to be thrown overboard, unless they are entirely useless, and except the surveying officers shall, in their report, represent them as being, in their opinion, prejudicial to the health of the ship's company, in which case the Commander of the vessel shall cause them to be thrown overboard as soon as the report of the survey is duly approved or confirmed, and the certificate of one of the surveying officers that they were so disposed of is to be attached to the report, but all other articles are to be converted to some other use, or turned into store.

1071 If any officer of the Navy having charge of money, provisions, or other stores belonging to the United States, shall die, be suspended, removed, or otherwise separated from his vessel or station, so as to render it necessary to appoint another person to perform his duties, it shall be immediately reported by his Commander to the Senior Officer present in command, who shall order, in writing, a survey to be held by proper officers, and, when practicable, in presence of the officer who is to succeed to the charge of the articles aforesaid, and the surveying officers shall make out a statement, in writing, of the amount, quantity, or number, state and condition of such articles, in quadruplicate, and sign the same, and transmit them in a report to the officer ordering the survey, one copy to be retained by him, and three sent to the officer appointed to take charge of the money and stores, two of which he will receipt and hand over to the officer relieved, or to the representative of the officer if deceased, one to be retained by him, and the other to be forwarded to the Navy Department.

1072 All officers ordered upon surveys are strictly required to perform that duty with the utmost attention and fidelity, and to make their reports with the strictest impartiality, so that, should they be called upon, they may be able conscientiously to make oath of their correctness.

1073 In all reports of surveys involving quantities, they must be expressed in writing, and never exclusively in figures.

1074 In all cases of survey, the officer superior or senior in rank is to prepare the report.

1075 Whenever any important accident or derangement shall occur to the machinery of a steamer, there shall be held upon it a strict and careful survey by a board, composed of one Line Officer and at least two Engineer Officers, who shall report, in writing, the nature and extent of the accident or derangement, the cause thereof, the probable time of repair, and to whom, if to any one, blame in connection therewith is to be attributed. The report is to embrace every detail necessary to a complete understanding of the case. The order of the survey shall accompany the report, which is to be made in duplicate, and forwarded to the Department by the first opportunity.

1076 Whenever, in the opinion of the Commanding Officer of a vessel, any person attached to her is unfit for service, he shall, if on separate or detached service, order a survey to be held upon such person by the Medical Officers of the vessel, and such others as may be convenient, not exceeding three, though two will suffice where the full number cannot be procured. In extreme cases the survey may be conducted by the Medical Officer of the ship, but if serving in squadron the Commanding Officer of the vessel shall report all such cases to the officer in command of the squadron or Senior Officer present, who shall order the survey to be held. The board shall examine and report upon such person, in accordance with the form prescribed by the regulations of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. When the person is found unfit for duty, the report shall state the general character of the disease or injury, its probable duration as far as can be predicted, and in every case all the facts and circumstances connecting the disease or injury with the performance of duty or exposure incident thereto. Medical Officers are strictly forbidden to give unofficial certificates of ill health or inability to perform duty, and all such private or unofficial statements will be disregarded by the Department when officers present themselves for the purpose of seeking an extension of leave or change of duty. Whenever such person may be reported unfit for duty, and the survey is approved by the officer ordering it, he shall be disposed of as promptly as possible, in the manner recommended by the board, and in case of discharge from service, without reference to the state of his account 1077 In case the person reported unfit for duty shall be found to have received his disability in the performance of duty, and is thereby entitled to a pension, the forms of the Pension Office, and the "Instructions of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery,'" shall be strictly observed in preparing the reports and certificates. Ail reports of surveys, whether on account of temporary disability or for pension, shall be made out in duplicate, and be forwarded through the prescribed channels to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

1078 Besides the surveys above directed, the Commander of a vessel, when practicable, shall appoint, at the commencement of each regular quarter, to serve to the end of it, three suitable officers, 1o whom, as a continued board of survey, the Paymaster, or any other officer responsible for stores, shall refer, through the senior of the three, either verbally or in writing, all such articles in his department as he may judge to be unfit for use, or not to correspond with their marks in quantity or kind, provided they do not exceed in quantity, on any one occasion, the bulk of a package of clothing, or, in the case of provisions, two barrels ; and this board shall survey and pronounce upon said articles, which, with the consent of the Commanding Officer, are to be disposed of accordingly.

1079 At the end of the quarter, or earlier if ordered, the board is to report in form, and in triplicate, to the Commanding Officer for his action and signature, separately for each department, and separately, also, in the case of clothing or small stores, upon all the articles it has condemned in the course of it, and the disposition which has been made of them, in order that these reports may answer as authenticated vouchers.

1080 Should any of the board die, or be detached, during the quarter, the above report is to be made up to the time of the occurrence, signed by the survivors in one case, who are to append a note as to the cause of the absence of more signatures, and by all the members in the other. In either event, another report is to be made at the end of the quarter, if surveys have been held in the mean time.

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