Rules and Regulations Respecting the Examination and Appointments of Engineers in Her Majesty's Service.

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The Navy List 20 June 1844

Rules and Regulations Respecting the Examination and Appointments of Engineers in Her Majesty's Service.


NB. This appears to be an abbreviated or cut down version of the order which appeared in the Navy List for 20 Dec 1843 - click here to read the full version

Admiralty, 23rd June. 1842.

EXAMINATION.-No person will be deemed eligible for an appointment as Engineer, or for promotion to the Second or First Class, until he shall have passed an examination on the points stated below, or on such other points as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may from time to time think proper to require, before the Captain Superintendent of Her Majesty's Dock Yard at Woolwich, and the Chief Engineer and Inspector of Machinery, or before such other Officers as their Lordships may appoint for that purpose.

Before presenting himself for examination, the candidate must prepare specimens of working sketches, and of his proficiency in accounts.

FIRST CLASS ENGINEERS.- No person will be considered qualified to hold the Warrant of a First Class Engineer who is not able to keep accounts, and to make notes in the Log of every particular of the working of Engines and Boilers.

He must be thoroughly acquainted with the principles on which the machine works in all Its parts, capable of working the engines and boilers, and of setting right any defects which may arise in them, and of adjusting the length of the various rods and motions, slide valves, eccentrics, &c.

He must also be able to make rough sketches, with the requisite dimensions fit to work from, of every part of an engine, and be willing to take charge of and teach the Engineers' Boys.

SECOND CLASS ENGINEERS. Must not be inferior in education to those of the First Class, and but little inferior to them in mechanical acquirements, and must also be willing to take charge of, and teach the Engineers' Boys.

THIRD CLASS ENGINEERS. Must be equal in education to the Second and First Class Engineers, and acquainted with the principles of Maine Engines and Boilers, and with the names and uses of all their parts. They must also be able to make rough sketches as before described.

Those who have not served in Her Majesty's Navy as Engineers' Boys must be examined by the Surgeon of the Establishment as to their being of sound bodily constitution, and they most produce well authenticated certificates from the Engineers in whose Factories they have worked, of their being skilful workmen, of good disposition, and of good conduct in every particular, especially its regards sobriety.

Appointment.- Engineers are appointed by Warrant from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, or by Commanders in Chief on Foreign Stations in vacancies occasioned by death, in the same manner as other Warrant Officers of the Navy are appointed.

No person will be considered eligible for a Second Class Engineer without having served at sea as an Engineer, nor for the First Class without having served as Chief Engineer of a sea going Steam Vessel ; in either case, the candidate must produce satisfactory testimonials of his efficiency and good conduct while thus serving at sea.

An Engineer after having served 3 years in the Third Class will be permitted, if he can produce good certificates from the Commanders under whom he may have served, to present himself for examination for the Second Class, when a suitable opportunity shall offer, and in like manner after having served 3 Years in the Second Class, he will be permitted to present himself for examination for the First Class. If, however, on examination it shall appear to the examining Officers that the qualifications of a candidate are such that a shorter period than 3 years may be sufficient to enable him to acquire the experience necessary for performing the duties of a higher class, a note thereof, with the reasons, will be made upon the passing certificate, which will render him eligible for examination and promotion in less than 3 years, if his subsequent conduct should appear to merit it.

REGULATIONS AS TO THE INSTRUCTION AND QUALIFICATIONS OF ENGINEERS' BOYS.

NB. This is an abbreviated or cut down version of the order which appeared in the Navy List for 20 Dec 1843 - click here to read the full version

FOURTH CLASS.- Boys on entering the Service as Fourth Class Apprentices must not be less than 14, nor more than 17, years of age. They must be of good moral character and sound bodily constitution, and able to write, and work a question in the Rule of Three.

THIRD CLASS.- At the expiration of their third year of service, provided their conduct has been good during that period, the boys will be considered eligible for removal to the Third Class, if on examination they appear to have made themselves acquainted with the names and uses of every part of the engine, gauges, barometers &c.

SECOND CLASS- If boys on the fourth year from their entrance into the service, be acquainted, through the instruction of the Engineer under whom they may be placed, with the whole principle of the engine and boilers, with the use of all the various tools, and with the mode of effecting repairs, as far as they are performed on board ; if they be able to take off and replace an any of the working parts; pack the slide valves, pistons, piston-rods and stuffing-boxes ; if they understand the action and condensation of steam, the return of the water into the boilers, the construction of all the pumps and of the feeding and blowing off apparatus, safety valves etc, and can chalk out roughly the out. lines of the engines and wheels, and have become generally useful, they will be considered fit for removal to the Second Class, provided their conduct has been good.

Boys of the Second Class, having attained the fifth and last year of their service, will be transferred to Her Majesty's Dockyard at Woolwich, where they will receive instructions on various subjects connected with the construction and management of engines and boilers.

FIRST CLASS.-At the expiration of the fifth year, if, on a strict examination, the boys be found qualified for the appointment of Third Class Engineers, and their conduct has been in all respects satisfactory, they will be removed to the list of the First Class, and be considered candidates for promotion, and will take precedence according to conduct and abilities. By command of their Lordship.,

Sidney Herbert

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