1110. Steam Trials.- As soon as possible after the ship's arrival and before she comes into harbour to be paid off, a full-power steam trial of at least one hour is to be made, if practicable, in accordance with Article 456 of the Steam Manual.

2. Stores.- The stores on board ships returning from foreign stations to pay off should be examined as convenient; those repairable on board should be put in good condition for further use, as directed in Article 1794, clause 2 ; return notes and requisitions for unserviceable articles should be ready on arrival.

1111. Communication with Departments.- When a ship is ordered to be paid off, the Captain will put himself in communication with the heads of the several departments on the spot.

1112. Machinery and Boilers.- He will communicate with the Engineer Rear .Admiral and attend to his wishes in respect to whatever may be required to be done with the machinery, boilers, and spare gear.

2. Before the ship is paid off a minute and careful survey will be held on every part of her machinery and boilers, as directed in the Steam Manual.

3. The Engineer Officer will be detained for the purpose if the survey is not completed, and in signing the report it is recognised that he certifies only to that part which relates to the repairs or alterations necessary or recommended for the machinery or boilers. See 1397, clause 3 (Time allowed to close Accounts).

1113. Cleaning of Engine Department.- The stokers are not to be withdrawn from the work immediately connected with the Engine Department, but are to be at the disposal of the Engineer Officer to enable him to get the department clean and in proper order previous to inspection on paying off.

1114. Fittings, Bulkheads, Fixtures and Stores.- No bulkheads or other internal fittings, whether made in the ship or not, are to be disturbed, neither are fixtures, fittings, or stores of any description to be removed or supplied to other ships without due authority.

Stores that may have been obtained for any purpose, although not on charge, are to be accounted for equally with other stores. See 1117 (Stores and Fixtures).

1115. Inspection of Gunnery Fittings.- The gunnery fittings are to be inspected by the Captain of the gunnery school at the port, in conjunction with the ship's officers ; and suggestions for improvements considered necessary are to be summarised, and in the form of a joint report initiated by the Captain of the Ship, forwarded through the gunnery school and the Superintendent of the dockyard, to the Commander-in-Chief for transmission to the Admiralty. This instruction is not to apply to torpedo boat destroyers.

1116. Inspection of Torpedo and Electrical Fittings.- All torpedo and electrical machinery and fittings belonging to ships ordered to be paid off into dockyard control are to be inspected and tried with steam up by the dockyard officers before paying off.

A full report of the result is to be made in duplicate to the Commander-in-Chief, who will transmit a copy to the Superintendent of the dockyard.

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2. If the ship is paid off abroad, this duty is to be performed by the Torpedo Lieutenant of the flag-ship, in conjunction with such dockyard officers as the Naval Officer in Charge of the Yard may direct. Any modifications or alterations considered desirable are to be included in the report.

1117. Stores and Fixtures.- The procedure for dealing with stores and fixtures when the ship is ordered to be paid off, is to be as follows :-

1. When ordered to be paid off for recommission with nucleus crew or reduced nucleus crew
1. The instructions governing ships in ordinary commission are to be observed, that is, if no survey is due, the stores and coal are to be completed to the established allowances before the vessel pays off, and, if there is a change of accounting officers, stock is to be taken and remains transferred to new accounts. See 1075 and 1076 (Surveys).
2. The procedure as to examination of guns, gun mountings, hydraulic machinery, and torpedo tubes, is to be the same as laid down in clause 2 (h) of this Article.
3. Explosives.- Explosives which are defective are to be returned to store and replaced, if necessary. The other explosives are to be dealt with in accordance with Article 894.
4. All medical stores are to be returned to the nearest naval hospital, and new stores drawn at once.
2. When ordered to be paid off into dockyard control for large refit :-
1. All naval victualling (excluding provisions and medical comforts), and ordnance stores (excluding guns, ammunition, and other explosives), not condemned as unserviceable, and not in excess of establishment, are to be retained for further use in the ship on the account charge of the ship's store officers, and they are not to be returned into store. All explosives are to be returned to store. Medical stores are to be returned to the nearest naval hospital.
2. Small-arms are to be sent for overhaul to the ordnance depot carefully packed in arm-chests, which are to be supplied from the depot for the purpose, being retained on ship's account charge ; after overhaul they will be sent back (if suitable) to the ship.
3. All serviceable stores are to be kept on board the ship, or, if necessary, placed in a suitable lay-apart store in charge of the ship's store officers.
4. In order that serviceable stores may not be removed from a ship to a lay-apart store unless necessary, the store-rooms of a ship ordered to undergo refit in a dockyard will be surveyed, repaired, cleaned and painted as necessary, before the general overhaul is commenced.
5. Stores proposed to be surveyed for return to store as unserviceable, or landed for such repair as cannot be effected by the ship's artificers, are to be surveyed on board under the conditions specified in Article 1827.
6. An engineer officer and warrant or petty officers are to be appointed to the ship before she pays off in order that they may make themselves acquainted with her condition, and may be ready to take charge of the stores and fixtures which remain in her.
7. All coal and oil fuel are to be removed from the ship unless otherwise ordered. The work is to be done by the crew.

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8. Application is to be made to the Naval Ordnance Officer, accompanied by the paying-off return on form S. 1404, for the examination of the guns. The gun mountings, hydraulic machinery and torpedo tubes are to be opened out throughout for examination by the dockyard officers. If none are required to be removed for repairs or alterations, they are to remain on board, the several parts being reconnected after examination as may be directed.

The machinery is to be dealt with as laid down in the Steam Manual.

3. When ordered to be paid off and placed in the materiel reserve :

The whole of the armament, fittings and stores are to be returned except such as it may be decided to retain in the vessel. The Captain is to ascertain from the Superintendent of the dockyard what fittings and stores are to be retained.

The stores are to be surveyed on board before return under the conditions specified in Article 1827.

1118. Working Parties.- An officer is always to be sent with the working parties detailed to place the stores when landed in the proper places of deposit and prepare them for being received at once, so that the accounts may not be delayed.

1119. Stores Returned.- The rigging is to be bighted (sic) in regular lengths, and properly tallied before being landed. The name of the ship is to be painted on the bow of each boat. The small stores for the several departments are to be sent on shore in separate lighters and not mixed with heavy or bulky articles. Lighters belonging to one department are on no account, without authority previously obtained, to be used for stores belonging to another department.

1120. Damaged Naval Ordnance Stores.- The Commander-in-Chief, on receiving a report from the local Naval Ordnance Officer that any of the naval ordnance stores have been returned in a damaged or otherwise defective condition, will order them to be surveyed by officers from ships present, if possible before the ship is paid off.

1121. Readiness for Inspection.- The Captain of a ship ordered to be paid off into dockyard control is to report to the Superintendent of the dockyard and also inform the Captain of the dockyard when the ship will be ready for inspection by the proper officers, to ascertain that her holds, magazines, storerooms, &c., are perfectly clear and clean, and engines and boilers in good order. After the ship has been examined by the dockyard officers, the magazines and store-rooms are to be locked, and the keys delivered to the Captain of the dockyard. .

Captains of ships ordered to pay off and to recommission with nucleus crew or reduced nucleus crew, will make this report to the Rear-Admiral in the Home Fleets at the port concerned.

1122. Charts.- On paying off, the charts are to be returned to the chart depot for disposal.

1123. Books and Accounts.- On paying off, the Captain is to take care that all the books and accounts of the ship that are nor required on the spot to close the accounts are forwarded in a perfect state to the proper offices.

1124. Prevention of Misappropriation of Stores.- While paying off, the Captain will take care that more than ordinary precautions are observed to

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prevent peculation or any unauthorised appropriation or disposal of stores, whether on charge or not ; additional sentries are to be posted at different parts of the ship, and the police are to be kept on the alert to see that nothing is surreptitiously passed out of the ship. The Officers of the Watches, during the night especially, are not to allow boats to hover about the ship nor to remain alongside without the Captain's sanction.

1125. Unfit or Incompetent Men.- If the Captain should have reason to consider any of the ship's company, whether borne for continuous or non-continuous service, to be unfit for His Majesty's Service, on account of their being mentally or physically deficient, or incompetent to perform the duties of their ratings, he is before paying off to report such cases on form S. 508 to the Commander-in-Chief, giving the name and full particulars in each case.

2. If occurring on a home station, or in a ship paying off at home, the Commander-in-Chief is to order a survey to be held by two senior Captains, who will call before them and examine any persons who may be able to assist them in forming a just opinion. Before deciding on their report they are to consider how far the person under survey has been trained at the public expense and what probability there would be of effecting improvement by sending him to another class of ship, or to a station other than that on which he had last been serving. Should they finally be of opinion that lie is unfit to be retained in the Service, they are to report accordingly to the Commander-in-Chief for the decision of the Admiralty.

3. If occurring on a foreign station, or in a ship paying off abroad, the Commander-in-Chief is to send the person in question home by the first opportunity, and is to cause all necessary particulars to be forwarded with him, and the Commander-in-Chief at the home port to which he may be brought will order him to be surveyed by two senior Captains, who will act as directed in clause 2.

4. The instructions contained in clauses 2 and 3 of this Article do not apply to Officers' Stewards or Cooks. See 597 (Causes for Discharge); 1358 (Cessation of Pay).

5. Discharges resulting from these surveys are to come under the designation " Unfit " and are not to be looked upon as a punishment.

1126. Riggers.- While paying off, the Captain is to forward to the several Superintendents lists of candidates for Riggers in the dockyards.

2. No man whose age exceeds 35 years is to be recommended; all seamen who may be so recommended are to be informed that they can be entered only as vacancies may occur in the establishments of the several yards, and with the approval of the respective Superintendents.

3. Continuous service men may be recommended as well as other seamen ; but in the event of their being discharged from the dockyards, they will be liable to complete at sea the remaining period of their service, but will be allowed to reckon the time served in the dockyards.

1127. Men recommended as Riggers, if they receive a notification of their appointment while on long leave, are to join the dockyard direct from leave, and information is to be -given to the ship in which they are borne, in order that they may be discharged from her books, and their pay tickets forwarded to the Accountant-General.

Coast Guard.- In the case of men recommended for the Coast Guard they are to rejoin their general depot at the expiration of their long leave.

1128. Men Retained in the Service.- On the day before paying off, or earlier, if necessary, the Captain is to cause the lists of men and boys who are to be retained in the Service (form S. 505) to be despatched to the respective

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ships to which they will return from leave. See 1594 (Return of Numbers Borne). On the day of paying off, the service certificates are to be forwarded in tile same manner, and a return of men discharged since the date of the last monthly return (form S. 506) is to be sent to the Accountant-General. See 378 (Men Recommended for Advancement on Paying 0f').

1129. Disposal of Officers and Crew on Paying Off.- On the day of paying off, unless orders are received to the contrary, the officers and crew are to be discharged as follows :

Should any of these men be in debt to the Crown, and not have completed their engagements, the question of retaining them to work off their debt is to be referred to the Commander-in-Chief for decision.

Acting Sub-Lieutenants, if discharged before the date for joining college, to the general depot at Portsmouth; if discharged on such date, to the " Excellent." (See 271.)

In discharging petty officers and men to the general depots, care is to be taken that those of the engineer and artisan branches are shown on separate transfer lists from those of other branches.

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2. Arrangements are to be made, through the Commander-in-Chief, between the Captain of the ship and the Colonel Commandant at the port, to ensure that the marines of each division proceed to their destination in charge of a conducting officer or non-commissioned officer, according to the numbers, and the Colonel Commandant is to telegraph to the division to which they are proceeding the time of their departure by train, and the approximate time of arrival at their destination, so that they may be met, and the conveyance of their baggage provided for.

The travelling warrants for the men disembarking are to be furnished from the ship, and those for the conducting escort by the Colonel Commandant, who will also arrange for conveying the baggage, where distance from the train renders transport necessary.

1130. Leave Tickets.- All men and boys who continue to belong to the Service, on being paid their wages, are to be furnished with leave tickets showing the extent of leave granted, the date at which it will expire, and the port and ship to which they are ordered to return. To guard against mistakes, the lists containing these particulars are to be read out to the men, and the Divisional Officers are also to see that the tickets correspond with the lists. When leave terminates on a Sunday, an extra day mill be granted. See 87'7 (Leave Tickets).

2. Ratings paying off at ports other than those to which they may belong are to be sent at Government expense to their respective ports, unless it should be equally convenient to the Service to grant them permission to proceed at once on leave at their own expense from the port at which they pay off. In all cases they are to return to their own depot at the expiration of their leave unless otherwise ordered. Men not entitled to leave are to be sent to their respective depots at Government expense.

1131. Non-continuous Service Men who, on paying off, volunteer and are accepted for further service, are to be made clearly to understand that their entry on the books of the ship to which they are to return at the expiration of their leave entails the execution of a fresh engagement, and that, consequently, they will have no claim to be discharged on the ground of having completed five years from the date of their original entry. As regards Officers Stewards and Cooks, see Article 358.

2. If before the expiration of the usual paying-off leave, non-continuous service Petty Officers, Able Seamen, Artisans, or Stokers with characters not below " Good " should be re-entered, they shall be allowed their time and pay in the same manner as if they had put their names down for re-entry before being paid off.

1132. Reports and Returns.- The Captain is to take care that all the reports and returns required by Appendix XVIII. are duly made out and forwarded as directed.

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1133. Ships Paying Off Abroad.- In every instance of, a ship being paid off abroad, the Commander-in-Chief will direct the Accountant Officer of his own, or of any other ship present, to examine the cash book, cash account, and vouchers of the ship paid off, and to certify whether they have been properly and completely prepared, and whether the balance due to the Crown has been satisfactorily accounted for; noting to whom it has been actually transferred.

He will take care that any necessary action on that certificate is promptly and effectually taken and reported to the Admiralty, and that the certificate, together with the cash account and vouchers up to and including the date of the ship being paid off, is delivered by the Accountant Officer selected to his Captain with as little delay as possible.

After taking any action which may be necessary locally the Captain of the ship from which the Accountant Officer was selected is then personally to transmit the certificate, with cash account and vouchers, direct to the Accountant-General, who is to be informed at once of their transmission.

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