Admiralty, 18 Dec 1833

Article 1 .- The complements of Mates and Midshipmen in HM ships and vessels of each rate are to be as follows:-

Article 2 .- The Captains and Commanders of HM Ships and Vessels are to select and enter the established number of Mates and Midshipmen on the first commissioning of their respective ships and vessels, as heretofore, obtaining the previous approval of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and observing that in the several rates, the following numbers, viz.

are to be selected from among the Mates who have passed both examinations, if serving at home, or for Seamanship, if serving abroad, one complete year � or from College Midshipmen ; such selections to be made by the several Captains and Commanders and permission for their entry may be applied for to Their Lordships in the same manner as regard to Mates or Midshipmen forming the other part of the complement ; and, in failure of such application, the vacancies will be filled up by their Lordships.

Article 3 .- No person, is on any account, to be borne under the denomination of "Admiralty Midshipman," except by their Lordships� special authority ; but, in the event of there being more Admiralty or College Midshipmen unemployed than can be provided for under the regulation in the foregoing article, their Lordships will give them appointments as Extra Midshipmen (in no case exceeding two in any ship), to be borne in lieu of an equal number of Seamen, and to be included in the respective complements, as vacancies may occur.

Article 4 .- The number of Volunteers of the 1st Class, and of College Volunteers, in each rate, are in future to be as follows : and the former may be appointed by the Captains and Commanders of HM Ships, on obtaining the approbation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

Article 5 .- Volunteers of the 1st Class, Young Gentlemen educated at the Royal Naval College, are not to be rated Midshipmen until they have completed 2 years service at sea.

Article 6 .- In cases where 1st Class and College Volunteers who are borne in the complement may have completed four years servitude, including their College time, and when there are no vacancies for rating them as Midshipmen in the complements, they may be rated and borne as Extra Midshipmen provided the number shall not exceed two in any ship), until vacancies occur for them in the complement of Midshipmen : but their vacancies are not to be filled up in the Volunteers� Class so long as they remain Extra Midshipmen.

Article 7 .- In cases of re-admission to the Service, a statement of the date of the original entry into the Service, and of the cause of the late discharge, is to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Admiralty, for their Lordships� information ; or, if abroad, to the Commander-in-Chief, whose approval, in the latter case, is to be deemed sufficient to authorise the entry.

Article 8 .- A return from every ship, according to the established form, is to be transmitted quarterly to this office, through the several Commanders-in-Chief, of the Mates, Midshipmen, Admiralty and College Midshipmen, College and First Class Volunteers, and of Master�s Assistants, and Second Class Volunteers (if any), serving on board the respective ships and vessels ; and particular care is to be taken that in these returns, the discharge, entry, or any alteration in the ratings of persons in any of the said classes, since the date of the preceding returns, be reported and accounted for ; and when a ship is ordered to be paid-off, a similar return is to be immediately made, distinguishing, in addition to the before mentioned particulars, the length of Service, and the address or intended residence of each person, and the date at which any Mate or Midshipman shall have passed his examination for Lieutenant.

Article 9 .- The respective Captains and Commanders are to be very particular in attending to these instructions ; and they are to take care that on no account whatsoever shall any young Gentleman be serving on board in any other capacity, or under any other rating, than one of the before mentioned. In case of such serious misconduct as would require their being removed from the Service, it is to be reported, if on a home station, to the Admiralty ; if on a foreign station, to the Commander-in-Chief ; but any of the classes before mentioned, being already in the Service, under their Lordships� sanction, may be removed from one ship to another, in proper vacancies, by authority of Commanders-in-Chief, without reference to their Lordships.

Article 10 .- Their Lordships are also pleased to direct that no Captain�s Clerks be in future entered, without their permission, who may not have already served in that rating on board one of HM Ships, or as Clerk to the Secretary of a Flag Officer (not being Port Admiral) commanding a squadron. Two Clerks will be allowed in all rated ships, one of whom must be selected from those who have passed for Purser ; and upon failure of the respective Captains to apply for permission for their entry in the usual manner, the vacancies will be filled by their Lordships. The names of the Captain�s Clerks are to be included in the Quarterly Returns of Officers serving on board.

By command of their Lordships,

George Elliot.

Memorandum

Admiralty

11 October 1834.

It is the direction of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that in each of HM Ships, commissioned after the date hereof, bearing in their complements one or more Volunteers of the First class, only one fresh entry into the Service shall be made ; but the remainder shall be selected, where there are more than one, by the respective Captains or Commanding Officers, from young gentlemen who have already been in the service, and submitted for the approbation of their Lordships.

Ships now in commission are not to be allowed any fresh entry of Volunteers into the Service.

By command of their Lordships

John Barrow.

To all Flag Officers, Commanders-in-Chief, Captains and Commanding Officers of HM Ships and Vessels.

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