Navy List - June 1844

Index
 


Pensions to Subordinate Officers, Seamen, and Marines

Pensions to Seamen and Marines


MEMORANDUM.

Admiralty, 30th June, 1838.

Her Majesty has been graciously pleased. by her Order in Council of the 4th of April last, to authorize a revision of the Rules and Regulations under which Superannuations and Pensions are at present granted to Warrant Officers in pursuance of the Orders in Council of 25th November, 1816, and 24th August, 1831, and to direct that from the date of Her Majesty's Order in Council, first mentioned, the following Rules shall be observed in regard to the Superannuations and Pensions of the Gunners, Boatswains, Carpenters and Engineers of Her Majesty's Fleet, and that so much of the said Orders in Council of 1816 and 1831 as relates thereto be revoked:-viz.

1st. That when Gunners, Boatswains, Carpenters or Engineers shall be found upon survey unfit for further service, they shall be allowed three pounds a-year for each year they shall have served as Warrant Officers in Ships in Commission; and one pound a-year for each year they shall have served as Warrant Officers to Ships in Ordinary or as Supernumeraries in Guard Ships.

2nd. That in cases in which the services of Warrant Officers shall appear to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to be more than ordinarily meritorious, a further sum may be allowed to the said Warrant Officers in addition to the Pension allowed by Art. 1, varying from one pound to fifteen pounds a-year, reference being had to the character of the Officer, the cause which may have rendered him unfit for service, his previous servitude as a Seaman or Petty Officer, and to any Wounds or Hurts he may have received.

3rd. That Warrant Officers who may have served as First or Second Class Petty Officers previous to obtaining a Warrant, shall be allowed in addition to the Pension to be assigned to them under the two foregoing Articles such Pensions as they may be entitled to by the Greenwich Scale for such service as Petty Officers.

4th. (1st.) That Warrant Officers who may lose two limbs in action:-(2nd.) or who may receive wounds or injuries in action equal to the loss of two limbs:-(3rd.) or who may receive injuries or hurts in the service, though not in action, equal to the loss of two limbs, shall be allowed Pensions, (as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may deem proper,) not exceeding in the 1st case, �50. a-year, nor in the 2nd case, exceeding �45. a-year, nor in the 3rd case, exceeding �35. a-year.

5th. (1st.) That Warrant Officers who may lose one limb in action:- (2nd.) or who may receive wounds or injuries in action equal to the loss of a limb :- (3rd.) or who may receive injuries or hurts in the service, though not in action, equal to the loss of a limb, shall be allowed Pensions (as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may deem proper) not exceeding in the 1st case �25. a-year, nor in the 2nd case exceeding �20. a-year, nor in the 3rd case exceeding �15. a-year.

The Pensions for wounds and hurts to be granted after a careful survey held on the Officer at this office, when practicable, and to be in addition to any other Pension the Officer may be entitled to.

6th. No Warrant Officer to be allowed to reckon as service towards Superannuation any period of time during which he shall not have maintained a good character in the Ship in which be has served.

By Command of their Lordships,

C. WOOD.


REGULATIONS FOR GRANTING PENSIONS TO THE SUBORDINATE OFFICERS HEREIN MENTIONED, AND SEAMEN AND ROYAL MARINES.

Article 1.- Every Midshipman, Master's Assistant, Clerk, Naval Cadet, and Clerk's Assistant, who shall be discharged from Her Majesty's Service, for wounds or hurts received, or permanent sickness or debility contracted in the Service, and who shall be deemed a fit and deserving object for relief, shall be allowed a Pension, either for life or for a limited period, at the discretion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, of not less than One Shilling, and not more than Two Shillings and Sixpence, a day, according to the bodily injury sustained by the party.

Art. 2.- Every Petty Officer, Able Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Landsman, Boy, and every Non-Commissioned Officer, Drummer, and Private of the Royal Marines, who shall be discharged from Her Majesty's Service on account of severe wounds or hurts, whether received in Action or in the execution or his duty, shall be allowed a Pension, according to the following scale, provided he be deemed a fit and deserving object for relief, either for life or for a limited period, at the discretion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, with reference to the bodily injury sustained, and to the length of Service' and rating of the party, viz.

An Able Seaman or Marine having lost two limbs, or being otherwise so severely wounded as to require the care and attendance of some other person, shall have from One Shilling and Sixpence to Two Shillings a day ; but for less injury than the foregoing, and not requiring the care of another person, from One Shilling to One Shilling and Sixpence a day if able to contribution a small degree to his livelihood, from Nine pence to One Shilling a day : and if able to contribute materially to his livelihood, though unfit for the Service, from Sixpence to Nine pence a day.

In fixing Pensions under this Article, the lowest or highest or any intermediate rate is to be taken, according to the length of service and character of the claimant, and the circumstances under which he was wounded or hurt.

Art. 3.- Every Able Seaman or Marine (provided the latter shall have entered the Service prior to the 26th of June, 1837) who shall be discharged on any account (except misconduct) after Twenty-one Years' Service in the Royal Navy or Marines, or any Greater length of Service, shall receive, subject to the conditions expressed in Article 7, a Pension, varying from Ten pence to One Shilling and Two pence a day, having consideration to whether the party be discharged at his own request or otherwise, to the nature of his services, whether chiefly abroad and in bad climates or otherwise, to his actual state of health and apparent strength, and the number of years he may have served beyond twenty-one years. But Marines who shall have entered the Service on or after the 26th of June, 1837, shall only be entitled to their discharge and pension when they have served twenty-one years at sea or on foreign service; two years' service on shore in England is, for this purpose, to reckon as one year served afloat; but no Marine shall be entitled to such pension who shall not have served ten years actually at sea or on foreign service.

Art. 4.- Every Able Seaman or Marine, who, after having served at the least Fourteen Years, shall be discharged for disability contracted in the Service, and not from want of proper care on his part, shall, provided he shall appear a fit and deserving object of relief, be allowed an Annual Pension, either for life or for a limited period, at the discretion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, calculated on a combined view of his length of service and his bodily infirmity; varying from Sixpence to Nine pence a day: but if the injury be not considered permanent, a conditional Pension only shall be granted.

Art. 5.-Any Able Seaman or Marine discharged under Fourteen Years' Service, is not to be deemed entitled to a Pension; but if discharged in consequence of disability contracted in the service, and not from want of proper care on his part, may be awarded a Pension either for life or for a limited period, at the discretion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, of not less than Three pence or more than Sixpence a day, according to the bodily injury sustained by the party.

In cases where Seamen or Marines have received wounds or injuries in Her Majesty's Service, when the same shall not be found on examination of such degree as to entitle them to a pension, a gratuity may be made to them, at the discretion of their Lordships, of a sum varying from �1. to �18, in full compensation for such wound or injury.

Art. 6.- If any Seaman or Marine shall become totally blind from unavoidable causes clearly attributable to the Service, he shall be allowed a permanent pension of Three pence a day. in addition to the amount to which he may be otherwise entitled.

Art. 7.- The time of service of Seamen or Marines who shall have entered the service prior to the 1st of January, 1832, is to reckon from the age of eighteen ; but those who enter on, or subsequent to, the above date, shall only be allowed to reckon their time of service from the age of twenty; and Seamen who are claimants for pensions after twenty-one years' service, will only be entitled to the same, provided their servitude of twenty-one years shall have been completed within thirty years from the aforesaid age of twenty years, or that they shall not have been out of the service more than five years at any one time.

Art. 8.- An Ordinary Seaman shall receive three-fourths, a Landsman two-thirds, and a Boy one-half of the Pensions or Allowances hereby assigned to an Able Seaman.

Art. 9. - The following Petty and Non-Commissioned Officers, in addition to the Rates of Pension to which they maybe entitled under Articles 2, 3, 4, and 6, as Seamen or Marines, shall be allowed for each Year's Service, as Petty or Non-Commissioned Officer, as follows, viz.:

SUPERIOR PETTY Years of Service INFERIOR PETTY
Master at Arms
Ship's Corporal
Admiral's Coxswain
Gunner's Mate
Captain's Coxswain
Quarter Master
Boatswain's Mate
Captain of Forecastle
Captain of Main Top
Captain of Fore Top
Seamen's Schoolmaster
Sailmaker
Ropemaker
Captain of Hold
Coxswain of Launch
Carpenter's Mate
Blacksmith
Leading Stoker
Ship's Cook
Serjeant of Marines

s,

d.

 

s.

d.

Captain of Mast
Captain of Afterguard
Captain of Mizen Top
Yeoman of Signals
Coxswain of Pinnace
Sailmaker's Mate
Cooper
Armourer
Caulker's Mate
Paymaster and Purser's Steward
Musician
Corporal of Marines
Bombardier

0

15

2�

1

0

7

7�

1

!0

5

2

0

15

2�

2

5

7�

3

1

2

9�

3

0

10

4

1

10

5

3

16

0�

5

1

18

0�

4

11

8

6

2

5

7

5

6

5�

7

2

13

2�

6

1

8

8

3

0

10

6

16

10�

9

3

8

5�

7

12

1

10

3

16

0�

8

7

3�

11

4

3

7�

9

2

6

12

4

11

3

9

17

8�

I3

4

18

10�

10

12

11

14

5

6

5�

11

8

1�

15

5

14

0�

12

3

4

16

6

1

8

12

18

6�

17

6

9

3�

13

18

9

18

6

16

10�

14

8

11�

19

7

4

5�

15

4

2

20

7

12

1

15

19

4�

21

7

19

8�

16

14

7

22

8

7

3�

17

9

9�

23

8

14

10�

18

5

0

24

9

2

6

19

0

2�

25

9

10

1�

19

15

5

26

9

17

8�

20

10

7�

27

10

5

3�

21

5

10

28

10

12

11

22

1

0�

29

11

0

6�

22

16

3

30

11

8

1�

Quartermaster-Serjeants, and Serjeant-Majors, who have served Three Years and upwards, and discharged with those Ratings after Twenty-one Years' Service, are to have Two pence a day, in addition to whatever Pensions they may be entitled to.

Art. 10-Persons discharged with disgrace, or for offences, or by sentence of a Court-Martial, are not entitled to any Pension, and no period of time shall be allowed during which a Seaman or Marine shall not have maintained a good character in the Ship or Division to which he belonged. All Pensions are granted during good behaviour, and may be forfeited by misconduct on the part of the Pensioner, to be judged of by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ; arid if any Deserter shall be retaken, or shall re-enter Her Majesty's Service, he shall commence a new time from such reentry, and shall not be entitled to reckon any time preceding such desertion or running.

Art. 11 -The invaliding tickets of men who may be discharged in consequence of complaints there may be reason to believe they had contracted previous to their having entered the service, are whenever it can be ascertained, to contain a note to that effect ; and the Captains of all Her Majesty's Ships are to state whether the disease or hurts for which they give an invaliding ticket were or were not contracted in the Ship under his command.

All Men invalided from Her Majesty's Service whether Pensioners or not, who reenter the Service, must produce their Invaliding Certificates or Pension Tickets, at the time of their re-entry, to the Captain and Surgeon of the Ship, in order that their cases may be fully known; and if they neglect to do this, or do not assign a sufficient reason for not doing so, they forfeit all claim to an increase of Pension for subsequent service.

Art. 12 - All claims to Pensions should be brought forward before the expiration of Six Months after the Individual is discharged from Her Majesty's Service, and all applications for pensions by Seamen or Marines must be accompanied by their certificates in original.

Art. 13.- Pensioners who shall not have been discharged as wholly incapable, or for having served Twenty-one years or upwards, or whose age shall not exceed Fifty years, may forfeit their Pensions by neglecting or ommitting to attend at such Port or place, and at such time, as shall, in time of War, or in prospect of a War, be appointed for the assembling of the Pensioners by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, or by neglecting or refusing to serve Her Majesty in such manner as to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may seem proper, except when such neglect or omission to appear, or such neglect or refusal to serve, shall he accounted for by reasonable excuse. to be admitted by their Lordships.

Art 14.- Seamen who have been granted pensions after twenty-one yeas' service, and who re-enter the service, will be allowed to receive their pensions with their pay while serving; but this regulation is not to extend to those Seamen who have been pensioned for sickness or injuries rendering them incapable of further service, except in such special cases as their Lordships may direct.

When Seamen serving on board Her Majesty's Ships, whether on a home or foreign station, who have completed a service of twenty-one years, shall be desirous of obtaining their pensions without quitting the service, and their Captains or Commanding Officers shall think it for the advantage of the service to retain them, the applications for the same are to be transmitted to the Admiralty by the Officer commanding the ship, with the usual statement of the ships in which they have served, in order that their time of service may be immediately taken out, and the pensions to which they may be entitled be then granted to them, without waiting until the men are paid off.

Art. 15.- On a ship being ordered to be paid off, the Captain or Commanding Officer is immediately to transmit to the Commander-in-Chief, for the purpose of being forwarded to the Secretary of the Admiralty, the names of any Petty Officers or Seamen, or Non-Commissioned Officers or Privates of Marines (not exceeding in number the proportion of one for every hundred of the Crew), who shall have completed twenty-one years' service, who shall have behaved themselves invariably well in such ship, and shall be in possession of certificates of good conduct throughout their former service, together with a list of the ships in which the individuals may have served, when their Lordships will award them good service medals and gratuities ; the medals in question to be presented by the Captain or Commander to the men entitled to the same in the presence of the whole of the ship's company the last thing prior to the ship's being paid off. The gratuities will be according to the following scale :-

�15 to First Class Petty Officers or Serjeants of Marines, provided they shall have served as such ten years;

�7 to Second Class Petty Officers or Corporals of Marines, provided they shall have served as such seven years; and

�5 to Able Seamen or Privates of Marines.

The examinations of Seamen and Marines discharged on account of illness, or injuries, under twenty-one years' service, and who are claimants for pensions, are held at the Admiralty, Whitehall, on the 1st and 3rd Thursday in each month.

^ back to top ^