• Certificates of acquaintance with the details of their ships to be obtained By Engineer Officers:
  Certificate for competent knowledge of Watertight Flooding, and Ventilating Arrangements, &c. for a Chief Engineer or Engineer.
• Entry of Engineer Students in Her Majesty's Dockyards.
• Engineer Students. Uniform, Holidays, Books, Sea Chest, &c.
• Regulations for the entry of temporary service Engineers, and Assistant Engineers.

Dockyard Circular No. 23-C.W.

Admiralty, 1st August, 1877.

My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are pleased to issue the following directions, to insure that all Chief Engineers and Engineers in Charge, and Senior or, when so directed, other Engineers, shall have a thoroughly competent knowledge of such details of their ships as are placed in their charge,-viz., the valves, cocks, watertight doors, hatches, sluices, the systems of flooding and ventilating, the pumping arrangements &c.:

1. The certificate shall be in the form attached.

2. The Chief Engineer and the Senior Engineer of any ship shall be examined and must obtain their certificates before the ship to which they are appointed is reported ready for the 1st Division of the Steam Reserve : and any other Engineer Officer appointed to a ship may at any time be called on to obtain the certificate, should their Lordships think it necessary.

3. The examination of Chief Engineers and Engineers shall be conducted by the Captain of the Steam Reserve assisted by the Chief Inspector of Machinery, or by a Chief Engineer named for this duty by the Captain of the Steam Reserve, and the Captain of the Steam Reserve or an Executive Officer deputed by him, shall attend throughout the examination.

4. Drawings of all the important fittings, sluice valves, &c. shall be made by the Chief Engineer and Engineer, in preparing which they will have access to the contractor's drawings of the general arrangements of the machinery.

5. With a view to the conduct, &c. of these examinations, drawings, &c. sent from the Admiralty for the information of the Dockyard Officers, are to be noted in the office of the Captain of the Steam Reserve.

6. The granting of a certificate, whether at home or abroad, shall be notified to the Admiralty through the Commander-in-Chief or Senior Officer, for which purpose the certificate shall be made out in duplicate.

7. When a ship in commission comes into the hands of the officers of any other dockyard than that at which she fitted out, for the purpose of making good defects in parts of the machinery or hull in charge of Engineer Officers, the certificates are to be produced to the Superintendent.

8. If any Officer holding a certificate be superseded, his successor will be required to obtain a certificate, after having sufficient time allowed him to prepare.

9. It an Engineer Officer, who must obtain a certificate, should be appointed to a ship without sufficient time to prepare for the examination before leaving England, or if he should be appointed to a ship on a foreign station, he is to be examined by the Senior Engineer Officer available on the station, in the presence of the Captain of the ship, or of an officer deputed by him.

10. If in very exceptional cases the examination ought, in the opinion of the Captain of the Steam Reserve, to be conducted by the Dockyard Officers the case is to be referred to their Lordship, through the Commander-in-Chief.

By command of their Lordships

Robert Hall

To the Superintendents, &c.

This is to certify that Mr.____________ has been examined by us, and found to be conversant with the structure of the ship under the engines and boilers, the arrangements of the various valves and cocks, the working of the watertight doors, hatches, sluices, and pumps, the system of flooding and ventilating throughout the hull, and with the general construction of Her Majesty's Ship_______________

Given under our hands at _________, this ______________day of ___________187___.

Inspector of Machinery Afloat ________________

Captain of Steam Reserve ________________

Circular No. 18.-1i.

Admiralty, 8th June 1877.

1. My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are pleased to direct that the following Regulations for the entry of Engineer Students in Her Majesty's Dockyards shall be substituted for those now in force.

2. Vacancies for Appointments as Engineer Student. in the Dockyards are open to public competition. If The Dockyard at which Engineer Students are entered each year will be fixed by their Lordships.

3. The Lists of Candidates for these appointment will be kept at the Admiralty in London. All applications for the forms to he filled up by persons who wish to compete must be addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty before the 1st of March in each year. Such applications should state the place at which the Candidate desires to be examined.

4. Candidate must not be less than Fourteen, nor more than Sixteen Years of age on the 1st day of the Examination. Proof of Age will be required by the production of a Certificate of Birth, * or by Declaration before a Magistrate. Evidence of respectability and good character must also be produced. All Candidates must be children of British subjects.

5. Candidates are to understand clearly that they will be first required to satisfy the Admiralty as regards their age, respectability, good character, and physical fitness before they can be considered eligible fur entry into the Dockyard and if these conditions are satisfactory, they will then be examined by the Civil Service Commissioners in Educational subjects.

6. Candidates in or near London will be medically examined by the Medical Director-General of the Navy at the Admiralty. Those residing near one of lie, Majesty's Dockyards or one of the First Reserve ships will be examined by the Medical Officers attached thereto. Special arrangements will be made if necessary, on application, with reference to Candidates from more distant localities. All Candidates must produce Certificates to the satisfaction of the examining Medical Officers that they leave been revaccinated or they will be revaccinated before they call be considered eligible for entry into the Dockyard.

7. The examination will commence on the first Tuesday in May in each year, and will be held by the Civil Service Commissioners in London, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Devonport, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dublin, Belfast, and Cork.

8. The following will be the subjects of Examination, and the maximum number of marks for each subject :

Arithmetic *		300
English:-
Writing from Dictation *	100
Composition *	100
Grammar	150	350
French-
Translation into English	100
Grammar	50	150
Geography		100
Algebra (up to and including quadratic equations) .		300
Geometry (the Subjects of the First six books of Euclid's Elements)		300
Total		1,500

Candidates will also be tested as to their ability to read aloud with clearness, distinctness, and accuracy, and without hesitation. Stammering or any imperfection of utterance will be regarded as a disqualification.

9. Candidates who fail to pass in the first three subjects (those marked with an asterisk), or in reading aloud, will be disqualified, and their other papers will not be examined. The Candidates who display a competent knowledge of all those subjects, and who obtain not less than 750 marks in the aggregate, will be classed in one general list in order of merit, according to the number of marks gained, and will be eligible for appointment as Engineer students in one of the Dockyards, according to the number of appointments which it may be decided to make that year.

10. The successful Candidates will be entered as Engineer students before the 1st July in each year, and must join with their Parents or Guardians in a Bond for �300 to enter, if required, into Her Majesty's Naval Service as Assistant Engineers, if at the expiration of their training they should obtain certificates of good conduct and efficiency for entry in that capacity.

11. The Parents or Guardians of all Engineer Students entered in future will be required to pay the sum of �25 a year for each Student during the first three years of his training.

12. The first payment of �25 is to be made before the Student is entered in the Yard, and the second and third payments of �25 each are to be made on or before the 30th day of June in each of the two succeeding years. The payments are to be made to the Cashier of the Yard to which the Student is appointed. In case of failure of payment the Student will be discharged.

13. Board and Lodging will be provided for Engineer Students, and they will be required to reside in one of the Dockyards.

14. The weekly pay of Engineer Students during their training will be as follows, provided they are well reported on by the Officers :

 

First Year	One Shilling	a week.
Second Year	Two Shillings
Third Year	Three Shillings
Fourth Year	Five Shillings
Fifth Year	Eight Shillings
Sixth Year	Ten Shillings

15. Engineer Students will be under the supervision of the Captain of the Steam Reserve and a Staff of competent Officers and subject to such rules and regulation, as their Lordships may deem necessary.

16. Special Regulations will be made for Engineer Students in the Dockyards, so as to make a distinction between them and the Workmen.

17. Engineer Students will remain for Six Years at one of the Dockyards for practical training in the Workshops and to receive instruction in Iron Shipbuilding. While the Engineer Students are being instructed in Iron Shipbuilding they are to be under the direction of the Chief Constructor. They will attend the Dockyard Schools for such periods, and to pursue such studies as may from time to time be determined on ; they will also pass a portion of their time in the Drawing Office. Means will be afforded them of acquiring the groundwork of the knowledge required by a Naval Engineer respecting the working of Marine Engines and Boilers, including those repairs which can be carried out afloat, the practical use of the various Instruments used in the Engine-room, including the Indicator, and of becoming generally acquainted with the duties of a Naval Engineer.

18. Engineer Students will be examined once a year tinder the direction of the President of the Royal Naval College. They will be examined by the Engineer Officers of the Admiralty at the end of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of their service as to their practical acquirements and knowledge of strain machinery. Two prizes will be given annually at each Dockyard to the Engineer Students most highly reported on as regards their skill as workmen. Practical Engineering will be considered an essential subject at Examinations, and in the lists showing the results of Examinations the numbers obtained in Practical subjects, will be shown distinct from those obtained in Educational subjects. No Engineer Student will be granted a qualifying Certificate for entry at the Royal Naval College unless he obtains at least 50 per cent. of the total number of marks for Practical Engineering on his final examination.

19. The Examination of the Sixth-Year Students is to be held in time to allow the result to be known by the 1st July in each year, and it will include tests of their skill as workmen. Those found qualified will, on the completion of their term of service at the Dockyards, proceed to the Royal Naval College at Greenwich as Acting Assistant Engineers on probation, on the 1st October succeeding the Examination, where they will pass through a course of higher Instruction during one term.

20. Those Engineer Students who tall to pass the Examination at the end of their Six Years' Service will be allowed to remain one year longer at the Dockyards, and will then be re-examined, when, if they are unable to pass, they will cease to be eligible for the rank of Naval Engineer. The Pay of a Student during such year of probation will be the same as during the sixth year.

21. Engineer Students will not be entered as Acting Assistant Engineers until they have been pronounced fit for Her Majesty's Service by the Medical Officers, and have learned to swim.

22. Acting Assistant Engineers will be provided with quarters while at Greenwich. During their first Term they will be paid 6s. a day and Is. 6d. a day towards the mess expenses. Those selected for further study will receive their full pay and ls. 6d. a day towards the mess.

* A Certificate of Baptism cannot be accepted

23. The term for study at Greenwich will be from the 1st October to the 30th June following. All will he examined under the direction of the President of the Royal Naval College on the completion of their term at Greenwich, and will receive Certificates according to their merit, in three classes. Those who obtain First Class Certificate will receive Commissions dated the same day as their Acting Appointments. Those who obtain Second Class Certificates will receive Commissions dated six months after the date of their Acting Appointments, and those who obtain Third Class Certificates will receive Commissions dated the day after their discharge from the Royal Naval College. The additional time given for First Class Certificates and Second Class Certificates will reckon in all respects as time served as Assistant Engineer.

24. Two Assistant Engineers will be selected annually from those who take the highest place at the Examination on the completion of their term alt Greenwich, to pass through a further course of scientific instruction if they desire it. These two will be allowed to remain two more terms at Greenwich, on the completion of which they will be sent to Sea as Assistant Engineers, and after one year's service at Sea, they will be considered eligible to fill positions in the Dockyards and at the Admiralty.

25. Those passing the Second and Third Terms at Greenwich will be attached during the vacations between the 30th June and 1st October, to the Dockyards or Steam Reserves, where they will attend trials of new and repaired Engines, and obtain experience respecting the duties they will have to perform at Sea.

26. No Assistant Engineer who has passed Three Terms at Greenwich will be allowed to leave Her Majesty's Service within seven years of the completion of his term at Greenwich, unless he shall pay the sum �500 to defray the charges of his education. Such resignation to be subject in each case to their Lordships' approval.

27. N.B. The above Regulations will be generally followed, but my Lords will modify them from time to time as they may consider desirable.

By Command of their Lordships,

Robert Hall,

The Superintendents of HM Dockyards at Home.

Admiralty, 13th July 1877.

1. Engineer Students are to be provided with:-

1	Uniform Tunic Blue Cloth
1	Uniform Trowsers Blue Cloth.
1	Uniform Waistcoat Blue Cloth
I	Uniform Thick double-breasted warm overcoat.
1	Uniform Cap, peak � turn down, with usual device of the Civil Branch.
I	Working Uniform Suit of Blue Serge. Eight buttons placed by four to be worn on the breast of the tunic, and a single purple velvet stripe round the sleeve of the tunic.
1	Sea Chest complete, with name in full painted on top. Length 3 ft 6 Ins ; Breadth 2 ft 0 Ins ; Height 2 ft 3 Ins

2. The above are to be provided at the expense of the Engineer Students, their Parents or Guardians, as well as all other articles of Clothing and Necessaries.

By command of their Lordships,

Robert Hall

Qualifications.

To be in possession of Board of Trade Certificates, or to prove their competency as Marine Engineers.

To produce Certificates of Good Character.

Assistant Engineers to have served at sea more than 12 months.

Engineers to have served at sea for more than 3 years

To be reported physically fit after medical examination.

Age not to exceed 35 years.

Full Pay

Half Pay

Note.-Half-pay is for sickness and extra leave only.

To be granted 30 days advance of pay on joining a ship after appointment.

Uniform.

To provide one suit of undress blue cloth uniform according to regulation pattern.

Messing.

Will be allowed when attached to Ships in Commission, the ordinary Ship's provision free; but will have to pay about 1s. a day towards the maintenance of their mess. When attached to Ships in the Reserve 1s. 6d. a day will be allowed in lieu of provisions.

Pensions for Wounds and to Widows

In the event of Temporary Service Engine being wounded when on duty in Her Majesty's Service Gratuities or Pensions, varying in amount according to the injuries sustained, will be granted.

Should Temporary Service Engineers be killed in action, die within six months of wounds received in action, or meet their deaths by acts of the enemy, the following Pensions and Allowances will be granted to their Widows, Children, &c.:

In addition to the foregoing Pensions, the Widows and Children of Officers killed in Action will be granted the following Gratuities:

Widows- One year's pay of their husband's corresponding Rank in tile Royal Navy. Each unmarried Child under the age of 21, one third of the Gratuity paid to the Widow.

These Pensions and Gratuities will only be given in cases of injury or death caused by Acts of the Enemy and not on account of injury, disability, or death which may result from carrying on in the ordinary duties of the Service.

Conditions of Service.

To engage for 6 months certain.

To serve when and where required

To be liable to immediate discharge for misconduct, or incompetency.

To rank with, but subordinate to their respective ranks in the Permanent Service.

To be under the general rules of the Service as regards discipline, &c.

To receive 30 days' notice of services being no longer required.

To be granted a gratuity of 30 days' pay on discharge, if not discharged for misconduct or incompetency

It is to he distinctly understood, that Engineer Officers engaged for Temporary Service will not be entitled to be placed on the Permanent List.

By Command of their Lordships,

Admiralty, S.W., April 1878.

Robert Hall.

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