CHAPTER XI. ORGANIZATION OF THE PERSONNEL. I.-LINE OFFICERS (officiers de vaisseau). The corps of line officers in the Navy is recruited from four different sources: (1) Aspirants or naval cadets, graduated from the Naval School at Brest; (2) aspirants chosen from among the graduates of the Polytechnic School at Paris; (3) first masters (premiers-maîtres), nominated for the grade of ensign after undergoing an examination; (4) auxiliary ensigns who have received the certificate of sea-captain (capitaine au long cours) in the merchant service, and who are admitted to the titular grade of ensign. The grades in the corps of line officers are as follows: Admiral. Vice-admiral. Captain. Commander (capitaine de frégate). Midshipman (aspirant, lière classe). The vice-admirals and rear-admirals form the roll (cadre) of the general staff of the Navy. This roll is divided into two sections: the first comprising those in active service and those waiting orders (en disponibilité); the second comprising the reserve. Vice-admirals at the age of sixty-five and rear-admirals at sixty-two pass from the first to the second section, with certain exceptions. In time of peace employment is only given to officers of flag-rank of the first section; but during war officers of the reserve can be appointed to commands. If at any time during war the full number of officers is inadequate to the needs of the service, the want is supplied by auxiliary officers chosen among the merchant-captains. These merchant-captains, whose grade in the Navy is that of ensign, correspond to the English Naval Reserve. Promotions are made partly by selection and partly by seniority, from the lowest grade up to and including that of commander. Above this point they are wholly by seniority. In every case, however, a certain term of service must be passed in each grade before promotion to the next higher. In the case of midshipmen, ensigns, and lieutenants, the minimum period is fixed at two years of sea service, with two additional years of shore duty in the latter grade. Commanders must pass three years at sea, one of them in actual command; or four years in the grade, two of them at sea and two in command. Captains must have passed three years at sea in that grade, or two years at sea in command of a naval division. Rear-admirals must pass two years in that grade at sea in a squadron. The highest rank in the Navy, that of admiral, is an exceptional honor, conferred only upon a vice-admiral who has distinguished himself in the chief command of a naval force in time of war. At the present time there are no officers of this rank in the French Navy. Officers are divided in equal numbers among the five naval arrondissements-Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, and Toulon. Each officer is attached to the chief port of the district; and, if below the grade of commander, he is required to reside there. A roster of officers is kept at each port, upon which is based the detail for sea duty. II.-ENGINEER MECHANICIANS (mécaniciens-en-chef et mécaniciens prin cipaux). The officers of this corps have supervision of the engines and machinery on board all the ships of the division to which they are attached. Their sea duties, therefore, correspond to those of fleet engineers in the United States Navy. They also serve to some extent as engineers (not fleet officers) on board a few of the largest ships. On shore their special duty is in connection with the instruction of machinists (mécaniciens) and firemen. They are chosen from the master-machinists, and may therefore be considered, to a great extent, as occupying higher grades in the corps of machinists. They hold relative rank as commissioned officers, but they rank only with the lower grades of the line. The name engineer (ingénieur) is not applied to them, but is given only to the constructors and the hydrographers. The grades and numbers of the corps are as follows: Mechanicians-in-chief, with relative rank of captain of corvette (lieutenant-commander) Principal mechanicians, first class (rank of lieutenant) 2 8 40 III.-MISCELLANEOUS STAFF CORPS (corps entretenus et agents divers). 1. Engineer corps (génie maritime). This is really the construction corps of the French Navy, and it includes the most accomplished men of science in the service. Their duties are the designing of ships and engines, the supervision of their construction and repair, either in dockyards or at private works, and the care of timber required for ship-building. The corps is composed ofInspector-general, taking rank with rear-admiral...... 1 Directors of naval construction, after rear-admiral and before captain 11 20 Engineers, second class, with commander.. 20 Assistant engineers (sous-ingénieurs) of the first and second classes, with lieutenant. 52 Assistant engineers, third class, with ensign. 14 Engineer pupils (élèves du génie maritime), with midshipman 7 Officers of the engineer corps are selected from the graduates of the Polytechnic School at Paris. After admission to the corps, they pass through the school of application for the engineer corps at Cherbourg. At the close of the cruise they are examined for promotion to the grade of assistant engineer of the third class. Promotion to the grade of assistant engineer of the second class only follows after two years of service, but in all subsequent promotions three years of service in the lower grade are. required as a qualification. Promotion to the three highest grades is by selection; to engineer of the second class and assistant engineer of the first class, half by selection and half by seniority; and to the lower grades, strictly by seniority. One-sixth of the vacancies in the grade of assistant engineer of the third class are reserved for masters (maîtres entretenus), of the corps of naval construction, who have performed a year of service in this grade and passed the required examination. 2. Engineer hydrographers (ingénieurs-hydrographes). The duties of engineer hydrographers consist in the preparation of charts and sailing directions; the summarizing of nautical and scientific documents collected by the Dépôt des Cartes; observations of tides; magnetic and meteorological observations; care of nautical instruments used on shipboard; and preparation for the press of scientific treatises undertaken by the Navy Department. The hydrographic officers have the same relative rank in their respective grades as the officers of the corps du génie, the hydrographer-inchief ranking with the director of naval construction. The grades and numbers are as follows: Engineer hydrographer-in-chief.... Engineers, second class. Assistant engineers, first and second classes... Assistant engineers, third class Engineer pupils, according to the needs of the service. 1334& Pupils of the corps are taken from the graduates of the Polytechnic School, and have two years of sea service before their first promotion. 3. Medical corps (corps de santé).* * } 146Q 2 The organization and methods of the French medical schools have been fully described and discussed in the report of Medical Inspector Dean, U. S. N. |