Chaplains hold the relative rank of Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant or Lieutenant, Junior Grade, according to length of service.

Professors of Mathematics hold the rank of Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant according to length of service. This corps was established to provide especially trained mathematicians for duty as astronomers at the Naval Observatories and as Instructors at the Naval Academy, but pursuant to the act of Congress of August 29, 1916, no further officers are to be commissioned in this corps.

In the days of sailing ships officers having the title of Sailmaker were provided for the then important work of superintending the manufacture of sails, but since the advent of steam and electricity this branch has been discontinued and only a few are still borne on the official register. The commissioned officers of this branch have the title of Chief Sailmaker and relative rank the same as that of Chief Boatswain, Chief Gunners, Chief Machinists, Chief Carpenters, Chief Pay Clerks and Chief Pharmacists, that is, they rank with but next after Ensigns.

MIDSHIPMEN

Midshipmen are appointed officers undergoing the course of instruction at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Each senator, representative and delegate in Congress has the appointment of three midshipmen to be at the Naval Academy at any one time, the President is empowered to appoint two midshipmen and the Secretary of the Navy is empowered to appoint one hundred midshipmen each year to be selected from enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps who are not over the age of twenty years.

The Corps of Midshipmen consists of four classes, the First Class corresponding to “seniors” at universities, the Second Class corresponding to “juniors,” the Third Class corresponding to “sophomores,” and the Fourth Class corresponding to “freshmen.”

The regular course of study is four years although the President was authorized by the act of Congress of March 4, 1917, to reduce the course to three years for a period of two years from the passage of the act, owing to the urgent need of more officers in the Navy.

WARRANT OFFICERS

Warrant officers form an intermediate class between the commissioned officers and the enlisted personnel. They receive appointments from the President but are not confirmed by the Senate. They are appointed by selection from the most efficient and deserving enlisted petty officers. After six years’ service as warrant officers, if found qualified, they are commissioned by the President, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” as Chief Boatswains, Chief Gunners, Chief Machinists, Chief Carpenters, Chief Sailmakers, Chief Pharmacists and Chief Pay Clerks, as the case may be, to take rank with but next after Ensigns.