It was inspiring to find the ship’s officers anxious to assist these ambitions. The Corsair became more or less of a nautical school. Earnest young men were to be found frowning over problems and text-books instead of playing cards at the mess tables or reading old magazines. Those who had been in college had a certain advantage in that they had been compelled to make some sort of an acquaintance with mathematics and were presumed to have acquired the habit of study. It was the popular thing to be a grind. Lieutenant McGuire and Chief Quartermaster Shelton Fair showed keen interest in teaching navigation and were very helpful to the pupils who wrestled with the knotty points of the subject.
The novelty wore off, of course, and the laggards fell by the wayside, for the requirements were stiff, and dogged persistence and many a headache were required to master the technique of the naval ensign’s job. The reward was waiting, however, for those who deserved it, and there was no taint of caste or favoritism. The service was essentially democratic, barring only the differences in station which discipline demanded. Through the autumn and winter, the Corsair was schooling a fine group of ensigns for duty in other ships.
It may be of interest to explain what this course included, as defined by the Bureau of Navigation in a formidable document “Relative to Examinations of Enlisted Men of Regular Navy for Appointment as Ensigns for Temporary Service, also of Certain Reservists and National Naval Volunteers to Ensigns, Naval Reserve Force.”
In a general way the would-be ensign of the line was expected to pass examinations, written and oral, in such departments of knowledge as these:
General Instructions
Acquaintance with Navy Regulations and Naval Instructions and General Orders of the Navy Department.
Care of enlisted men’s clothing, bedding, and equipment and marking same.
Emergency drills,—such as fire, collision, abandon ship, etc.
Navigation (except Nautical Astronomy)
Rules for preventing collisions, international and inland.