Dutch, and
In the Dutch ships the qualifications for both masters and mates are considerable.[412] Gentlemen of good families and superior education enter the merchant service of that country, and, long prior to any system of examination being established in England, the Dutch masters and mates were subjected to one.
But these examinations were confined to the officers employed in their largest description of vessels trading to India, or engaged on other distant voyages. In their coasting vessels, or galliots, of which on the [following page] there is an excellent illustration from Mr. Cooke’s sketches, the masters and mates were not required to pass an examination except so far as to satisfy the owners of their competency for their respective duties.
DUTCH GALLIOT.—E. W. COOKE, R.A.
Prussian marine.
In Prussia a mate, before he is licensed, must be twenty years of age, and have been five years at sea. There are two different grades, for each of which a licence is obtained. The first qualifies him for every voyage; the second limits him to the Baltic, in vessels of any size, but not exceeding forty lasts if they trade to the Cattegat, or the Skager-rock, as far as the Naze of Norway. Captains have three grades: the first class qualifying them to navigate to any part of the world; the second restricting them to the seas of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Atlantic; those who have only a third-class certificate not being allowed to navigate beyond the Baltic, the Cattegat, and Skager-rock. A captain of the first class must not be less than twenty-eight years of age, and have sailed as captain of the second class for not less than two years, or as mate beyond the limits prescribed for captains of the next or lower grades. Captains of the second class are required to be twenty-four years of age, and must have sailed two years as mates of the first grade beyond the limits prescribed for a mate of the second class; and no one can be licensed as captain of the third class at a less age, and unless he has been for two years a mate of the second class. The commissioners by whom they are examined are generally shipowners, captains of vessels, and ship-builders.[413]
Though the maritime commerce of Prussia has been chiefly confined to the Baltic and Mediterranean, and is limited in extent compared with that of nations greatly their inferior in other respects, German seamen are in no way behind those of either Norway or Holland, and their ordinary trading vessels, of which an illustration will be found on the [following page], are of a substantial and useful description.
Danish and Norwegian systems.
In Denmark, before any one can be licensed as a mate, he must have made two voyages to the Mediterranean, and one to the East and West Indies, besides being acquainted with the navigation of the Cattegat and the Baltic. He has also to produce certificates from the captains with whom he has previously sailed, as to his being a steady and good seaman, as well as a navigator in all its details, and not under twenty-three years of age. The qualifications for mate also qualify for captain; but before being appointed to a command he is required to become a burgher of the place where he usually resides, and to pay the fees securing him the right of citizenship. The examinations are conducted by a captain and two lieutenants of the navy.