In accordance with laws in force, Masters and Mates were required to have certificates. (17 & 18 Vict. c 101, ss.136 and 161)

Alan Russell has kindly transcribed the following extract from the paper comprising the examination for Certificates of Competency (MS Act 1854) and the Voluntary Examination in Steam from his personal collection.

1. Under the provisions of ‘The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854,’ no ‘Foreign-going Ship’*  or ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship’* can obtain a clearance or transire, or legally proceed to sea, from any port in the United Kingdom unless the master thereof, and in the case of a ‘Foreign-going Ship’ the First and Second Mates or Only Mate (as the case may be), and in the case of a ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship; the First or Only Mate (as the case may be), have obtained a possess valid Certificates, either of Competency or Service, appropriate to their several stations in such ship, or of a higher grade; and no such ship, if of one hundred tons burden or upwards, can legally proceed to sea unless at least one officer besides the Master has obtained and possesses a valid Certificate, appropriate to the grade of Only Mate therein, or to a higher grade; and every person having been engaged to serve as Master, or as First or Second or only Mate of any ‘Foreign-going Ship,’ or as Master or First or Only Mate of a ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship,’ goes to sea as such Master or Mate without being at the time entitled to and possessed of such a Certificate as the Act requires, or who employs any person as Master, or First, Second, or Only Mate, of any ‘Foreign-going Ship,’ or as Master or First or Only Mate of any ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship,’ without ascertaining that he is at the time entitle to and possessed of such Certificate, for each offence occurs a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.

Certificate of Competency for ‘Foreign-going Ship’ higher than that for ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship’ s. 137.

2. Every Certificate of Competency for a ‘Foreign-going Ship’ is to be deemed to be of a higher grade than the corresponding Certificate for a ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship,’ and entitles the lawful holder to go to sea in the corresponding grade in such last-mentioned Ship; but no Certificate for a ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship’ entitles the holder to go to sea as Master or Mate of a ‘Foreign-going Ship.’

Certificates of Competency granted to persons who pass requisite examinations. s. 131

3. Certificates of Competency will be granted to those persons who pass the requisite examinations, and otherwise comply with the requisite conditions. For this purpose examiners have been appointed, and arrangements have been made for holding examinations at the ports and upon the days mentioned in the Table appended hereto. The days for examination are so arranged for general convenience, that a candidate wishing to proceed to sea, and missing the day at his own port, may proceed to another port where an examination is coming forward.

Notice of application for examination to be given to Superintendent of Local Marine Board.

4. Candidates for examination must give in their names to the Local Marine Board if the place where they intend to be examined is a port where there is a Local Marine Board, on or before the day of examination (except in the case of London  and Liverpool), and must conform to any regulations in this respect which may be laid down by the Local Marine Board; and if this be not done, delay may be occasioned.

Testimonials of character, conduct, and ability required. s. 134. Exn. 2

5. Testimonials of character, and of sobriety, experience, ability, and good conduct on board ship will be required of all applicants, and without producing them no person will be examined. As such testimonials may have to be forwarded to the office of the Registrar-General of Seamen in London for verification before any certificates can be granted, it is desirable that candidates should lodge them as early as possible. The testimonials of servitude of Foreigners and of British Seamen serving in foreign vessels, which cannot be verified by the Registrar-General of Seamen, must be confirmed either by the Consul of the country to which the ship in which the candidate served belonged or by some other recognized official authority of that country, or by the testimony of some credible person on the spot having personal knowledge of the facts required to be established. Upon application to the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office candidates will be supplied with a form (Exn. 2), which they will be required to fill up and lodge with their testimonials in the hands of examiners.

Verification of Services, &c. by Articles.

6. Services which cannot be verified by proper Entries in the Articles of the Ships in which the candidates have served cannot be counted. Thus, for instance–A Man will state his Service to have been as Second or Only Mate, and to support his assertion will produce a Certificate of Discharge or of Employment by the Master, stating that he served as Mate, when on reference to the Articles it appears that he has actually been rated as Boatswain; the Service in such a case will not be regarded as having been in the capacity of Mate.
Whenever a man has, from any cause, been regularly promoted on a vacancy in the course of the Voyage from the rank for which he first shipped, and such promotion, with the ground on which it has been made, is properly entered in the Articles and in the Official Log Book, he will of course receive credit for his service in the higher grade for the period subsequent to his promotion.

Examinations continued till all the Candidates are examined.

7. The examinations will commence early in the forenoon on the days mentioned in the Table appended hereto, and will be continued from day to day until all the candidates whose names appear upon the Superintendent’s list on the day of examination are examined.

8. Where the Local Marine Board are in every respect satisfied with the testimonials of a candidate, service in the coasting trade maybe allowed to count as service, in order to qualify him for examination for a Certificate of competency for Foreign-going Ships as a Mate, and two years’ service as Mate in the coasting trade may be allowed to count as service for a Master’s Certificate, provided the candidate’s name has been entered as Mate on the Coasting Articles, and provided he has already passed an examination.

Qualifications for Certificates of Competency for a ‘Foreign-going Ship.’

Qualifications for Certificates of Competency. mm 131, 132.

Second Mate

The qualifications required for the several ranks under-mentioned are as follow:--

9. A SECOND MATE must be seventeen years of age, and must have been four years at sea.

IN NAVIGATION.-He must write a legible hand and understand the first five rules of arithmetic, and the use of logarithms. He must be able to work a day’s work complete, including bearings and distance of the port he is bound to, by Merator’s method; to correct the sun’s declination for longitude, and find his latitude by meridian altitude of the sun; and to work such other easy problems of a like nature as may be put to him. He must understand the use of the sextant, and be able to observe with it, and read off the arc.

IN SEAMANSHIP.–He must give satisfactory answers as to the rigging and unrigging of ships, stowing of holds, &e; must understand the measurement of the log-line, glass, and lead-line; be conversant with the rule of the road, as regards both steamers and sailing-vessels, and the lights and fog signals carried by them, and will also be examined as to this acquaintance, with ‘the Commercial Code of Signals for the use of all Nations.’

Only Mate.

10. An ONLY MATE must be nineteen years of age, and have been five years at sea.

IN NAVIGATION.–In addition to the qualifications required for a Second Mate, an Only Mate must be able to observe and calculate the amplitude of the sun, and deduce the variation of the compass therefrom, and be able to find the longitude by chronometer by the usual methods. He must know how to lay off the place of the ship on the chart, both by bearings of known objects, and by latitude and longitude. He must be able to determine the error of a sextant, and to adjust it, also to find the time of high water from the known time at full and change.

IN SEAMANSHIP.–In addition to what is required for a Second Mate, he must know how to moor and unmoor, and to keep a clear anchor; to carry out an anchor; to stew a hold; and to make the requisite entries in the ship’s log. He will also be questioned as to his knowledge of the use and management of the mortar and rocket lines in the case of the stranding of a vessel, as explained in the official log-book.

First Mate.

11. A FIRST MATE must be nineteen years of age, and have served five years at sea, of which one year must have been as either Second or Only Mate, or as both.

Foreign-going Ship.

IN NAVIGATION.-In addition to the qualifications required for an Only Mate, he must be able to observe azimuths and compute the variation; to compare chronometers and keep their rates, and find the longitude by them from an observation of the sun; to work the latitude by single altitude of the sun off the meridian; and be able to use and adjust the sextant by the sun.

IN SEAMANSHIP.-In addition to the qualification required for an Only Mate, a more extensive knowledge of seamanship will be required, as to shifting large spars and sails, managing a ship in stormy weather, taking in and making sail, shifting yards and masts, &c., and getting heavy weights, anchors, &c., in and out; casting a ship on a lee-shore; and securing the masts in the event of accident to the bowsprit.

Master Ordinary.

12. A MASTER must be twenty-one years of age, and have been six years at sea, of which at least one year must have been as First or Only Mate, and one year as Second Mate. He must also have served one year, at least, in a square-rigged ship.

In addition to the qualifications for a First Mate, he must be able to find the latitude by a star, &c. He will be asked questions as to the nature of the attraction of the ship’s iron upon the compass, and as to the method of determining it. He will be examined in so much of the laws of the tides as is necessary to enable him to shape a course, and to compare his soundings with the depths marked on the charts. He will be examined as to his competency to construct jury rudders and rafts; and as to his resources for the preservation of the ship’s crew in the event of wreck; and of his knowledge of lights and fog signals, and steering and sailing rules. He must possess a sufficient knowledge of what he is required to do by law, as to entry and discharge, and the management of his crew, and as to penalties and entries to be made in the official log; and a knowledge of the measures for preventing and checking the outbreak of scurvy on board ship. He will be questioned as to his knowledge of invoices, charter party, Lloyd’s agent, and as to the nature of bottomry, and he must be acquainted with the leading lights of the channel he has been accustomed to navigate, or which he is going to use.

Service in fore and aft rigged ships.

In cases where an applicant for a certificate as Master Ordinary has only served in a fore and aft rigged vessel, and is ignorant of the management of a square-rigged vessel, he may obtain a certificate on which the words ‘fore and aft rigged vessel’ will be written. This certificate does not entitle him to command a square-rigged ship. This is not, however, to apply to Mates, who, being younger men, are expected for the future to learn their business completely.
.Master extra.

13. An EXTRA MASTER’S EXAMINATION is voluntary, and intended for such persons as wish to prove their superior qualifications, and are desirous of having certificates for the highest grade granted by the Board of Trade.

IN NAVIGATION.-As the vessels which such masters will command frequently make long voyages, to the East Indies, the Pacific, &c., the candidate will be required to work a lunar observation by both sun and star, to determine the latitude by the moon, by Polar star off the meridian, and also by double altitude of the sun, and to verify the result by Sumner’s method. He must be able to calculate the altitudes of the sun or star when they cannot be observed for the purposes of lunars-to find the error of a watch by the method of equal latitudes-and to correct the altitude observed with an artificial horizon.

Foreign-going Ship.

He must understand how to observe and apply the deviation of the compass; and to deduce the set and rate the current from the D.R. and observation. He will be required to explain the nature of great circle sailing, and know how to apply practically that knowledge, but he will not be required to go into the calculations. He must be acquainted with the law of storms, so far as to know how he may probably best escape those tempests common to the East and West Indies, and known as hurricanes.

IN SEAMANSHIP.-The extra examination will consist of an inquiry into the competency of the applicant to heave a ship down, in case of accident befalling her abroad; to get lower masts in and out; and to perform such other operations of a like nature as the Examiner may consider it proper to examine him upon.

Home Trade Passenger Ship.

Qualifications for Certificates of Competency for a ‘Home Trade Passenger Ship.’

Mate.

14. A MATE must write a legible hand, and understand the first four rules of arithmetic. He must know and understand the rule of the road, and describe and show that he understands the Admiralty regulations as to lights. He must be able to take a bearing by compass, and prick off the ship’s course on a chart. He must know the marks in the lead line, and be able to work and heave the log.
 

Master.

15. A MASTER must have served one year as a Mate in the Foreign or Home Trade. In addition to the qualifications required for a mate, he must show that he is capable of navigating a ship along any coast, for which purpose he will be required to draw upon a chart produced by the Examiner the courses and distances he would run along shore from headland to headland, and to give in the writing courses and distances corrected for variation, and the bearings of the headlands and lights, and to show when the course should be altered either to clear any danger, or to adapt it to the coast. He must understand how to make his soundings according to the state of the tide. He will also be questioned as to his knowledge of the use and management of the mortar and rocket lines in the case of the stranding vessel, as explained in the Official Log Book.

A first-class Pilot may be examined for a Master’s Certificate of Competency for Home-trade Passenger Ships, notwithstanding that he may not have served in the capacity of Mate.
 

 _______________________________

General Rules as to Examinations and Fees.

Time allowed for working problems.

16. The candidates will be allowed to work out the various problems according to the method and the table they have been accustomed to use, and will be allowed five hours to perform the work; at the expiration of which time, if they have not finished, they will be declared to have failed, unless the Local Marine Board see fit to extend the time.

Fees to be paid by applicants for examination. s. 133. Exn. 17.

17. The fee for examination must be paid to te Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office (Shipping Master). If a candidate fail in his examination, half the fee he has paid will be returned to him by the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office on his producing the Form Exn. 17, which will be given him by the Examiner. The fees as follows:-

FOR ‘FOREIGN-GOING SHIPS.’

£ s. d.
Second Mate      1 0 0
First and Only Mate, if previously possessing
an inferior certificate    0 10 0
If not       1 0 0
Master, whether Extra or Ordinary   2 0 0
Master, if previously in possession of a certificate
For ‘fore and aft rigged vessels’   1 0 0

N.R.-Any person having a Master’s Certificate of Competency for Foreign-going Ships may go up for an extra examination without payment of any Fee, but if he fails in his first examination, half a Master’s Fee will be charged for each subsequent examination. Any person who has obtained a Certificate of Competency in any British Possession abroad, may present himself for examination at any Local Marine Board in the United Kingdom, upon the production of such Certificate, without payment of the usual fees, but should he fail to pass his examination, the usual fee will be demanded.
 

FOR ‘HOME TRADE PASSENGER SHIPS.’
£ s. d.
Mate       0 10 0
Master       1 0 0
 

Notification of having passed  will be given to successful candidates. Exn. 16.

18. If the applicant passes he will receive the Form Exn. 176, from the Examiner, which will entitle him to receive his Certificate of Competency from the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office, at the port to which he has directed it to be forwarded. If his testimonials have been sent to the Registrar to be verified, they will be returned with his certificate.

Unsuccessful candidates may receive certificates for inferior grades, if competent.

19. If an applicant is examined for a higher rank, and fails, but passes an examination for a lower grade, he may receive a certificate accordingly, but no part of the fee will be returned.

Examination to commence with that for Second Mate.

 20. In every case the Examination, whether for Only Mate, First Mate, or Master, is to commence with the problems for Second Mate.

Re-examination in case of failure.

21. In all cases of failure the candidate must be re-examined de novo. If a candidate fails in Seamanship he will not be re-examined until after a lapse of SIX MONTHS, to give him time to gain experience. If he fails three times in Navigation he will not be re-examined until after a lapse of THREE MONTHS.

Standards of examination will be raised.

22.  As the examinations of Masters and Mates are made compulsory, the qualifications have been kept as low as possible; but it must be distinctly understood that it is the intention of the Board of Trade to raise the standard from time to time, whenever, as will no doubt be the case, the general attainments of officers in the merchant service shall render it possible to do so without inconvenience; and officers are strongly urged to employ their leisure hours, when in port, in the acquirement of the knowledge necessary to enable them to pass their examinations; and Masters will do well to permit apprentices and junior officers to attend schools of instruction, and to afford them as much time for this purpose as possible.

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OFFICIAL NOTICE.-- NOTICE TO CANDIDATES FOR MASTERS AND MATES’ CERTIFICATES OF COMPETENCY.

Candidates are required to appear at the examination room punctually at the time appointed.

Candidates are prohibited from bringing into the examination room books or papers of any kind whatever. The slightest infringement of this regulation will subject the offender to all the penalties of a failure.

In the event of any Candidate being detected in defacing, blotting, writing in, or otherwise injuring any book or books belonging to the Board, the papers of such Candidate will be detained until the book or books so defaced be replaced by him. He will not, however, be at liberty to remove the damaged book, which will still remain the property of the Board.

In the event of any Candidate being discovered copying from another, or affording any assistance or giving any information to another, or communicating in any way with another, during the time of examination, he will subject himself to a failure and its consequences.

No Candidate will be allowed to work out his problems on a slate or on waste paper.

No Candidate will be permitted to leave the room until he has given up the paper on which he is engaged.

Candidate will be allowed to work out the various problems by the method and tables they have been accustomed to use, and will be allowed five hours to perform the work. At the expiration of five hours they will, if they have not finished, be declare to have failed, unless the Local Marine Board or Examiner see fit to lengthen the period in any special case. If, however, the period is lengthened in any case, the special circumstances of that case and the reasons for lengthening the period, must be reported to the Board of Trade by the Examiners at the time they send in the report on Form Exn. 14.

Candidates will find it more convenient, both here and at sea, to correct the declination and other elements from the Nautical Almanac by the ‘hourly differences’ which have been given in that work in order to facilitate such calculations; they will thereby render themselves
independent of any proportional or logarithmic table for such purposes.

The corrections by inspection from tables given in many works on navigation will not be allowed (see Tables IX., XI., and XXI. In Norie’s Epitome, &c.); every correction must appear on the papers of the Candidates. The First-class and Extra Master are referred to page 519 of the Nautical Almanac, 1867, for further information on this subject.

Candidates are expected to bring their answers to all problems within, or not to exceed, a margin of one mile of position from a correct result.

In finding the longitude by chronometer the logarithms used in finding the hour angle should be taken out for seconds of arc.

In all other problems the logarithms to the nearest minute will be sufficiently correct for all grades, except Extra Master, from whom a degree of precision will be required, both in the work and in the results, beyond what is demanded from the inferior grades.

THOMAS GRAY, Assistant Secretary. Board of Trade, Marine Department, Jan 1, 1869.

EXAMINATION OF MASTERS AND MATES WITH REFERENCE TO THE COMMERCIAL CODE OF SIGNALS FOR THE USE OF ALL NATIONS.

Instructions to Examiners.

23. In transmitting the accompanying copy of the latest edition of the Commercial Code of Signals for the use of the Examiners, the Board of Trade desire to direct attention to the principal points connected with this Code as to which Candidates for Examination should be questioned.

24. At the same time, as the subject is probably new to some of the Examiners themselves, the Board recommend to them a perusal of the Report of the Signal Committee of 1855 (which will be found at the commencement of the Signal Book), and also the first few pages of the Book. The information therein given will be found sufficient to make the Examiners theoretically acquainted with the characteristics of the New Code, and the advantages it claims to posses over the other Codes, and will enable them to appreciate and urge upon Candidates for Examination the facilities which the new System of Signalling affords for easy and rapid communication.
 

25. The ‘comprehensiveness’ and ‘distinctness’ of the Commercial Code are its chief recommendations.

26. The form of the Hoist generally indicates the nature of the Signal made, so that an observer can at sight understand the character of the Signal he sees flying.

The annexed plate gives examples which illustrates this.

27. The examination should tend to elicit a knowledge of the distinctive features of the Code above alluded to.

With this object the Examiners should make the 2, 3, and 4 Flag Signals on the Frame board which is furnished for the purpose (always taking care first to show the Ensign and the Code Pennant at the Gaff),  questioning the Candidates as to the distinguishing Forms of the respective Hoists (see Plate annexed), which will be indicated according as a Burgee, or a Pennant, or a Square Flag, is uppermost.

28. The Candidate ought to know how to find the Signal Book the communication or the inquiry he desires to make, and how to make the Signal. The Signal to be made should invariably be sought for by the Candidate in the Vocabulary and Index, Part II., and never in Part I.

29. The Candidate ought to know how to interpret a Signal.

The Examiner should place a Signal on the Frame board, and vary the Signal by showing a 2 or 3 Flag Signal, or a ‘Geographical’ or a ‘Vocabulary’ Signal, or the name of a Merchant Ship a Ship of War.

The two latter Signals would not of course be found in the Signal Book. The candidate ought to point them out in the Code List of Ships.

30. A candidate ought to be able to read off a Signal at sight, so far as to name the Flags composing the Hoist.

31. He ought to know the use of the Code Pennant, and of the Pennants C. and D., ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.

32. The candidate should be practiced in the use of the Spelling Table, by being made to spell his own name, or some word not in the Vocabulary of the Code.

33. As Ships of War use a different set of Code Flags, the candidate ought to be aware of the fact, and should know that a plate of the Admiralty Flags is to be found in the Signal Book, as well as plates of the Code of Flags which Foreign Ships of War will use in signaling to Merchant Vessels. He should also know that every official Log Book contains plates of the these Code Flags.

34. A knowledge of the Distant Signals should be required of the Candidate, their object, and the mode of signalling by the Distant Code, which will be found at the end of the Signal Book.

For this purpose 2 Black Balls, 2 Black Square Flags, and 2 Black Pennants will be furnished with the Frame board, and the candidate should be required to make one or two Distant Signals, and to read off one or two made by Examiners.

 The Ball being the distinguishing symbol of the Distant Signal, any Pennants or Flags of the Code may be employed in conjunction with it, irrespective of colour. The Black Pennants and Flags are merely sent as showing best in the light background of the Frame board.

SEMAPHORES.

35. We have as yet no Semaphores on our coasts. The French, however, have upwards of 110 such stations established on their coasts, at which the Commercial Code of Signals only is used.

36. A plate at the end of the Signal Book explains the method by which the arms of the Semaphores are made to represent by their position (up, down, or horizontal) the three symbols used for distant signaling-viz, a Flag, a Ball, or a Pennant. Before making Signals with the Semaphores, the Black Disc with the white rim should be placed on the top of the Semaphore Mast, as it properly forms a part of the Mast itself.

37. The Board of Trade think it of consequence to observe that, as the Commercial Code has (in his integrity) been translated into French, and as copies of the Signal Book are furnished to all French Vessels of War and Semaphore stations, any Englishman can now by this Code make his wants known to them.

Other nations are now negotiating for the adoption of the Commercial Code, and from the favour with which Foreigners seem to have accepted the Code whenever it has been presented to their notice, there is every reason to believe that in a short time the Mercantile Marine of all nations will have the advantages of being able to communicate by an ‘Universal Language of Signals.’

38. Her Majesty’s Government have done all in their power to promote the use of the Commercial Code, and the Government of India and nearly all the Colonial Governments have adopted it, and a large number of Signal Books and Code Lists have already

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