Admiralty, May 20th 1857.

By returns from the Home Ports, it appears that from want of attention on the part of Officers in Command of Her Majesty's Ships the Good Conduct Badges, which were specially intended to be conferred as an honourable reward on those Seamen of the Fleet who have invariably conducted themselves with sobriety, activity and attention, so as to deserve the character of "very good", have in many instances been granted without sufficient inquiry, or upon insufficient grounds, and not in accordance with the Circulars No 46 of January 1849 and No 62 of May 1850.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty direct the attention of Officers in command of Her Majesty's Ships to the following irregularities:-

1. These Badges have been granted to Men who have not served the requisite period to entitle them thereto.

2. They have been granted to Men bearing only the character of "good" on their Certificates; no person being entitled to them unless with "very good" character.

3. The additional Badges have been given to Men who had not worn the previous Badges sufficiently long.

Their Lordships direct that an immediate investigation is to be made onboard all Her Majesty's Ships, by mustering those Men who wear the Good Conduct Badges, and any Men not entitled to the same, in accordance with the Regulations now reprinted, are to be reduced, unless it be found that they have subsequently become entitled to them; this Order is to apply to all Men joining Her Majesty's Ships from the Shore, also to those in the Coast guard Service, and a notation is to be made on the Muster Books, and on the MEn's Certificates, of any changes which may be made.

My Lordships desire that Officers in command of Her Majesty's Ships will also give attention to the new regulations wherein the Good conduct Pay is now extended to the Petty Officers of the Fleet

By Command of the Lordships

R OSBORNE

To all Commanders-in-Chief, Captains, &c

Circular No 46 of 16th January 1849, and No 62 of the 18th May 1850 are cancelled with the exception of the New Ratings of Petty Officers.

Amended Regulations, relative to the Good Conduct Badges for Seamen of the Fleet, Established by Her Majesty's Order in Council of the 15th January, 1849.

1 The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty directed by their Circular No 46 that a distinctive Badge, having reference to length of service, and good conduct, should be established for the undermentioned ratings, to which an increased rate of pay of one Penny per day for each Badge should be attached; such Badge to be conferred, under the following Regulations, on all men filling the said ratings, who had invariably conducted themselves with sobriety, activity, and attention, so as to deserve the character of "very good"; and also on Seamen who might enter the Navy from the Merchant Service, and who could produce certificates of service therein of "very good" character and conduct.

Leading Seamen, Shipwrights, Second Captain of the Hold, Sailmakers' Crew, Blacksmith's Mate, Armourers' Crew, Carpenters' Crew, and Coopers' Crew, Painters.

Able Seamen, Yeoman of Store Rooms, Bandsmen, Sick Berth Attendants

Stokers, and Coal Trimmers.

2. That any person holding any of the above ratings, when he shall have completed five years' service, exclusive of boy's time, will be eligible to claim one Good Conduct Stripe, and one penny per day, provided that during the last two years of that period he shall have invariably conducted himself with sobriety, activity and attention, so as to deserve the character of "Very Good".

After ten years service he is eligible to claim two Stripes , and two pence per day, provided he has worn the First good Conduct Badge continuously during the previous two years.

After fifteen years' service he is eligible to claim three Stripes, and three pence per day, provided he shall have worn the Second Good Conduct Badge continuously during the previous two years; provided always that in these respective cases he has maintained the same high character that entitled him to the First Badge.

3. With reference to the qualifications required of merchant seamen who may enter the Royal Navy the following regulations are to be observed:-

Any Able Seaman who shall have a combined Servitude in the Revenue or Merchant Service and Royal Navy of six years, exclusive of Apprenticeship time, shall be eligible to obtain the First good conduct Badge, provided he shall have completed a period of one year's in the Royal Navy, immediately preceding the bestowal of the Badge, and shall have merited the character of "very good"; and can further produce satisfactory certificates of very good conduct during his last two years' service in Merchant Vessels.

Any Able Seaman who shall have a combined servitude in the Revenue or Merchant Service and Royal Navy of eleven years, shall be eligible for the Second Good Conduct Badge, provided he shall have fulfilled the conditions specified in the foregoing Article.

Any Able Seaman who shall have a combined servitude of sixteen years in the Revenue or Merchant Service and Royal Navy, shall be eligible to wear the Third good conduct Badge, subject, as before, to the foregoing conditions.

4. When the man is discharged from one Ship to another, or is to be paid off, the Commanding Officer is to certify on his Parchment Certificate the rating he holds, his character, and the description of Badge he is entitled to wear, and the date of its having been conferred. But if he has not sufficient service to entitle him to a Badge, and his character has been "very "good, and is recorded in the Parchment Certificate, such character is to be considered in his next Ship as a claim to the Badge and Pay, when he shall have served sufficient time to entitle him thereto, according to the foregoing regulations.

5. The circumstances of a man having worn the Good Conduct Badge will be considered in determining the amount of his Pension.

6. Men in receipt of Pensions may be awarded the Good conduct badge, but are not to receive the addition Pay.

7. The first Good Conduct Badge is to be a stripe of gold lace, according to pattern.

The Second Good Conduct Badge is to be two stripes of gold lace.

The Third Good Conduct Badge is to be three stripes gold lace

8. The Badge is to be worn on the upper part of the left sleeve of the Jacket or Frock. With deck Frocks the Badge is to be of blue serge, instead of gold lace.

9. If any person, entitled to wear the Good Conduct Badge, shall commit any offence, for which the Captain or Commanding Officer shall consider that he should be punished by the forfeiture of one, or more, of his distinguishing Badges, and the Good conduct Pay attached thereto; such offence shall be enquired into, under a Warrant, executed in the same manner as when corporal punishment is awarded; and the Captain or Commanding Officer shall cause the said person to be deprived of one, or more, of the distinguishing marks, and the additional pay, according to the gravity of the offence, shall, in his judgement, merit; which circumstances is to be duly entered in the muster and log book, and reported in the periodical returns, under the regulations at present established, for the disrating of Petty Officers; and the badges and pay so forfeited shall not be re-conferred until the expiration of at least one year from the date of forfeiture, and then only under circumstances of extreme good conduct. No man, so long as he is entitled to wear the Badge, shall be considered liable to corporal punishment, except in cases of mutinous conduct or for desertion.

HER MAJESTY having been pleased, by Her Order in Council of the 6th May, 1857, to extend to the Petty Officers of the Fleet the Good Conduct Pay established for Seamen by Her Order of Council of the 15th January, 1849;

MY Lords Commissioners of the admiralty desire that Her Majesty's gracious intention be made known to the Petty Officers of the Fleet, and that the following Regulations be observed:-

1. Those Petty Officers now serving, and those persons who may hereafter be promoted to that rank, will be allowed, in addition to the Established Pay of their Ratings, the Good Conduct Pay to which they were entitled, and were in possession of, at the time of their having been so rated as Petty Officers.

2. This amount of Good Conduct Pay may be claimed by the respective Petty Officers who were formerly drawing such Good conduct Pay as Seamen from the 1st April, 1857.

3. The time served as Petty Officer cannot be allowed to count towards any further increase of Good conduct Pay.

4. Petty Officers who may serve ten or fifteen years may be awarded the Good conduct Badges, although they can only be granted the Good Conduct Pay to which they were entitled when promoted.

5. Any Petty Officer guilty of irregularity of conduct, inattention to, or neglect of duty, may be deprived of one or more of the Good Conduct Badges and Pay, under the same rule as directed for Seamen in Clause 9 of the foregoing Regulations.

6. Any person dis-rated from the rank of Petty Officer for misconduct will forfeit all Good Conduct Badges and Pay; but by subsequent very good conduct during one year, he may be again granted one Good conduct Badge with Pay, and the other Badges and Pay by subsequent service of one year between each Badge if entitled thereto under Clause 1.

7. The Gratuities allowed on the paying off of Her Majesty's Ships, to the Petty Officers, by her Majesty's Order in Council of 15th January, 1849, and make known to the Fleet in their Lordships' Circular No 46, of the 16th January 1849, will cease from this date.

8. As the benefit intended to be conferred by their Lordships upon the Petty Officers and Seamen in the Fleet, by the foregoing Regulations, will depend, in great measure, upon the strictest impartiality being exercised in carrying them into effect. My Lords rely upon the Captains and Commanding officers of Her Majesty's Ships giving full force to their intention in this respect, and using the utmost care and circumspection in ascertaining the time served, as well as the character of the men selected for the Good Conduct Badge and Pay.

9. The weekly accounts, and quarterly returns, are to contain a statement of the number of Petty Officers and Seamen who have been granted the several descriptions of Badges and Pay.

10. In all cases where Good conduct Badges are conferred a separate List is to be inserted in the Muster Book, in the following form, which is to be filled up at the time the Badge is granted, and the conferring of the Badge is likewise to be at once inserted with the Man's Character in his Parchment Certificate, and signed by the Captain.

At all Special Musters when the authority for all Discharges, &c are examined the Mustering Officer is to inquire strictly into and report upon the close observance of the regulations respecting the award of Good conduct Badges to the Men.

The following tabular Statement is also to be appended to each Quarterly Muster Book:

The foregoing Regulation is to be read to the Ships' Companies

By Command of their Lordships

R OSBORNE

TO all Commanders-in-Chief, Captains, Commanders, and Commanders Officers of Her Majesty's Ships and vessels.

7 Jul 1860

By an Admiralty order, warrant officers in the Royal navy may retire from active service at 60 years of age without survey or prejudice to their rate of pension. Warrant officers' widows will also be entitled to their annuity in the event of their husbands' death after one year's service as a warrant officer, instead of 10 pears' as heretofore.

Seamen and Marines are also to be entitled to their good conduct badges at the end of three yearn, instead of five years as before.

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