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equally divided among the junior flag officers; commodores of the first class and captains of the fleet to share as flag officers: provided always that no flag officer, unless actually on board any of Our ships or vessels of war, and at the actual taking, sinking, burning or otherwise destroying any ship or ships of war, privateer or privateers, belonging to the enemy, shall share in the distribution of any head money or bounty money granted as a reward for taking, sinking, burning, or otherwise destroy- ing any such ship or vessel of the enemy.
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That no flag officer commanding in any port in the United Kingdom shall share in the proceeds any prize captured from the enemy, by any ship or vessel which shall sail from or leave such port by order of the Lord High Admiral, or of our Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral,
That when ships or vessels under the command of several flag officers belonging to separate stations shall be joint captors, each flag officer shall receive a proportion of one-twentieth part, according to the number of officers and men present under the command of each such flag officer; and when any ship or vessel under orders from the Lord High Admiral, or from Our Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, are joint captors with other ships, or vessels under a flag or flags, the like regulations as to the apportionment of the flag share to the flag officer or officers is to be observed. With reference to flag officers, it is to be noted that when an inferior flag officer is sent to rein- force a superior officer on any station, the superior flag officer shall not share in any prize taken by the inferior flag officer before he has arrived within the limits of that station, unless the inferior officer shall have received some order directly from, and shall be acting in execution of some order issued by, such superior flag officer.
No chief flag officer quitting any station, except upon some definite urgent service, and with the intention of returning to the station as soon as such service is performed, shall share in any prize taken by Our ships or vessels left behind, after he has passed the limits of the station, or after he has surrendered the command to another flag officer appointed by the Admiralty to command in chief upon such station.
An inferior flag officer quitting any station (except when detached by orders from his commander- in-chief upon a special service, accompanied with orders to return to such station as soon as the ser- vice has been performed,) shall have no share in prizes taken by the ships and vessels remaining on the station, after he has passed the limits thereof. In like manner, flag officers remaining on such station shall not share in the prizes taken by such inferior officer, or by ships or vessels under his im- mediate command, after he has quitted the limits of the station, except he has been detached as afore- said.
A commander-in-chief or other flag officer belonging to any station shall not share in any prize or prizes taken out of the limits of that station by any ship or vessel under the command of a flag officer of any other station, or under orders from Our Commissioners of the Admiralty, unless such comman- der-in-chief or flag officer is expressly authorised by Our said Commissioners to take the command of that station in which the prize or prizes is or are taken, and shall actually have taken upon him such command.
Every commodore having a captain under him shall be esteemed a flag officer with respect, to the twentieth part of prizes taken, whether he'be commanding-in-chief or serving under command.
The first captain to the admiral and commander-in-chief of Our fleet, and also the first captain to any flag officer appointed to command a fleet of ten ships of the line or upwards, shall be deemed to be a flag officer for the purpose of sharing in prize, and shall be entitled to share therein as the junior Hag officer of such fleet.
Any officer on board any of Our ships of war at the time of capturing any prize or prizes, who shall have more commissions than one, shall be entitled only to share in such prize or prizes according to the share alloted to him by the above-mentioned distribution in respect to his superior commission or office.
And with reference to other officers it is to be noted that a captain, commander, or other com- manding officer of a ship or vessel, shall be deemed to be under the command of a flag, when he shall have received some order from, or be acting in the execution of some order issued by, a flag officer, whether he be, or be not within the limits of the station of such flag officer; and in the event of his be ing directed to join a flag officer on any station he shall be deemed to be under the command of such flag officer from the time when he arrives within the limits of the station, which circumstance is al- ways to be carefully noted in the log book, and it shall be considered that he continues under the flag officer of such station, until he shall have received some order directly from or be acting in the execution of some order issued by some other flag officer, duly authorized, or by the Lord High Ad- miral, or Our Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral.
And We hereby direct, that the captain, commander, lieutenant commanding, master command- ing, or any other officer, duly commanding any ship, sloop or vessel of war, singly taken any prize from the enemy,
that is to say, the officer actually in command at the time, shall have one-eighth of remainder, or if there is no flag, one-eighth of the entire net proceeds, except that if the single capturing ship be a rated ship, having a commander under the captain, the commander shall take a portion of the one-eighth part, as if he were commander of a sloop, according to the proportion here- inafter set forth; and if more than one commanding officer of the same rank of command shall be entitled to share as joint captors, the one-eighth shall be equally divided between them; but when captains, commanders, lieutenants commanding, and masters commanding respectively Our ships and vessels of war, and commanders under captains in rated ships shall share together in whatever variety of combination, the one-eighth shall be so divided into parts for a graduated apportionment as to provide for each captain receiving six parts; each commander of a sloop, or commander under a cap- tain in a rated ship, three parts; and each lieutenant commanding, or master commanding, or other
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