GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 246. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, 
Washington, August 13, 1864. 
The following “ Rules and Regulations for preventing collisions 
on the icater,” published in General Orders, No. 34, of May 4, 1864, 
from the Navy Department, will be immediately adopted on all ves- 
sels owned or chartered by the Quartermaster’s Department of the 
army:— 
The provisions of the following act, ‘‘fixing certain rules and reg- 
ulations for preventing collisions on water,” to take effect on the 
1st day of September, 1864, are adopted for the Naval service of the 
United States from this date. As most of the collisions occur from 
the non-observance of article sixteen, it is particularly enjoined upon 
commanding officers, in approaching another vessel, to slacken and 
stop in time to prevent the possibility of collision : 
AN ACT fixing certain rules and regulations for preventing colli- 
sions on the water. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and 
after September one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, the following 
rules and regulations for preventing collisions on the water be 
adopted in the Navy and the mercantile marine of the United States : 
Provided, That the exhibition of any light on board of a vessel-of- 
war of the United States may be suspended whenever, in the opin- 
ion of the Secretary of the Navy, the commander-in-chief of a squad- 
ron, or the commander of a vessel acting singly, the special char- 
acter of the service may require it: 
REGULATIONS EOE PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON THE WATER. 
Contents. 
Article 1. Preliminary. 
Rules concerning lights. 
2. Lights to be carried as follows. 
3. Lights for steamships. 
4. Lights for steam-tugs. 
5. Lights for sailing ships. 
6. Exceptional lights for small sailing vessels. 
7. Lights for ships at anchor. 
8. Lights for pilot vessels. 
9. Lights for fishing vessels and boats. Rules concerning fog-signals. 
Article 10. hog-signals. 
Steering and sailing rules. 
11. Two sailing ships meeting. 
12. Two sailing ships crossing. 
13. Two ships under steam meeting. 
14. T wo ships under steam crossing. 
15. Sailing ship and ship under steam. 
16. Ships under steam to slacken speed. 
17. Vessels overtaking other vessels. 
18. Construction of Articles 12, 14, 15, and 17. 
19. Proviso to save special cases. 
20. Xo ship under any circumstances to neglect proper 
precautions. 
PRELIMINARY. 
Ai'ticle 1. In the following rules, every steamship which is under 
sail, and not under steam, is to be considered a sailing ship; and 
every steamship which is under steam, whether under sail or not, is 
to be considered a ship under steam. 
RULES CONCERN!XG LIGHTS. 
Lights. 
Article 2. The lights mentioned in the following articles, and no 
others, shall be carried in all weathers between sunset and sunrise. 
Lights for steamships. 
Article 3. All steam vessels when under weigh shall carry— 
(a) At the foremost head, a bright white light, so fixed as to 
show an uniform and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 
twenty points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light ten 
points on each side of the ship, viz: from right ahead to two points 
abaft the beam on either side, and of such a character as to be visi- 
ble on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at 
least five miles. 
(b) On the starboard side, a green light, so constructed as to 
throw an uniform and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 
ten points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of 
such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear 
atmosphere, at a distance of at least two miles. 
(c) On the port side, a red light, so constructed as to show an 
uniform unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of 
the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two 
points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to 
be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of 
at least two miles. 
(d) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard 
screens, projecting at least three feet forward from the light, so as 
to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow. 
Lights for steam-tags. 
Article 4. Steamships, when towing other ships, shall carry two 
bright white masthead lights vertically, in addition to their side 
lights, so as to distinguish them from other steamships. Each of 
these masthead lights shall be of the same construction and charac- 
ter as the masthead lights which other steamships are required to 
carry. 
Lights for sailing ships. 
Article 5. Sailing ships under weigh, or being towed, shall carry 
the same lights as steamships under weigh, with the exception of 
the white masthead lights, which they shall never carry. 
Exceptional lights for small sailing vessels. 
Article 6. Whenever, as in the ease of small vessels during bad 
weather, the green and red lights cannot be fixed, these lights shall 
be kept on deck, on their respective sides of the vessel, ready for 
instant exhibition, and shall, on the approach of or to other vessels, 
be exhibited on their respective sides in sufficient time to prevent 
collision, in such manner as to make them most visible, and so that 
the green light shall not be seen on the port side, nor the red light 
on the starboard side. 
To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy, 
they shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they 
respectively contain, and shall be provided with suitable screens. 
Lights for ships at anchor. 
Article 7. Ships, whether steamships or sailing ships, when at 4 
anchor in roadsteads or fairways, shall, between sunset and sunrise, 
exhibit where it can best be seen, but at a height not exceeding 
twenty feet above the hull, a white light in a globular lantern of 
eight inches in diameter, and so constructed as to show a clear uni- 
form and unbroken light visible all around the horizon, and at a 
distance of at least one mile. 
Ligh ts for pilot vessels. 
Article 8. Sailing pilot vessels shall not carry the lights required 
for other sailing vessels, but shall carry a white light at the mast- 
head, visible all around the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare- 
up light every fifteen minutes. 
Lights for fishing vessels and boats. 
Article 9. Open fishing boats and other open boats shall not be 
required to carry side lights required for other vessels; but shall, if 
they do not carry such lights, carry a lantern having a green slide 
on the one side and a red slide on the other side, and on the ap- 
proach of or to other vessels, such lantern shall be exhibited in 
sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not 
be seen on the port side, nor the red light on the starboard side. 
Fishing vessels and open boats when at anchor, or attached to their 
nets and stationary, shall exhibit a bright white light. Fishing ves- 
sels and open boats shall, however, not be prevented from using a 
flare-up in addition, if considered expedient. 
RULES GOVERNING FOG-SIGNALS. 
Fog-signals. 
Article 10. Whenever there is a fog, whether by day or night, the 
fog-signals described below shall be carried and used, and shall be 
sounded at least every five minutes, viz: 
(a) Steamships under weigh shall use a steam-whistle, placed be- 
fore the funnel, not less than eight feet from the deck. 
(b) Sailing ships under weigh shall use a fog-horn. 
(c) Steamships and sailing ships, when not under weigh, shall 
use a bell. 
STEERING AND SAILING RULES. 
Two sailing ships meeting. 
Article 11. If two sailing ships are meeting, end on, or nearly end 
on, so as to invole risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put 
to port, so that each may pass on the port side of the other. 5 
Article 12. When two sailing ships are crossing so as to involve 
risk of collision, then, if they have the wind on different sides, the 
ship with the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the 
ship with the wind on the starboard side, except in the case in which 
the ship with the wind on the port side is close-hauled, and the other 
ship free, in which case the latter ship shall keep out of the way. 
But if they have the wind on the same side, or if one of them has 
the wind aft, the ship which is to windward shall keep out of the 
way of the ship which is to leeward. 
Two sailing ships crossing. 
Two ships under steam meeting. 
Article 13. If two ships under steam are meeting end on, or 
nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, the helms of both 
shall be put to port, so that each may pass on the port side of the 
other. 
Two ships under steam crossing. 
Article 14. If two ships under steam are crossing so as to involve 
risk of collision, the ship which has the other on her own starboard 
side shall keep out of the way of the other. 
Article 15. If two ships, one of which is a sailing ship and the 
other a steamship, are proceeding in such directions as to involve 
risk of collision, the steamship shall keep out of the way of the 
sailing ship. 
Sailing ship and. ship under steam. 
Article 16. Every steamship when approaching another ship so as 
to involve risk of collision, shall slacken her speed, or, if necessary, 
stop and reverse ; and every steamship shall, when in a fog, go at a 
moderate speed. 
Ships under steam to slacken speed. 
Vessels overtaking other vessels. 
Article 17. Every vessel overtaking any other vessel shall keep 
out of way of the said last-mentioned vessel. 
Construction of Articles 12, 14, 15, and 17. 
Article 18. Where, by the above rules, one of two ships is to keep 
out of the way, the other shall keep her course, subject to the quali- 
fications contained in the following articles : Proviso to save special cases. 
Article 19. In obeying and construing these rules due regard 
must be had to all dangers of navigation, and due regard must also 
be had to any special circumstances which may exist in any particu- 
lar case rendering the departure from the above rules necessary in 
order to avoid immediate danger. 
iVo ship under any circumstances to neglect proper precautions. 
Article 20. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any ship, or the 
owner or master, or crew thereof, from the consequences of any 
neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper 
lookout, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required 
by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances 
of the case. 
Approved April 29, 1804. 
Should a collision unfortunately take place, each commanding 
officer is required to furnish the Department with the following in- 
formation : 
1st. His own report, that of the pilot, the officer of the deck, and 
other officers who witnessed the occurrence. These reports and 
statements are to be exemplified by a diagram, and must contain the 
courses steered, the point at which the vessel was first seen, the 
bearing, the time when the engine was slowed, when the vessel was 
stopped, whether in motion, and, if so, at what speed at the moment 
of collision, the direction of the wind, the condition of the weather 
and atmosphere, what lookouts were placed, what lights were ex- 
hibited by both vessels, whether either vessel deviated from the 
above rules and regulations, whether any blame can attach to any 
one, and, if so, to whom, and any and all other facts bearing upon 
the subject. 
2. Written statements and estimate of damage from officers of the 
vessel with which the vessel of the U. S. Navy collided, if they can 
be obtained. 7 
3. Survey of the injury to both vessels by United States officers. 
4. If the vessel is in charge of a pilot, and the collision has 
occurred from his acting in violation of the above rules and regula- 
tions, the fact must be established in the report, and no pilotage 
paid to him. 
order of the Secretary of War : 
E. D. TOWNSEND, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Official : 
Assistant Adjutant General.