Yearly Rate of Pay for Sea Service (1898 US dollars)

Rear-Admirals $6,000
Commodores 5,000
Captains 4,500
Commanders 3,500
Lieutenant-Commanders 2,800-3,000
Lieutenants 2,400-2,600
Lieutenants (jr grade) 1,800-2,000
Ensigns ....1,200-1,400
Naval Cadets 950
Naval Cadets (at Academy) 500
Mates 1,200
Medical and Pay Directors and Medical and Pay Inspectors and Chief Engineers having the same rank at sea 4,400
Fleet Surgeons, Fleet Paymasters and Fleet Engineers 4,400
Assistant Surgeons, Assistant Paymasters and Assistant Engineers 1,700-1,900
Surgeons, Paymasters and Chief Engineers 2,800-4,200
Passed Assistant Surgeons and Passed Assistant Paymasters 2,000-2,200
Passed Assistant Engineers 2,000 Chaplains 2,500
Boatswains, Gunners, Carpenters and Sailmakers 1,200

The salary attached to many of the officers is gradually increased for long periods of service. A chief engineer at starting has $2,8oo; after twenty years in the service, $4,200.

Pay Rates Per Month
Chief Masters-at-Arms $65.00
Chief Boatswains' Mates 50.00
Chief Gunners' Mates 50.00
Chief Quartermasters 50.00
Masters-at-Arms 40.00
Boatswains' Mates 40.00
Gunners' Mates 40.00
Quartermasters 40.00
Schoolmasters 40.00
Machinists 55.00
Blacksmiths 50.00
Seamen Gunners 26.00
Seamen 19.00-24.00
Apprentices 15.00-21.00
Firemen 30.00-35.00
Musicians 30.00-32.00
Landsmen 16.00

Prize Money for Our Navy

The commanding officer of the fleet or squadron receives one-twentieth of all prize money awarded to any vessel or vessels under his immediate control.

Fleet Captain: The fleet captain is entitled to 1/100 part of the award made to any vessel or vessels of the fleet or squadron for which he serves except in the case where the capture is made by the vessel in which he is serving, and in that case he shares in proportion to his pay with the other officers and men on board the vessel.

Commander of a Vessel: The commander of a single vessel is given 1/10 of the money awarded to his vessel if it is acting at the time of the capture under the command of the commanding officer of a fleet, squadron or division, and 3/20 of it if it was acting independently.

Officers and Crew: After deducting sums to which the commanding officers are entitled, the remainder of the prize money shall be awarded to the officers and crew of the vessel in proportion to the pay each draws.

Who Share: All vessels of the navy that are within signaling distance of the vessel or vessels making the capture, and in such circumstances as to render efficient aid if required, share in the prize.

When the District Court of the United States shall determine that a prize was of inferior force to the captor, 1/2 the proceeds of the sale shall go to the captor and 1/2 to the United States, but if the prize was of equal or superior force to the vessel making the capture, the entire net proceeds of the sale shall go to the captor.

Section 4635 of the Revised Statutes authorizes the payment of a bounty of $100 for each man on an enemy's ship of war that is destroyed in action.

Prize Courts

Before a prize can be sold and prize money awarded to the captors, the legality of the capture must be confirmed by a court having jurisdiction in the matter.

The prize courts of this country are United States District and Circuit Courts with an appeal from the Circuit Court up to the Supreme Court of the United States. These courts decide the questions of belligerency, neutrality, capture, contraband, and from their decision are derived the title to prizes. All sales of captured prizes are illegal when made within neutral ports.

Admiral George Dewey
Commodore Winfield Scott Schley
Admiral William T. Sampson
Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan
US Navy Pay Rates and Prize Money

Back to Chapter 10: American Navy