Figure 7-4.-Evolution
in figure 7-4, many of the original uniform styles
have remained throughout the years.
In 1865 a Navy regulation reestablished
the term chief petty officer. The term was
first used for the ship’s master-at-arms. It made
him responsible for preservation of order and
obedience to all regulations. An excerpt from an
1865 regulation tasked the senior enlisted person
with the following responsibility:
The Master-at-Arms will be the chief petty
officer of the ship in which he shall serve.
All orders from him in regard to the police
of the vessel, the preservation of order,
and the obedience to regulations must be
of the CPO uniform.
obeyed by all petty officers and others of
the crew. But he shall have no right to
succession in command, and shall exercise
no authority in matters not specified
above.
This, however, did not establish the term chief
as a rate. It was merely a function rather than a
rate. Petty officers were divided into petty officers
of the line and petty officers of the staff. Chief
referred to the principal petty officer of the ship.
The next reference to the term chief was in
U .S. Navy Regulation Circular Number 41 dated
8 January 1885 (fig. 7-5). Here again the term
chief refers to a function or title rather than a rate.
7-10
