Case ID: us-ct-cl_23/html/0496-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Mr. Justice Blatchford", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

ASHER C. BAKER v. THE UNITED STATES.
    (23 C. Cls. R., 181; 125 U. S. R., 646.)
    
      On the defendants’ Appeal.
    
    The claimant is appointed a midshipman in 1867. In 1872 he is promoted to he ensign; in 1876 to be master; in 1884 to he a lieutenant. The only question involved is, 'whether, while pursuing his studies at the Naval Academy, he was serving either as an officer or as an enlisted man in the Navy.
    The court below decides:
    (1) The change of title made by the Act July 15, 1870 (16 Stat. L., 321), from midshipman to cadet-midshipman did not affect or change the character of the service of the undergraduates at the Naval Academy.
    (2) An officer in the Navy should be credited in the calculation of his longevity pay with his period of service at the Naval Academy. (Affirmed, vide post.)
    
    (3) The students at the Naval Academy are recognized by legislation as forming a part of the Navy. (Rev. Stat., § 1556; Act June 23, 1874, 18 Stat. L., 203.)
    The decision of the court below is affirmed on the same grounds.
   Mr. Justice Blatchford

delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court April 16, 1888.