Case ID: us-ct-cl_61/html/0405-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Git ah am, Judge,\n    ", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

JOHN L. CRANMER v. THE UNITED STATES
    
    [No. C-609.
    Decided January 11, 1926]
    
      On the Proofs
    
    
      Coa,st Guard pay; rank of No. 1 surfmm. — The duties of a No. 1 surfman, TJ. S. Coast Guard, do not correspond to any grade, rating, or length of service in the Navy, and there was no assimilation of his pay under the act of May 22, 1917.
    
      The Reporter’s statement of the case:
    
      Mr. George A. King for the plaintiff. King & King were on the briefs.
    
      Mr. John G. Ewing, with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney General Herman J. Galloway, for the defendant.
    The court made special findings of fact, as follows:
    I. The plaintiff, John L. Cranmer, enlisted in the United States Life Saving Service October 16, 1903, and has served continuously therein and in the Coast Guard since its creation, through combination of the Life Saving and Revenue Cutter Services under the act of. January 28, 1915, 38 Stat. 800. He was rated acting No. 1 surfman September 15, 1916, and permanently appointed a No. 1 surfman December 15, 1916, in which rating he continued to serve until May 18, 1920, when he was rated a boatswain’s mate, first class. The period covered by this claim is from April 6, 1917, to May 17, 1920.
    II. In the United States Coast Guard Regulations for 1916 in force at the time covered by this suit, a No. 1 surf-man was classified as a petty officer, first class.
    Section 15 of the act of May 22,1917, 40 Stat. 87, provided, “ That during the continuance of the present war, warrant officers, petty officers, and enlisted men of the United States Coast Guard shall receive the same rates of pay as are or may hereafter be prescribed for corresponding grades or ratings and length of service in the Navy.”
    June 5,1917, the commandant of the Coast Guard submitted to the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, a tabulated statement showing the several grades and ratings of warrant officers, petty officers, etc., of the Coast Guard, stating opposite thereto the grades or ratings in the-Navy to which the Coast Guard grades or ratings corresponded, arranged on the basis of the duties and responsibilities of the several ratings. In this table it was stated as to a No. 1 surfman, “ No corresponding duties in the Navy.”
    Thereafter the Secretary of the Navy, October 10, 1917, issued a general order, giving tabulated corresponding grades or ratings between petty officers, etc., of the Coast Guard, and petty officers, etc., in the Navy, which order as to a corresponding grade or rating in the Navy to a No. 1 surfman stated “ No corresponding: rating.”
    This action was followed by a circular letter from Coast Guard headquarters, dated January 3, 1918, to put into-effect the order of the Secretary of the Navy, which set out, among other things, the comparative rates of pay for petty officers of the Coast Guard and for those of the Navy, to whom the Navy Department general order of October 10,. 1917, aforesaid, had declared such petty officers to correspond. This circular letter as to a comparative rating in the-Navy to a No. 1 surfman stated “ None.”
    III. From April 6, 1917, the date war was declared with Germany, to May 17, 1920, a No. 1 surfman, under direction of the keeper of the. Life Saving Station, was responsible for the policing and discipline of the station and required to perform such other duties as might be assigned to him. He was responsible for the care and preservation of all flags and bunting and was required to see that all flags in use were kept repaired and in serviceable condition. He was responsible for the care, cleanliness, neatness, and general condition of the boats, and the gear and other equipment belonging to the station. He was required to see that the boats were properly equipped at all times, promptly reporting to the keeper any deficiencies or defects discovered, and to take care that they were well secured and protected from injury. He was responsible for the proper storage of the beach cart and required to see that all apparatus was properly stored and cared for. Under direction of the keeper he was required to carry out the daily routine established for the station,. to prepare the weekly transcript of the log, and when required, to assist the keeper in preparing a return of public property.
    The keeper and the No. 1 surfman were not permitted to be absent from duty at the same time except in cases of urgent necessity, provided that during an extended absence of either the keeper or the No. 1 surfman the other should not be deprived of his regular turn of liberty if the No. 2 surf-man was competent to take charge. It was the duty of the officer in charge to issue all orders relative to the duties of the station and its care to the senior petty officer, who was a No. 1 surfman, and it was the duty of the keeper to keep the No. 1 surfman advised and informed in all respects of his own, the keeper’s, methods of performing his duties. A No. 1 surfman was required to submit a weekly transcript of the station log in a prescribed form to the keeper and to make and sign a certificate that the copy was correct.
    If during the active season a keeper is absent, or because of sickness or accident is unable to discharge his duties, the No. 1 surfman shall assume charge and shall perform the duties and have the authority and responsibility of the keeper until the latter’s return to duty, or until another keeper is designated. In case the No. 1 surfman, by reason of absence or disability, is not able to take charge, surfman No. 2 shall assume charge, and so on, the highest numbered member of the crew present always taking charge in the absence or disability of his seniors. A person having charge as keeper shall not be required to perform patrol duty.
    If any of the effects of a deceased person were perishable or deteriorating, it was required that they be sold at auction and the proceeds turned over to the No. 1 surfman, as a part of the effects of the deceased, to be delivered to the person designated in the enlistment contract and record upon satisfactory proof. The No. 1 surfman was responsible for the care and preservation and transfer of the libraries furnished the station. During the war a number of keepers were detailed to the barge office in New York City, and in their absence the entire command of their stations passed to a No. 1 surfman. There were also regular duties, involving wreck, rescue, and assistance work and watch and patrol, in which a No. 1 surfman was required to participate along with the other members of the crew.
    To be rated as a No. 1 surfman no specific service was necessary, but, in the judgment of the nominating officer, he was to be the best-equipped surfman for the position, which position eventually might lead to that of keeper, and it was his general qualifications and professional qualifications that were considered in promoting a surfman to a No. 1 surfman, the professional qualifications being his ability to handle boats at all times and his general qualifications, his ability to exercise command judiciously and properly. He had to do with boats at sea as distinguished from those in the engineering construction or medical branches of the corps. His duties were of a kind usually assigned to a chief petty officer, and many times a No. 1 surfman was in charge of a station for months where there was no keeper. Promotions from surfman are to No. 1 surfman and from No. 1 surfman to the warrant grade of keeper.
    One of the features of a chief petty officer’s uniform is the box coat, distinguished from a sailor’s blouse. Chief petty officers of the Coast Guard and of the Navy wear a box coat and the insignia of their rank on the sleeve. A No. 1 surfman wears such a coat with the corresponding chevrons to a chief petty officer, also the usual cap worn by chief petty officers.
    IY. During the period covered by this claim, all chief petty officers- of the Navy were required to be leading men of strong character, thoroughly familiar with the particular duties of their respective ratings and fully capable of taking charge of men at drills, of controlling work, of planning details for the best employment of the force available, and of maintaining the discipline expected from chief petty officers. Irrespective of rating they were required to have a thorough knowledge of the responsibilities of chief petty officers, duties in general, privileges, pride in the performance of their duties, chances for advancement, duties at emergency drills (in general), uniform regulations, drill books, duties of beachmasters, patrol officers, making guard trips, routine division duties, in general, the duties of junior division officers, the idea and ideals of an officer, and the methods by which to obtain exact knowledge.
    In addition to the special subjects for all chief petty officers, chief boatswain’s mates were required to receive instruction in and show a thorough knowledge of the duties of a boatswain as given in the Navy Regulations; an accurate knowledge of the duties of coxwains’ and boatswains’ mates; a thorough knowledge of the details of handling boats under oars and sails, and ability to instruct others in this; details of handling lines, lowering and hoisting boats, supervising, handling heavy weights, blocks, tackles, and proper leads, and knowledge of all systems of signalling used in the service day and night.
    The warrant grade of boatswain is normally reached by promotion from chief boatswain’s mate, but appointments thereto are not restricted to that rating, although a great majority of warrant officers, boatswains, comes from the rating of chief boatswain’s mates, the best men being picked for the position.
    Y. The duties of No. 1 surfman and of surfmen in general correspond to no grades or ratings or length of service in the Navy.
    YI. In some of the ratings of chief petty officers of the Navy the base pay differs, as between chief boatswain’s mates, chief master at arms, and chief machinist mates.
    The plaintiff, during the period covered by this claim, from April 6, 1917, to May 17, 1920, was paid at the Coast Guard rate of pay for a No. 1 surfman. The difference between the pay of a chief boatswain’s mate in the Navy for this same period and the amount the plaintiff received as aforesaid would be $417.09.
    The court decided that plaintiff was not entitled to recover.
    
      
       Writ of certiorari denied.
    
   Git ah am, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff, a No. 1 surfman in the Coast Guard and classified as a petty officer of the first class,' claims that his grading should be that of a chief boatswain’s mate in the Navy by assimilation of pay under the act of May 22, 1917, 40 Stat. 87, which is as follows:

“ That during the continuance of the present war, warrant officers, petty officers, and the enlisted men of the United States Coast Guard, shall receive the same rates of pay as are or may hereafter be prescribed for corresponding grades or ratings and length of service in the Navy.”

In the case of Allen v. United States, 56 C. Cls. 265; 261 U. S. 317, a question somewhat similar to the one before us was involved, and the court held that it was a question of fact; that is, whether the responsibilities and duties of the two positions mentioned are the same, or whether there is in the Navy any corresponding grade or rating to that of a No. 1 surfman in the Coast Guard. In the Allen ease the commandant in the Coast Guard found, and so reported, that the grade of yeoman in the Coast Guard corresponded to that of chief yeoman in the Navy. The Secretary of the Navy disagreed with this and found that there was no grade or rating in the Navy which corresponded with that of yeoman in the Coast Guard. The court in passing upon the facts concluded that the Secretary was wrong and the commandant was right.

In the case under consideration there is no difference at all between the reports of the commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of the Navy. Both found that there is in the Navy no rank or grade corresponding to that of No. 1 surfman in the Coast Guard. The court has found (Finding V) that the duties of a No. 1 surfman do not correspond to any grade or rating or length of service in the Navy.

After the commandant and Secretary had reached the conclusions stated, which were presumably known to Congress, the latter passed the act of May 18, 1920, 41 Stat. 603, in which the base pay of a surfman in the Coast Guard is fixed at $70 a month. It would seem that Congress would not have made such specific provision for the salary of the position if it had recognized that there was any assimilation of the grade of surfman in the Coast Guard and that of petty officer in the Navy.

It is worthy of note that if the contention of plaintiff is correct that the legal pay of No. 1 surf man prior to the passage of the latter act was more than $70, the amount fixed by that act, then Congress, by the act reduced the pay of the position, a very unusual procedure for Congress when dealing with the compensation of military and naval positions.

The petition should be dismissed, and it is so ordered.

Hat, Judge; DowNet, Judge; Booth, Judge; and Campbell, Chief Justice, concur.