Ship Regulations

of the navy of the USSR, regulations governing the responsibilities of officers aboard all warships, the procedure for the performance of daily duties, and life aboard a ship. Similar regulations exist in the navies of other states. In the Russian Navy, the first regulations (called the Naval Regulations) appeared in the late 17th century.

The Ship Regulations of the Soviet Navy contains the basic regulations on the organization of command, ship combat units and services, and ship command posts and action stations; it determines the responsibilities of officers and the organization of the combat and political training of the ship’s crew. It also sets forth measures to promote the ship’s survivability, provide for its refitting and basing, maintain sanitary conditions, safeguard the health of servicemen, and establish shipboard rules, the organization of daily life, and crew shore-leave procedures. The Ship Regulations contains the text for the naval oath of allegiance, the rules concerning the national and ship flags and the procedure for raising and lowering them, the rendering of military salutes, and the conduct of ship salutes, parades, and celebrations. A special section of the Ship Regulations details the organization of ship service orders, including duty, watches, special duty details, ship’s guard, and domestic work details. The appendix includes a table of signals and rules concerning crew and persons temporarily assigned to a ship. The requirements of the Ship Regulations are obligatory for a ship’s entire crew, including those on temporary shore leave, as well as for all servicemen and civilians temporarily on board ships.