PART I.-VESSELS. 1. Definition of vessel. 2. Vessels of the United States. 3. Registered vessels. 4. Whaling vessels. 5. Enrolled and licensed vessels. 6. Licensed vessels under twenty tons. 1. Definition of vessel. 7. Undocumented vessels. 9. Official number. 11. Change of name. The word "vessel " includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. 2. Vessels of the United States. Vessels registered pursuant to law and no others, except such as shall be duly qualified according to law for carrying on the coasting or fishing trade, shall be deemed vessels of the United States, and entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining to such vessels; but no such vessel shall enjoy such benefits and privileges longer than it shall continue to be wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States or a corporation created under the laws of any of the States thereof, and be commanded by R. S., 3. a citizen of the United States. And all the officers of May 28, 1896. vessels of the United States who shall have charge of a watch, including pilots, shall in all cases be citizens of the United States. [See also qualifications of officers, page 53.] No vessel which has been recorded or registered as an R. S., 4135. American vessel of the United States, pursuant to law, and which was licensed or otherwise authorized to sail under a foreign flag, and to have the protection of any foreign government during the existence of the rebellion, shall be deemed or registered as a vessel of the United States, or shall have the rights and privileges of vessels of the United States, except under provisions of law especially authorizing such registry. 3. Registered vessels. Vessels built within the United States, and belonging R. S., 4132. wholly to citizens thereof, and vessels which may be captured in war by citizens of the United States, and lawfully condemned as prize, or which may be adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, being wholly owned by citizens, and no others, may be registered as directed in this title [R. S., 4131-4305]. R. S., 4165. Mar. 3, 1897. R. S., 4339. R. S., 4311. R. S., 4316. R. S., 4317. R S., 4319. R. S., 4331. A vessel registered pursuant to law, which by sale has become the property of a foreigner, shall be entitled to a new register upon afterwards becoming American property, unless it has been enlarged or undergone change in build outside of the United States. 4. Whaling vessels. All vessels which may clear with registers for the purpose of engaging in the whale fishery shall be deemed to have lawful and sufficient papers for such voyages, securing the privileges and rights of registered vessels, and the privileges and exemptions of vessels enrolled and licensed for the fisheries. 5. Enrolled and licensed vessels. Vessels of twenty tons and upward, enrolled in pursuance of this Title [R. S., 4311-4390], and having a license in force, or vessels of less than twenty tons, which, although not enrolled, have a license in force, as required by this Title, and no others, shall be deemed vessels of the United States entitled to the privileges of vessels employed in the coasting-trade or fisheries. Any steamboat employed or intended to be employed only in a river or bay of the United States, owned wholly or in part by an alien resident within the United States, may be enrolled and licensed, as if the same belonged to a citizen of the United States, subject to all the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4311-4390], except that, in such case, no oath shall be required that the boat belongs to a citizen of the United States. Such resident alien, owner of any steamboat, upon application for enrollment or license, shall give bond to the collector of the district, for the use of the United States, in the penalty of one thousand dollars, with sufficient surety, conditioned that the boat shall not be employed in other waters than the rivers and bays of the United States. Any vessel of the United States, navigating the waters on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers, otherwise than by sea, shall be enrolled and licensed in such form as other vessels; such enrollment and license shall authorize any such vessel to be employed either in the coasting or foreign trade on such frontiers, and no certificate of registry shall be required for vessels so employed. Such vessel shall be, in every other respect, liable to the regulations and penalties relating to registered and licensed vessels. 6. Licensed vessels under twenty tons. Before any vessel, of the burden of five tons, and less than twenty tons, shall be licensed, the same measurement shall be made of such vessel, and the same provisions observed relative thereto, as are to be observed in case of measuring vessels to be registered or enrolled; but in all cases, where such vessel or any other licensed vessel shall have been once measured, it shall not be necessary to measure such vessel anew, for the purpose of obtaining another enrollment or license, unless such vessel shall have undergone some alteration as to her burden, subsequent to the time of her former license. 7. Undocumented vessels. The act [R. S., 4311-4385] to which this is a supplement Apr. 18, 1874. shall not be so construed as to extend the provisions of the said act to canal boats or boats employed on the internal waters or canals of any State; and all such boats, excepting only such as are provided with sails or propelling machinery of their own adapted to lake or coastwise navigation, and excepting such as are employed in trade with the Canadas, shall be exempt from the provisions of the said act, and from the payment of all customs and other fees under any act of Congress. June 19, 1886. The provisions of title fifty [R. S., 4311-4390] of the June 30, 1879. Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be so construed as to require the payment of any fee or charge for the enrolling or licensing of vessels, built in the United States and owned by citizens thereof, not propelled by sail or by internal motive power of their own, and not in any case carrying passengers, whether navigating the internal waters of a State or the navigable waters of the United States, and not engaged in trade with contiguous foreign territory, nor shall this or any existing law be construed to require the enrolling, registering or licensing of any flat boat, barge or like craft for the carriage of freight, not propelled by sail or by internal motive power of its own, on the rivers or lakes of the United States. Nothing in this Title [R. S., 4311-4390] shall be con- R. S., 4385. strued to extend to any boat or lighter not being masted, or if masted and not decked, employed in the harbor of any town or city. 8. Yachts. R. S., 4214. Sec. 10. Jan. 16, 1895. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor may cause yachts used and employed exclusively as pleasure vessels or designed as models of naval architecture, if built and owned in compliance with the provisions of sections forty-one hundred and thirty-three to forty-one hundred and thirtyfive, to be licensed on terms which will authorize them to proceed from port to port of the United States, and by sea to foreign ports, without entering or clearing at the custom-house, such license shall be in such form as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may prescribe. Such Feb. 14, 1903. vessels, so enrolled and licensed, shall not be allowed to transport merchandise or carry passengers for pay. Such vessels shall have their name and port placed on some conspicuous portion of their hulls. Such vessels shall, in 9108-08- -2 Sec. 10. R. S., 4214. Mar. 3, 1883. Sec. 4. all respects, except as above, be subject to the laws of the United States, and shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture for any violation of the provisions of this title [R. S., 4131-4305]. No licensed yacht shall engage in any trade, nor in any Jan. 16, 1895. Way violate the revenue laws of the United States; and every such yacht shall comply with the laws in all respects. Any master or owner violating the provisions of the preceding section shall be liable to the penalty of two hundred dollars, in addition to any other penalty imFeb. 14, 1903. posed by law. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall have power to remit or mitigate any such penalty if in his opinion it was incurred without negligence or intention of fraud. Sec. 10. R. S., 4217. For the identification of yachts and their owners, a commission to sail for pleasure in any designated yacht belonging to any regularly organized and incorporated yacht club, stating the exemptions and privileges enjoyed Feb. 14, 1903. under it, may be issued by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and shall be a token of credit to any United States official, and to the authorities of any foreign power, for privileges enjoyed under it. Sec. 10. R. S., 4215. R. S., 4216. All such licensed yachts shall use a signal of the form, size, and colors prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy; and the owners thereof shall at all times permit the naval architects in the employ of the United States to examine and copy the models of such yachts. Yachts, belonging to a regularly organized yacht club of any foreign nation which shall extend like privileges to the yachts of the United States, shall have the privilege of entering or leaving any port of the United States without entering or clearing at the custom-house thereof or Feb. 5, 1897. paying tonnage tax: Provided, That the privileges of this section shall not extend to any yacht built outside of the United States and owned, chartered, or used by a citizen of the United States, unless such ownership or charter was acquired prior to the passage of this Act. [See also Tonnage tax, paragraph 155, page 146.] R. S., 4218. R. S., 4177. Every yacht visiting a foreign country under the provisions of the four preceding sections shall, on her return to the United States, make due entry at the custom-house of the port at which, on such return, she shall arrive. 9. Official number. The Commissioner of Navigation shall have power, July 5, 1884. under such regulations as he shall prescribe, to establish and provide a system of numbering vessels so registered, enrolled, and licensed; and each vessel so numbered shall have her number deeply carved or otherwise permanently June 19, 1886. marked on her main beam; and if at any time she shall cease to be so marked, such vessel shall be liable to a fine of thirty dollars on every arrival in a port of the United Sec. 6. |