What is the 7th law of the sea?

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 31 Aug 2003 19:38 PDT

Could you tell us a little more about this "7th law" that you're
seeking?

The various maritime codes (ancient and modern) have different laws
that happen to be listed seventh.

Can you provide any additional details that might help us narrow
things down a bit?

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Clarification of Question by joep-ga on 31 Aug 2003 20:27 PDT

I believe that the answer may have something to do with the relations
between juniors and their superiors, though I'm not completely
positive. Should not have much to do with a modern maritime code but
more to do with naval tradition.

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Clarification of Question by joep-ga on 01 Sep 2003 02:42 PDT

I think I erred when I asked to question. What I'm looking for may not
be the 7th law of the sea but the 7th law of the navy.

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 04 Sep 2003 10:53 PDT

Dear Joep:

You remarked below that my comment was helpful.  Please let me know in
a clarification if you would like me to post those finding as an
answer.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

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Clarification of Question by joep-ga on 04 Sep 2003 11:52 PDT

The poem you referred me to is correct. But the version posted at
http://www.gwpda.org/naval/lawsnavy.htm has the stanzas broken up in a
more appropriate manner (more evenly), where each stanza represents a
law. The law I was referring to that dealt with senior-junior
relations is law 3, not law 7, as I mistakenly thought (I confirmed
this). And what is commonly referred to as the 5th law, probably the
most well known of the laws, appears as the fifth staza in this poem.
Thus, the 7th law is as follows:

So shall ye, if perchance ye grow weary, 
In the uttermost parts of the sea, 
Pray for leave, for the good of the Service, 
As much and as oft as may be.  

Thanks for all the help; I think this question can be closed. 

Joe P.

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 06 Sep 2003 07:11 PDT

I like the version you discovered as it has a better view of the
stanzas - I had trouble ascertaining the "law count" with the version
I located. I wasn't certain if your comment about closing the question
meant that you wanted me to post my findings in the answer box so I'll
wait for your explicit direction on that.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

You might want to look through these documents (many of which have at
least seven parts) to see whether anything seems appropriate:

http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/histdocs.html

Greetings Joep:

From the poem "The Laws of the Navy" by Captain Hopwood, RN, at
http://www.bluejacket.com/laws_navy.html - the seventh law appears to
be:

"Even so with the words of thy seniors,
And the orders those words shall convey.
Every law is as naught beside this one-
"Thou shalt not criticise, but obey!""

The "fifth law" from the poem is refereed to at
http://www.geocities.com/nicole_fiedler/usna.html - counting from
there, the "obey" reference appears to be the seventh law in that
poem.  You may want to examine the poem at
http://www.bluejacket.com/laws_navy.html to decide for yourself.

Please let me know if this is helpful to you.

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

"laws of the Navy"
"law of the Navy"

Yes, that was very helpful. Thank you.