The officer of the watch is practically in command of the ship for the time being. He has to deal with any sudden emergency himself; there may very probably be no time to refer to the captain, even if it is advisable to do so. He keeps his watch on the fore-bridge, and sees that the quartermaster at the wheel keeps the ship upon her proper course. He takes observations from time to time, and is entirely responsible--under the captain--for the safety of the ship and all on board. All sorts of reports have to be made to him from time to time, and he makes or sends any necessary reports to the captain. The lieutenants have charge of their "divisions", which may be said to correspond to the companies of a regiment; have to inspect them at morning and evening parades, known respectively as "divisions" and "evening quarters", and are responsible for their men's clothing being uniform and kept up to the regulation quantities. They have many other incidental duties, such as boarding ships coming into harbour as "officer of the guard", going ashore in charge of men for drill, musketry, and other miscellaneous work of which space precludes the merest mention. The gunnery lieutenant is, of course, responsible for the guns and gunnery of the ship, which includes the musketry and infantry drill of the seamen and stokers. The torpedo lieutenant, as his name implies, has charge of the torpedoes and their tubes and the mining gear, and it is his business to see that they are all kept in proper working order and in instant readiness for action. In addition, he has entire charge of the electric lighting and wireless telegraphy. The navigating lieutenant has taken the place of the old "master", but is not, as he was, outside the executive line. His duty is to lay off the course for the ship, take her position at various times during the day by "shooting the sun" with his sextant, keep the chronometers wound up, and take general charge of the navigation of the ship. Following the order taken in the Navy List of the officers of a ship, we come to that very important personage the engineer commander. In some sort he occupies a similar position to the old sailing-masters in the days when ships were commanded by soldiers. The ship couldn't get along without the special engineering knowledge of this officer and his understudies any more than William the Conqueror could have got across Channel without Stephen FitzErard, his sailing-master. We may note, in passing, that to this day the executive ranks of the navy always call themselves the "military branch". They are, of course, the "militant" branch, though in one sense no one on board a ship in action can help being a militant too.