Candidates who pass the physical and mental examinations will receive appointments as Midshipmen, and become students of the Academy. Each Midshipman will be required to sign articles by which he binds himself to serve in the United States Navy eight years (including his time of probation at the Naval Academy), unless sooner discharged.

The pay of a Midshipman is $500 a year, commencing at the date of his admission.

The cruisers are the light cavalry of the navy. As their name implies, their duty is to cruise the seas, keeping in touch with the enemy's fleets and acting as the "eyes" of the line-of-battle ships. They are also intended for the double duty of attacking an enemy's commerce and defending that of the country whose flag they carry. Fleets of merchant vessels or of transport ships will be "convoyed" by cruisers from port to port.