---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 8171"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "8171"
heading: "Continuation of authority after loss of vessel or aircraft"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/8171"
units:
  - "Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 821 — Officers in Command"
---

# §8171. Continuation of authority after loss of vessel or aircraft


If the crew of any naval vessel or naval aircraft are separated from their vessel or aircraft because of its wreck, loss, or destruction, all the command and authority given to the [officers](/usc/10/8001.md?p=a-5) of the vessel or aircraft remain in full force until the crew are discharged or reassigned.


## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5951; renumbered § 8171, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 5951 | 34 U.S.C. 264. | May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 7(a), 64 Stat. 145. |

The word “officers” is substituted for the word “officer” since the cited subsection of the Act of May 5, 1950, was intended to reenact the substance of Article 21 of the Articles for the Government of the Navy (R.S. 1624; 34 U.S.C. 1200), in which the word “officers” was used. The words “regularly” and “by competent authority” are omitted as surplusage.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 5951 of this title as this section.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.