---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 8172"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "8172"
heading: "Marine Corps organizations on vessels: authority of officers"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/8172"
units:
  - "Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 821 — Officers in Command"
---

# §8172. Marine Corps organizations on vessels: authority of officers


When an organization of the [Marine Corps](/usc/10/8001.md?p=a-2) is embarked in any vessel, not as part of the authorized complement of the vessel, the authority of the [officers](/usc/10/8001.md?p=a-5) of that organization is the same as though the organization were serving at a naval station. However, this section does not impair the paramount authority of the commanding [officer](/usc/10/8001.md?p=a-5) of a vessel over the vessel and all persons embarked in it.


## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5952; renumbered § 8172, 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) |
| 5952 | 34 U.S.C. 623c. | May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 7(b), 64 Stat. 145. |

The words “organization of the Marine Corps” are substituted for “force of marines” for clarity. The words “or vessels”, “and powers”, “on shore”, and “under his command” are omitted as surplusage.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 5952 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.