General order, no. 51. : Navy Department, Washington, April 15, 1865. The department announces with profound sorrow to the officers and men of the Navy and Marine Corps the death of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States. Stricken down by the hand of an assassin on the evening of the 14th instant, when surrounded by his family and friends, he lingered a few hours after receiving the fatal wound, and died at seven o'clock twenty-two minutes this morning. ... The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will ... wear the usual badge of mourning for six months. The department further directs, that ... the commandants of squadrons, navy yards, and stations will cause the ensign of every vessel in their several commands to be hoisted at half-mast, and gun to be fired every half hour, beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. The flags of the several navy-yards and marine barracks will also be hoisted at half-mast. / Gideon Welles, secretary of the Navy.