<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Chief Petty Officer (CPO) is the seventh enlisted rate (E-7) in the United States Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above petty officer first class and below senior chief petty officer . The rate of chief petty officer is that of a senior non-commissioned officer, and was established on 1 April 1893 for the United States Navy . The United States Congress first authorized the Coast Guard to use the promotion to chief petty officer on 18 May 1920 . Chief petty officer is also the final cadet rate in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps . </P> <P> Prior to 1958, Chief Petty Officer was the highest enlisted rank in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard . This changed on 20 May 1958 with the passage Pub. L. 85--422, the Military Pay Act of 1958, which established two new pay grades of E-8 and E-9 in all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces . In the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, the new E-8 pay grade was titled Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) and the new E-9 pay grade as Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO), with the first selectees promoting to their respective grades in 1959 and 1960 . </P>

When was the rank of chief petty officer established