10 U.S.C. § 8860: Duties of prize commissioners

receive from the prize master the documents and papers of the captured vessel and the inventory thereof; take the affidavit of the prize master required by section 8858 of this title ; take promptly, in the manner prescribed by section 8861 of this title , the testimony of the witnesses sent in; take, at the request of the United States attorney, on interrogatories prescribed by the court, the depositions de bene esse of the prize crew and others; examine and inventory the prize property; apply to the court for an order to the marshal to unload the cargo, if this is necessary to that examination and inventory; report to the court, and notify the United States attorney, whether any of the prize property requires immediate sale in the interest of all parties; report to the court, from time to time, any matter relating to the condition, custody, or disposal of the prize property requiring action by the court; the documents and papers received, duly scheduled and numbered; the preparatory evidence; the evidence taken de bene esse; and their inventory of the prize property; and report to the Secretary of the Navy, if, in their judgment, any of the prize property is useful to the United States in the prosecution of war.