Periodical Information
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (1874-1977; Nos. 1-898).
Annapolis, Md.:
Naval Institute Press.
The first number indicates the Issue Number in which the article appears; the second number indicates the page on which it starts. Number 1 was published in 1874; number 898 appeared in December 1977.
"From 1874 through 1957, page numbers ran consecutively for the entire year, excluding advertisements. Beginning in 1958, page numbering started anew with each monthly issue. For many of the entries in the cumulative index, more than one pair of numbers will be found. The first pair denotes the indexed item, and subsequent pairs indicate comments on the item that were published in later issues." -cumulative index
Data for 1874-1977 is drawn from the USNI Proceedings Cumulative Index, published in 1982. This index is a difficult work; I believe many additional ships are mentioned in the Proceedings than are mentioned in this index. Many "See:" and "See also:" links required additional investigation, but I believe are accurate.
This table will help you determine which USNI issue is associated with which year of publication.