Chapter VI: Flag Signals (2)

19. Item If it fortune a strange shipp to fall into the fleet
by night, that you dowbt them, you shall call unto them for the
watchword. And if he or they have not the same then you shall hange
up two lights one above the other on the same side of the shipp w^h
you shall perceave them of, so as the rest of y^e shipp maye have
warninge accordingly.

There is no provision in these "Rules" for any communication by signalling. All orders are given either by word of mouth or by sending a message by a pinnace.

The Instructions[369] for the Cadiz Expedition of 1596, elaborate as they are in certain directions, provide few signals. There was, of course, the "Flag of Council," half-mast high against the mizen-mast: the royal standard for the "selected" council, and the St George for all captains and masters. Each squadronal admiral might call the captains and masters of his own squadron to his flagship for orders by removing the white pendant (with which all ships were provided) from his mizen yard and hanging it in the main yard "two men's height." If a strange sail was sighted the nearest ship might chase it, but not more than one was to do so unless the admiral of the squadron signalled for two or three to go, by hanging out two or three flags (presumably any flags that were handy) one over the other. If the squadronal admiral himself bore up and chased, all might follow unless the Generals (Essex or Howard) hung out the flag of council, when all were to give over and keep their course. As a recognition signal, a ship that had lost company was to strike and hoist the maintopsail twice, or in bad weather the main mizen twice or as often as they liked.

The Instructions issued on various occasions during the next fifty years present few points that concern us. They never contain more than two or three signals, and those only of the type with which we are already sufficiently familiar. It may, however, be of interest to note the various forms taken by the "Flag of Council." In the Orders drawn up by Raleigh in 1617 for his expedition to Guiana the form of this flag is not indicated, apparently any flag might serve the purpose:

When the Admirall shall hang out a flagg in the main shrowdes, you
shall knowe it to be a flagg of counsell; then come aboard him[370].

For the voyage of Prince Charles to Spain in 1623 and for the Cadiz Expedition of 1625 the arrangement was the same as in 1596--the royal standard for the Council of War, or select council of the principal officers, and the St George for a general council of all captains and masters--but in August, 1628, Buckingham substituted the Union, or, as he called it, the "Brittish," flag for the St George in calling the general council. In September of that year, however, the Earl of Lindsey was using the Union flag for the Council of War and the St George for the council of Captains and Masters. The orders drawn up by Pennington in 1631 and in 1639 present a fresh variation, the separation of the Captains from the Masters:

44. Whensoever you shall see the Brittish flagg spred in my myson
shrowds, then all the Captains are to come aboard of me. If the Red
Antient then both the Captains and Masters.

In 1635 Lindsey used the Union flag for the General Council, or Council of War, but the signal for captains and masters was altered to the red ensign, and this form was adopted by the Earl of Northumberland in 1636.

Before we proceed to consider the signals of the First Dutch War, which heralded a new era, it will be desirable to refer to those contained in the _Dialogues_ of Nathaniel Boteler. Boteler had served as captain in the Cadiz Expedition of 1625 and in the Rochelle Expedition of 1627, and seems to have written the first draft of the _Dialogues_ shortly after the latter event. Judging from the manuscripts that remain, he re-wrote parts of them at various times until 1634, but his remarks on signals remain practically unaltered[371], and may be taken to represent the ideal of English seamanship of that period. On comparing them with Conflans' suggested instructions of 1515 it will be seen that the English ideal was by no means a high one, yet it was not surpassed until the Commonwealth Instructions were issued in 1654.

Speaking in guise of a seaman "Captain," who is instructing a court "Admiral" in his duties, Boteler says:

In the first place therfore, when the Generall entends upon such a
daye to make out to Sea with his whole Fleete; a fitt Signall to
expresse as much to every perticuler shypp may be, by causeinge his
Topp-sayles to lie loose upon the Capps, very early that morneinge;
and if itt prove to be hazie and darcke weather, soe that the
fleete being great, or lieing scattered att an Anchor, may not well
perceive it, Hee may then, about two or three houres before he
begin to waye his Anchors cause fire to be given to a single Piece
of Ordinance.

Secondly, if a fleete being att sea, and occasions require a
generall convention of the Captaines and Masters aborde the
Admiralls shypp: A fitt signall to lett them know itt may be, to
hang out a yellow flagge in the uppermost part of the Admiralls
Maine Shrowdes: But if ther be entended only the comeinge aborde of
the Counsell of Warre, then may ther be a blewe flagge hung out in
the same place; for I conceive that this part is more proper then
is the Missen Shrowdes, (though that be the most received place for
this purpose) in regard that itt is more perceptable and may better
be discovered.

Thirdly, if the Generall shall finde cause, to cast about in the
night (for if by daye, this asketh noe signall) besides the Light
or Lanthorne, which every Admirall is to carry in the Poope, the
most evidenceinge signe that I can thincke of may be, to put
another light in the Maine-topp: And if Hee entend to lie a-Hull,
to shewe two lights in the same place: If a-Trie, three lights, the
which lights are soe to be carried untill itt be founde that the
whole Fleete hathe taken notice of itt, and answere itt accordingly.

Fourthly, If any Squadron or parte of the fleete, by beinge too
forwards a-heade, shall be required to shorten sayle, and to attend
the comeinge up of the Admirall; a Signe appropriated may be, to
heave or wave an Ensigne abroade in the Admiralls Fore-topp, and to
give fire to a great piece withall; And on the contrary, whensoever
any of them keepe too farre a-sterne, to wave out the same flagge
in the Missen-topp.

Fifthly, If upon the discoverye of any straunge fleete or Shyp,
the Generall find itt fitt to have any of the Pinnaces, and best
saylers of his fleete, to stand in with them, and to require them
to come to speake with him; an apte signe may be to give fire to
a piece of Ordinance or two out of his own chase, and withall to
shewe a flagge in his Bolt sprites Topp.

Sixthly, Whensoever a Fleete shall meet with the Enemies fleete,
and after due consultation aborde the Admirall, itt shall be found
fitt to fight, the Admirall may take in his ordinary Ensigne from
the poope of the shyp and hang out another all redd, which is
tearmed the bloudy Colors; that soe all the fleete may dispose
and order themselves to fall on upon the Enemie in such forme and
fashion as they are before hand to be instructed in.

And thes are such necessary Causes, to require any signalls to be
expressed by the Generall himselfe, out of his perticuler Shypp:
It followes, to intimate in some other perticulers, wherin every
perticuler shypp of the fleete is to doe the like; hereby as well
to give notice to the Generall himselfe or any of the rest.

_Admiral._ And what are thes?

_Captain._ If any Shyp of a fleete shall discover any straunge
fleete, or any Squadron of straunge Shypps, or any single Shyp
whatsoever; itt being necessary that not only the Generall, but the
whole Armadoe, should with all expedition, receive advertisement
hereof. A convenient signall to this purpose may be, to shewe
abroade some flagge in that part of that Shyp which pointeth most
upon the discovered Straunger; and if it be a fleete that is soe
discovered, then to hang out two flagges in the same manner,
and withall to give to a great Gunne or two, that so notice may
generally be taken of what is done.

Likewise, whensoever a fleete comeinge out of the Sea, expecteth
a Landfall: the first Shyp of them that maketh Land is to give
present notice therof to all the rest of the fleete; and this she
is to doe, if itt be by daye, by shewinge her Colors abroade,
though itt be (for the time) in the Maine-topp itt selfe,
inclineinge and bendinge them towards that part whence Land is
discovered; and if this discovery happen in the night, she is
to shoote of two pieces of Ordinance and withall shewe a light
abroade; and instantly cast about and stand off, that the residue
of the fleete may take notice and beware.

If any Shyp of a fleete shall find her selfe in daunger of
founderinge in the Sea, by springeinge of a leake, or any the
like mischaunce; if this bee by daye shee maye shoote off three
pieces of Ordinance, and withall cause a youncker to goe upp to the
Maine-topp and shewe a waft: And if this happen in the night time;
then to continue this shooteinge ever and anon of a single piece,
and withall to shewe a light, that notice may be taken by the Gunne
and her selfe found out by the light, and so relieved. And because
ther may be many occasions wherby a fleete may be far dispersed,
and yet afterwards gett togither againe, and that itt is fitt, that
upon the first ken one of another, they may be knowne one unto
another and soe noe mistakeinges ensue, an apt Signall to this
purpose, may be by the puttinge out and takeinge in of a flagge soe
many times one after another as shall formerly be agreed upon, or
by the soe often strikeinge of a Topp-sayle or the like; the which
they are to answer one unto another.

Boteler's suggestion of yellow and blue flags as signals for calling a Council is of especial interest as being the earliest proposal to use special flags for making signals. Until the year 1654, signals--at any rate in English fleets--were with two exceptions always made with the flags already in use for other purposes, that is, with the Flags of Command or Colours of Distinction, whose primary uses we have already discussed. These two exceptions are the red flag of war and the white flag of peace.

The red flag, or "bloody colours" as it was often called, and the white flag are not mentioned in any of the early instructions. They were, in fact, international signals and formed part of the traditional "Custom of the Sea" which was never completely codified and, except so far as it was gathered into such collections as the Rooles d'Oléron and the Consolado del Mar, can now only be recovered by the laborious process of collecting precedents.

The red flag, could we completely trace its descent, would no doubt be found to have sprung from the "scarlet cloak" which the ancient Greek navy seems to have borrowed from the Phoenicians, but we first meet with it, so far as English ships are concerned, in the document of _circa_ 1299 referred to above[372] in which is set forth the injuries inflicted by the Normans on the shipping of England, Ireland and Gascony (then subject to the English crown). In April a fleet of English, Irish and Bayonne merchantmen set out from Portsmouth bound for Bordeaux. Off St Mathieu, on the coast of Brittany, they anchored. According to their own story, they were becalmed. News of their presence reached a fleet of 290 ships of Normandy, then loading wine in the river Charente. Leaving half their cargoes, in order that their sailing might not be impeded, the Normans fitted up fore and after castles and fighting tops at the mastheads and hoisted streamers of red sendal two yards broad and thirty yards long, called "baucans," as a sign that no quarter would be given[373]. A southerly wind having now sprung up the Normans fell upon the other fleet, only to receive a thorough beating. In refusing to give up the spoils taken on this occasion, the allies explained to Edward I that when the "baucan" had been raised in an engagement of this kind no one could be held responsible for life or property taken[374].

Although the red flag was a recognised signal for combat among all European nations, it was not until the year 1647 that it was formally included in the English "Instructions." It remained in them until the year 1799.

In the West Indies, so Cleirac tells us, the Spanish flag of combat was blue: in European waters it was red, with the arms of Castile upon it.

The flag of peace, or truce, seems to have been adopted at sea about the end of the fifteenth century, but although it may be regarded from one point of view as a signal it will be convenient to defer our consideration of it until we come to deal with the flag incidents connected with the surrender of a ship[375].

(ii) THE FIRST ENGLISH CODES[376]

It is evident from the foregoing sketch of the early history of flag signals that up to the middle of the seventeenth century the signals of the English navy were of the most elementary description. The first steps towards the introduction of a more efficient system were taken in 1647 when the "Right Honourable the Committee of the Lords and Commons for the Admiralty and Cinque Ports" issued "Instructions" on a more elaborate plan. The general instructions, dated 6th April, 1647, are preserved; but, unfortunately, the "Instructions for sailing," issued at the same time, which contained the signals, have not yet been brought to light. From the "supplementary instructions" preserved in the Harleian MSS., and printed by Sir Julian Corbett[377], it may be inferred that the British navy was at length drawing on a level with the navies of France and Spain in respect to its method of communicating orders.

In 1653 a further great improvement was made[378], and a "code" of instructions, with the accompanying signals, now appears, issued "By the Right Honourable the Generals and Admirals of the Fleet," and signed by Blake, Deane, and Monk. The following were the flags to be used for signals: A weft of the ensign or jack, a pendant, and the three flags--red, blue, and white--already in existence as flags of command.

The signal to "Engage the enemy," doubtless that used by Monk in fighting Tromp, and by Blake in his last glorious action of Santa Cruz, was made "by shooting-off two guns and putting a red flag over the fore topmast-head."

This Commonwealth code was further expanded in 1665, under the guidance of the Duke of York, afterwards King James II. In a supplementary order of the same year, a red and white striped flag first appears as the signal to chase. In 1672 and 1673 the instructions and signals were further amplified and then printed, being possibly the first set of naval fighting instructions to be put into print.

In a finely bound manuscript copy of the 1673 Instructions, now in the Admiralty Library, which, from internal evidence, was prepared about 1689, we have the earliest surviving example of the "signal book" proper. Hitherto the signals had been embodied in the various Articles of Sailing and Fighting Instructions, the appropriate flag being merely described in the text of each article, but no diagram or coloured representation of the flag being given. In this MS. we have for the first time coloured drawings of flags arranged in order, with the meaning and place where hoisted against each in parallel columns, a convenient method of systematising the signals that was not followed in the official printed "Instructions" for a century.

The flags of the manuscript are as follows:

Union Flag.
The Standard.
Red Ensign.
Blue Ensign.
White Ensign.
Dutch Ensign (red, white, and blue in three horizontal stripes).
A flag striped red and yellow from corner to corner.
Red flag.
Blue flag.
White flag.
A "Jack coloured with colours." (This was a "Union Jack," or small
Union flag.)
A pendant.
A flag striped red and white horizontally.
A flag striped red and white from corner to corner.
White with red diagonal cross.

In other copies of the 1673 Instructions the last four are omitted, but a flag striped yellow and white from corner to corner is mentioned as a signal for fireships.

The Instructions of 1673 formed the basis of the instructions for the next hundred years. They were issued in a revised form by Admiral Russell in 1691 when the following signal flags were added:

Yellow.
Striped yellow and white horizontally.
Red and white.
Genoese Ensign (similar to an elongated St. George's flag).

Russell's instructions were adopted by Rooke in 1703 with but slight modification of the articles and with no change in the flags.

The year 1714 saw the issue of the first printed "Signal Book." This was a private venture of one Jonathan Greenwood. The author justifiably boasts that he has "disposed matters in such a manner that any instruction may be found out in half a minute," and that he has "made it a pocket volume that it may be at hand upon all occasions." No doubt this duodecimo book was much more convenient than the folio size Instructions. Each signal is represented by a drawing of a ship flying the flag or flags of the signal at the proper place, the purport being added underneath, a method which appears to have been in use in the French navy at least 20 years earlier, for a Signal Book of 1693, containing De Tourville's signals arranged on this plan, was exhibited at the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908. Although the instructions were regarded as confidential the signals apparently were not, as the work is described as "designed to supply the Inferior Officers who cannot have recourse to the Printed Instructions."

The next "Signal Book" proper was again a private venture and was published by John Millan in 1746, "price 2_s._ 6_d._ plain and 4_s._ coloured." In this book the flags are set out along the tops of the pages, and the signals made with them are classified below, according to the different positions of the flags, with references to the numbers of the articles of the various Instructions--"Sailing," "Fighting," and "Additional"--in which the signals are laid down. The only new flags appearing here are the following:

White cross on red ground.
Red cross on blue ground.
Blue and white in two horizontal stripes.
Red and white in two horizontal stripes.

In a manuscript signal book of ten years later, in the Library of the Royal United Service Institution, we have the earliest representation of a "chequered" flag. This book is interesting. It contains Hawke's autograph, and is possibly the one in use by him when he "came sweeping from the West" at Quiberon. The following are the flags then first appearing:

Red, white, and blue in six horizontal stripes.
Spanish flag.
Blue and white in five horizontal stripes.
Red and white chequered.
Blue with six white balls[379].
Yellow and blue chequered.
Blue and white chequered pendant.

During the course of this--the "Seven Years'"--war a number of "additional" sailing and fighting instructions were issued by the Admiralty, to which the Admirals in command of fleets made some additions of their own. The advance made by the end of the war is indicated by a manuscript signal book dated 1762 containing the "General Printed and Additional Signals delivered out by Sir Edward Hawke." It illustrates the following flags:

Standard.
Union.
Red Ensign (called the "English Ensign").
Red }
White } plain flags.
Blue }
Yellow }
Red and white, two }
Red and white, seven }
Blue and white, two }
Blue and white, seven } horizontal stripes.
Yellow and white, five }
Red, white and blue, three }
Red, white and blue, six }
Red and blue }
Red and white } chequered.
Blue and yellow }
Red with blue cross.
Red with white cross.
Blue with red cross.
White with red cross.
White with blue cross.
Blue pierced with white square.
Spanish flag.
Red pendant.
Red and white striped pendant.

To which, though they are not illustrated, were added a blue pendant and a white pendant.

Development of signals henceforth became very rapid, and new flags had to be invented to keep up with them. This is well seen in the signal book used by Rodney in his memorable fight with De Grasse in 1782. Here we have, in addition to flags already mentioned, the following new ones:

Red and white, quarterly.
Blue and white, quarterly.
Red and blue, quarterly.
*Red and blue, two horizontal stripes.
*Blue and yellow, two horizontal stripes.
Blue, red, and white, three horizontal stripes.
Red, white, red, three horizontal stripes.
*Blue, white, red, three horizontal stripes (inverted Dutch Ensign).
Red pierced with white[380].
White pierced with red.
Yellow and blue, two vertical stripes.
White and red, two vertical stripes.
White with blue saltire.
Yellow with blue cross.
Blue and yellow in six horizontal stripes.
Eight pendants.

In addition to these the white and blue ensigns were also to be used for signalling purposes.

The flags marked * were also used inverted, as were also the two-striped red and white and blue and white flags already in use.

The signal to "Prepare for battle" was the red flag at the main topgallant masthead under the Admiral's flag.

To "Engage the enemy"; the same flag at the fore top masthead, just as in 1653.

"To come to a closer engagement"; the blue and white flag (two horizontal stripes) at the fore topgallant masthead under the signal for engaging.

In this code we reach the culmination of the old system of signalling by means of a large number of different flags each having a different meaning according to the position in which it was shown.

(iii) THE INVENTION OF NUMERARY SIGNALS

The development of tactics and fleet organisation and the consequent increase of the signals had been so rapid during the latter half of the eighteenth century that the old methods had become inadequate. In 1746 there were 16 flags in use to express 144 signals, by 1780 there were about 50 flags, each hoisted on an average in seven different positions, providing for about 330 signals. Twenty-five years later the Trafalgar signal book contained upwards of 400, not including those in Popham's Code.

So long as the signals were few in number, so that the flags could be made in a few strongly contrasted designs, and only the most prominent positions need be used for them, the old system had the advantage of simplicity, but when the signals multiplied, less conspicuous positions and less strikingly differentiated flags had also to be made use of, and simplicity gave place to complexity.

It must be remembered that flags at sea have to be distinguished not only when a fair breeze is unfurling them plainly to the view; they have also to be distinguished in a dead calm when they hang down along the halyards, and when distance and haze lend enchantment to the view but not to the signalman.

In order that the differences in the flags may be readily distinguishable at sea in any circumstances two conditions are essential--

(1) The colours must be quite unlike, so that they do not "merge" at a distance.

(2) The designs of the flags must be simple and not complicated.

In practice this limits the colours to the following: Red, blue, and yellow, with black and white. Moreover, it is found that when two of these colours are to be shown in one flag they should be of one of the following combinations: red and white, yellow and blue, blue and white, or black and white. But with so many as 40 flags it was impossible to adhere to these two rules.

The fact that no further development on old lines was possible was, no doubt, widely comprehended; for Admiral Sir Chas Knowles tells us that it was the Marquis of Hastings, an officer in the Army, then in America, who first advised him to "strike out something new." The first steps in the new direction were taken about 1778 by Kempenfelt, Howe, and Sir Chas Knowles, each acting more or less independently. There is no need to waste time in discussing the rival claims of these admirals to be the inventor of the numerary method, because as a matter of fact this method of denoting signals had been invented by Mahé de la Bourdonnais, 40 years before, for use in the struggle he was preparing to wage with us for the mastery of India and the East Indies. La Bourdonnais was one of the most brilliant and versatile officers that France has produced; but he was of somewhat obscure birth when compared with the high nobility who at that period officered the French navy, and he had been admitted to their ranks by a back door, having first served in the French East India Company. Fortunately for Great Britain, the jealousy of Dupleix and of La Bourdonnais' high-born brother officers thwarted his plans, and finally resulted in his recall to France. His signals seem never to have been adopted[381], but the system is described by Bourdé de Villehuet in his book, _Le Manœuvrier_, published in 1769, one of the classic works on tactics of the eighteenth century. It is evident from an extract in one of his letters to Lord Barham that it was from this source that Kempenfelt became acquainted with the system.

The claim of Admiral Sir Chas Knowles to have "discovered the signals by numbers" in 1778, which numeral signals he gave to Lord Howe on his arrival at Newport, Rhode Island, may therefore be dismissed, so far as discovery is concerned, but his claims to have "discovered the tabular flags (suggested by a chessboard)" may possibly hold good.

Sir Chas Knowles's signals were not adopted in the navy, but as we shall find "tabular flags" used in the Signal Books of Howe, it will be well to explain the two methods.

When a signal code has been drawn up and the signals have been numbered consecutively, the numbers may be represented by flags in two different ways.

The simple numerary method, that invented by La Bourdonnais and finally adopted by Howe for his principal signals, is to assign one flag to each of the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0; so that by combining the flags any desired signal number may be rendered.

The other, the tabular method, for which Sir Chas Knowles claims the credit of invention, is more complicated. A chequered table like a chessboard is ruled out, each side having a convenient number of squares, 8, 9, 10, or more. Then, choosing the same number of flags, these are laid out in order along the top, commencing at the left-hand corner, and also down the left side. The signal numbers are then placed in the squares of this table.

There will then obviously be two flags corresponding to each of the numbers, the top flag being that at the head of the vertical column in which the particular number is found, and the lower one that at the left of the corresponding horizontal column. For example, supposing we have three flags, red, white, and blue, they might be arranged as below:

Red White Blue
----+-------+-----
Red 1 | 4 | 7
----+-------+-----
White 2 | 5 | 8
----+-------+-----
Blue 3 | 6 | 9
----+-------+-----

The signal corresponding to 6 will then be a white flag over a blue one.

If the signals to be thus denoted number considerably more than 100, it is convenient to form the table of 10 squares to a side, giving 100 squares in all. The first 100 numbers will then be written in, and by the addition of suitable pendants to represent 100, 200, 300, etc., it will be possible to denote any signal number from 1 upwards.

The disadvantage of this method is that the individual flags have no fixed numerical value, and a reference to the table is necessary before the number represented by the combined flags can be ascertained, and _vice versâ_.

In spite of this drawback, this was the method first chosen by Howe for all his signals[382], and it was used by him in his second numerary code for those of his signals which were intended for the use of private ships when communicating with the flagships, the numeral signals of the La Bourdonnais method being in this code only used for the Admiral's orders to his fleet. In the 1799 Signal Book the tabular method was discontinued.

Some time before June, 1776, probably on being appointed to command the North America Squadron in February of that year, Howe had compiled a signal book on the old plan of single flags in particular positions, condensed from the "general signal book," and containing all the signals "likely to be needful on the present occasion."

The flags he employed were as follows, those marked * being also used inverted:

Union.
St George.
Red }
Yellow } plain flags.
Blue }
White }
*Red and white }
*Red and blue }
*Blue and white } in two horizontal stripes.
*Red and yellow }
*Blue and yellow }
*Red, blue, white }
*White, red, blue } in three horizontal stripes.
Blue, white, red }

A year or two later, probably in consultation with Kempenfelt, he drew up the first of his codes on the numerary system. The signals were divided into those for the Admiral and those for private ships. For the former a "table" of 16 squares on each side was employed with the following flags:

1. Yellow cross on blue ground.
2. Blue and yellow quarterly.
3. Blue cross on yellow.
4. Yellow.
5. Blue and yellow chequered.
6. White and red in two vertical stripes.
7. Red, white, and red in three vertical stripes.
8. Yellow and blue in two vertical stripes.
9. White cross on red.
10. Red and white chequered.
11. Red and white in two horizontal stripes.
12. Red and white quarterly.
13. Blue and yellow in two horizontal stripes.
14. Red.
15. Blue, yellow, blue, in three vertical stripes.
16. Yellow, blue, yellow, in three horizontal stripes.

The signals for "private" ships were mostly on the old plan of single flags in particular positions.

To express numbers, as in the number of ships seen, depth of water, latitude and longitude, a "table" of 10 squares each side was employed. The flags of this were as follows:

1. Union.
2. Red.
3. White.
4. Blue.
5. Red and white.
6. Blue and yellow.
7. Red, white, and blue.
8. Red pendant.
9. Yellow pendant.
10. Red, white, and blue pendant,
and a blue pendant to represent 100 for use in numbers from 101 upwards.

It will be noted that three of the most unsuitable of Rodney's flags, the quarterly red and blue, striped red and blue, and the red with blue cross, each of which would look like purple at a distance, had disappeared.

About the same date Kempenfelt produced his own numerary code. He tells Lord Barham, in a letter dated March, 1781[383], that the plan he followed was not that he most approved of.

That which I would have adopted--though most evidently the best--I
could not get any of the Admirals or Officers of note to approve
and countenance. I therefore followed in a great measure Lord
Howe's mode, he being a popular character.

In this code the transition from the old to the new method is well seen, for each signal has, besides a signal number for use after the new method, a flag and position for use after the old, e.g.:

"Engage the enemy" could be signalled as No. 224 or by means of a red flag at the fore topmast head.

"Prepare for battle" by the same flag at the fore topmast shrouds, or as No. 226.

"Come to closer engagement" by a red and white flag (two horizontal stripes) at the main topmast head, or as No. 171.

A special signal was provided to denote that the numerary signals were going to be used for practice, when every ship was to note down the significations. Kempenfelt improved upon Howe in that he did not separate out the "Private ship" signals, but included all in one series of more than 400 numbers. The flags for signalling by the old method were mostly the same as those already in use. His "table" for the new method was of 10 squares a side, as follows:

1. Union.
2. Yellow.
3. Blue and yellow, chequered.
4. Red pierced with white.
5. White cross on red ground.
6. Blue cross on yellow ground.
7. Red and white, quarterly.
8. White and red in two vertical stripes.
9. Yellow and blue in two vertical stripes.
10. Red and white in four horizontal stripes.
With pendants for 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500.

Further development of this code ceased in 1782 on Kempenfelt's tragic end in the 'Royal George.'

From 1783 to 1788 Howe held office as First Lord of the Admiralty, and seems to have devoted part of his time to the improvement of the tactics of the Fighting Instructions and of their accompanying signals. He elaborated a new signal book, which he introduced into the navy on taking command of the Channel fleet. In this new book he abandoned the "tabular" method so far as the bulk of the signals--the Admiral's signals--were concerned, employing instead the simple numerary method, and for these numerals he chose the flags that were afterwards, in their transposed meanings, used at Trafalgar. For this reason, and because it was the code used on the "glorious First of June," and at Camperdown, and was the basis of those used at St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, it is important to consider it in some detail.

This second numerary code of Howe, the _Signal Book for the Ships of War_ of 1790, is a quarto[384] volume of 85 pages.

After three pages of explanatory instructions relative to the method of making the signals, distinctness, destruction of signal books in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, etc., follow two pages relative to the triangular distinguishing flags of squadrons. We then come to the Admiral's signals--nearly 200 in number, commencing at 10. These were, as already stated, in the "simple numerary" system invented by La Bourdonnais, in which each signal number is represented by the numeral flags corresponding to the figures composing it.

The numeral flags, five of which--Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7--are new to us, are shown in the accompanying plate. Each of these numeral flags had, however, another signification when hoisted singly, as follows:

1. Enemy in sight.
2. Form in order of sailing by divisions.
3. Form established order of sailing.
4. Take and keep stations.
5. Engage the enemy.
6. Signal not understood.
7. To chase.
8. To anchor.
9. Leave off chase.
0. Negative answer.

In addition to these, the following flags were to be used:

White cross on red ground.--Affirmative answer.
White with red border.--Annul.
Union.--To call officers.
Blue and yellow chequered.--Rendezvous.
Yellow.--To distinguish signals made to the fireships.
White with red border and pierced with blue.--Transpose the numeral
flags.
Red and white, yellow and blue, and their inversions.--For the four
quarters of the compass.
Blue cornet[385].--First signal to be carried out in the manner
denoted by the remainder.
Red and white striped.--Substitute. To repeat the flag next above it.
Blue and white striped.--Preparative.
White flag:--
(1) Truce.
(2) Open secret instructions.
(3) Signal made herewith is to take effect after the close of day.

To illustrate the use of the two latter flags we may take Nelson's signal at Trafalgar, "Prepare to anchor after the close of day."

This signal consisted of four flags in one hoist:

Preparative.
No. 6 }
No. 3 } Anchor as soon as convenient.
White flag.

When a "Preparative" flag was hoisted with a signal it denoted that the order was not to be immediately obeyed[386]. If hauled down together with the signal, preparation was to be made to obey the latter directly the Admiral hoisted it again. If hauled down and the signal left flying, the latter was then to be carried into execution. Nelson had intended to hoist the signal to anchor (63) as soon as the fighting was over, with a view to securing his battered ships and their prizes against the bad weather he saw coming on, but Collingwood could not carry out the intention.

The white flag had, in the Admiralty copy of the 1790 book, four meanings. Alone, in battle, it denoted truce; hoisted at the fore topmast head it could be used to call in distant ships; when hoisted with other flags it signified that the signal denoted by them was not to be carried into effect until the day closed; and, finally, it denoted an order to open secret instructions. In the Signal Book of 1793 the two latter significations were denoted by a black and white flag, the former when black was uppermost and the latter when white was uppermost. In 1805 the white flag had the first and third of these meanings, besides denoting numeral 8.

The Admiral's flags and signals of Howe's second code, as used on 1st June, 1794, are reproduced in vol. 1 of _Logs of the Great Sea Fights_ (Navy Records Society).

These Admiral's, or "Numeral signals," as they are called by Howe in contradistinction to his tabular "Signals by private ships," are grouped under various headings, beginning with "Battle," "Bear-up," "Bring-to," and going on to "Enemy," "Engage," "Line," "Order," "Sail," "Tack," etc.

We then have certain subsidiary pendant signals, of which the most important are: a chequered blue and yellow pendant to denote that accompanying numeral flags represented figures only, and a quartered red and white pendant to serve the purpose of a note of interrogation.

Now follow nine signals made with sails and guns, a quaint survival that disappears in 1799 [Except No. 1. This was No. 174 of the '99 Code, but could be made by the fore topsail if desired.] The following are their purports:

1. "To prepare for sailing," denoted by loosing the fore topsail,
just as in Rooke's Instructions of 1703. 2. Every one to repair to
his respective ship. 3. Recalling ships. 4. Unmoor. 5. Weigh. 6.
Moor (denoted by "Main topsail loose in top"). 8. Cut or slip. 9.
Fast on shoal.

We next have 14 signals for calling officers to take orders, made with the Union flag in different positions; a few signals to fireships, made with the yellow flag; 20 fog signals made with guns; and then the tabular signals for private ships. The "table" provided for these shows a slight variation on the usual form. It is not quite square, being 8 wide and 9 deep, as the first flag space on the left side is blank, so that the first row 1 to 8 is made by single flags. The flags used are:

1. Red.
2. Blue.
3. White over red, two horizontal stripes.
4. The same inverted.
5. Blue over yellow, two horizontal stripes.
6. The same inverted.
7. Union.
8. Blue, white, red, horizontally.

Stars are placed in the four squares whose flags would be one of the invertible flags over its own inversion, probably because there was only one flag supplied of each design, and the other squares are numbered 1 to 68. Sixty-one signals are given. We then have half a dozen signals with Jacks, Pendants, and Wefts, Signals for each point of the compass, ending with 11 pages of Night signals.

Perhaps the best testimony of the value of this book is given in the letter from Nelson to Howe in acknowledgment of his congratulations on the victory of the Nile:

8th January 1799.

It was only this moment that I had the invaluable approbation of
the great, the immortal Earl Howe, an honour the most flattering a
Sea-Officer could receive, as it comes from the first and greatest
Sea-Officer the world has ever produced. I had the happiness to
command a Band of Brothers; therefore night was to my advantage.
Each knew his duty, and I was sure each would feel for a French
ship. By attacking the enemy's van and centre, the wind blowing
directly along their Line, I was enabled to throw what force I
pleased on a few Ships. This plan my friends conceived by the
signals (for which we are principally if not entirely indebted
to your Lordship) and we always kept a superior force to the
enemy[387].

Meanwhile, John McArthur, a purser in the navy, who had during the war of American Independence been frequently stationed to observe signals in the fleet and had therefore practical experience of the delays, difficulties and misunderstandings that occurred with the older methods of signalling by flags in particular positions, had been for many years at work on a new code which he submitted to the Admiralty in 1790. The basis of this plan was the old tabular system with two flags hoisted together or separately at the most conspicuous parts of the ship. The code contained upwards of 550 signals, with provision for an indefinite increase, and incorporated an ingenious device for continuously altering the numerical value of the flags. It was an advance upon any of the codes hitherto in use, but "some scruples of delicacy intervened in the adoption of any new plan of signals which would supersede that of Earl Howe's numerary code," and it was not adopted. Nevertheless, it attracted the attention of Hood, then the Senior Sea Lord, and on his appointment to command the Russian armament in 1791 he made McArthur his secretary. McArthur then turned his attention to re-arranging Howe's signals "by simplifying the form with Indices for facilitating their being made and understood, and engrafting in the body and instructions many new ideas and instructions of his own." Howe approved of the alterations, and the revised code was then printed and issued to Hood's fleet. This "new arrangement" was introduced by Hood in 1793 into the Mediterranean and continued to be used there until 1799. It was the signal book in use at the Battles of St Vincent and the Nile. In it the values of Howe's numeral flags, as shown in Col. 1 of Plate XIII, were transposed as follows: 1 became 4; 2, 9; 3, 7; 4, 2; 5, 6; 6, 0; 7, 8; 8, 5; 9, 3; and 0, 1. The tabular flags were also transposed, 1 becoming 8; 2, 7; 3, 5; 5, 3; 6, 2; 7, 1; 8, 6; while 4 remained of the same value.

(iv) THE VOCABULARY SIGNAL BOOK

With the compilation, in 1790, of Howe's second signal book, we have the end of that system, or want of system, which is especially noticeable during the American War of Independence, under which the signals used in each fleet or squadron varied with the idiosyncrasies of each individual commander-in-chief. Henceforth, although it was usual for the admiral commanding each fleet to add a few of his own devising, the bulk of the signals were, so to speak, stereotyped in form, and were in general use throughout the British navy.

In 1799 the _Signal Book for the Ships of War_ was increased in size to 167 pages by the addition of an index to the signals and the inclusion of the printed instructions. The "Private ship" signals were placed at the end of the "Admiral's signals" and numbered consecutively after them, so that the "tabular" flags disappear, and all signals are henceforth made by the simple numerary code, the total number being increased from about 260 to 340.

It will be seen from the plate of numeral flags that Howe's numerals were continued in the 1799 book with only two slight modifications: No. 1, instead of being a plain red flag, became yellow, red, yellow, in three equal horizontal stripes, and the substitute became plain white. But his arrangement was simplified. The half black and white flags were done away with as unnecessary, since their meanings could equally well be expressed by those remaining.

In addition to the signal book, each commander-in-chief compiled for his own fleet a tabular "pendant board," on which two pendants were assigned to the name of each ship of his fleet. By this means he was enabled to address any of the signals to a particular ship, without making the command general to the whole squadron. For example, Nelson, at Trafalgar, before making general his favourite signal, "Engage the enemy more closely," addressed it particularly to the 'Africa,' which, having become separated over night, found herself at a distance from the two columns, and, just before the commencement of the action, was sailing near to the enemy's van, on an opposite and parallel course. This he did by hoisting flags Nos. 1 and 6, together with the pendants appropriated to the 'Africa's' name on the "pendant board."

But a code for signalling or other purposes is like a language; if the language is what we call "dead," i.e. if words have ceased to be added to it, it is of little use for expressing every-day needs. Similarly, if the navy is not stagnating, continual amplification of tactics or of every-day details necessitates an increase in the range of conversation between the Admiral and his fleet. Although at the time of the battle of Trafalgar the signal book was only six years old, it had already had its range of signals increased by upwards of 80 additions, made in manuscript, on such varied matters as:

412. "The ships or vessels chased have separated on different courses."
280. "Send for fresh beef immediately."
291. "Engage the enemy as close as possible."

This last is the third signal provided for close engagement, the others being "Engage the enemy more closely," expressed either by No. 16 (the signal Nelson favoured), or by the red pendant over the quarter-red and white flag.

The need for a more flexible method of communication than that of set sentences had long been felt. Rodney and Howe had both found it impossible, in face of the enemy, to make their instructions clear to their captains, and even without this distraction, in bad weather, when ships could not get near enough for the voice to carry from one to another even with the assistance of the speaking trumpet, or when the roar of the gale rendered speech of no avail except within a range of a very few feet, while the launching of a boat was out of the question, much inconvenience had often been felt. Even when verbal communication was possible, much time was lost in closing near enough to make it.

The steps to remedy this impediment--to make, as it were, the flag-language more civilised, so that it might express refinements of thought in one direction and little every-day wants in another, to increase, that is, its scope of expression from that of a child to that of a grown man--were first taken by Sir Home Popham.

It may be that in this matter, as in so many other inventions, the first to make some practical use of an idea got that idea at second hand[388]. However this may be in Popham's case, it is clear that the labour of perfecting the invention and what is perhaps equally important, of persuading others that it was really worth a trial, was undertaken by Popham alone. For twelve years the books which he produced were privately printed by him, and from the free-handed way in which he gave them to his brother officers when urging them to try this code, it is probable that he carried out his propaganda at some pecuniary expense to himself. The idea that dominated it was to provide parts of speech and let the users make their own sentences whenever those in the signal book did not suffice. It was the step from a "Traveller's Manual of Conversation" to a dictionary of the language.

Popham tells us that his _Telegraphic Signals, or Marine Vocabulary_ ("telegraphic" being, of course, used thirty years before the invention of the electric telegraph, in its primary sense of writing at a distance) was originally compiled in 1800, to facilitate the conveyance of messages from Popham's ship, the 'Romney,' off Copenhagen, to Admiral Dickson, off Elsinore, when that officer, with a squadron of ships, was giving additional weight to the British Ministers' arguments with the Danish Court. "Its utility was in that instance so obvious and so generally allowed by the Captains of the North Sea Squadron that Sir Home Popham conceived it might be brought into more extensive practice."

The first edition of this code consisted of nearly 1000 words chosen by Popham from the dictionary as most useful for naval purposes. In 1803 a second part, consisting of nearly 1000 less useful words, and a third part, consisting of nearly 1000 "sentences most applicable to military or general conversation" were added. To prevent the signal numbers from becoming unduly high, derivations were grouped with their root-word, e.g. expedite, expedited, expediting, expedition, and expeditious were each expressed by No. 270, it being left for the receiver to determine the exact word by the context. Further, "In verbs, the number, person, tense and mood" had to "be applied to the sense of the sentence." When the exact word was not in the vocabulary, the one most nearly synonymous was to be adopted, but "should it be of any consequence to use a word not in the vocabulary," it could be spelt by the numerical alphabet, which was known by the numbers 1 to 25. It may be noted, as the solution of the conundrum that has puzzled many in spelling out "duty" in Nelson's celebrated signal that in this alphabet, not only are I and J treated as one letter, but V precedes U.

Thus, in the preparation for that signal, when Pasco told Nelson that "confides" was not in the vocabulary, he suggested the "one nearest synonymous," namely, "expects," as this latter could be expressed by three flags in one hoist, while "confides" required 11 flags in eight hoists. "Duty," however, had to be spelt[389]. The sentiment of the signal had been sufficiently spoilt by the substitution of "expects" for "confides"; the further substitution of "best" or "utmost" would have hopelessly ruined it.

When the words of the message had been chosen from the vocabulary and their corresponding numbers written down for the signalman's guidance, it remained to translate them into flags. To do this required nine flags to represent the figures 1 to 9, and one flag to represent the cipher. It was convenient to add one or two substitute flags to say "ditto," in case not more than one flag of each numeral was available, with two flags for "yes" and "no."

Popham found all these flags already provided in the 1799 _Signal Book for the Ships of War_, but the thousands he expressed thus: numbers between 1000 and 2000 by a ball or pendant placed above the "hoist," or group of three flags representing the hundreds, tens, and units; and numbers above 2000 by a similar ball or pendant placed below the "hoist." This was done to avoid unduly increasing the "substitute" flags, as one set of numeral flags was often all that was available, and for the same reason such numbers as 333, 888, 2222 were omitted from the code.

All that was now wanted was a flag to denote whether the signal hoisted was to be deciphered by the Signal Book or by the Vocabulary Code. For this purpose Popham designed a flag divided diagonally into white and red to be used as a "preparative" or "telegraph" flag, with all signals made in his code. This was hoisted before the message started, and hauled down when it finished.

Such were the signal books in use at Trafalgar, and in the hands of a man like Nelson, who did not keep his tactical ideas to himself, but discussed them freely with his captains during the months of watching and preparation, they proved amply sufficient for the purpose.

But suppose the books were captured by the enemy; how then? In such an event, which all captains were told to guard against by throwing the books overboard if there was any probability of their ship being captured, the most effective precaution was to change the whole of the signal numbers, both in the general signals and in the vocabulary, but this was a heavy task.