444 



SIGNALLING 



ning attached to it In consequence of union 

 taken l>> the liiiti-li Board of Trade, the system of 

 Ma-signals culled the International Code of Signals 

 was compiled in IS."7 and adopted by nearly all the 

 commercial nations of the world. Except for con- 

 fidential signal.-, it is also axed on board the ships 

 of the British royal navy. The system consists of 

 eighteen Hags and a code pennant (see fig. 1 ). 



In using and interpreting these signals it is of 

 course necessary to be in possession of the signal 

 code-book, in which the arbitrary meanings at- 

 tached to the flags and combinations of the flags 

 are printed, but the general nature nf the meaning 

 of a hoist can be determined by the form of the 

 hoist. This is the case because the meanings of 

 the hoiste are arranged in the signal-book upon the 

 following plan, viz. : ( 1 ) Signals made with two 

 flags : If burgee (B) in uppermost, it is an atten- 

 tion signal ; if a pennant ( C, D, !'. or G ) is upper- 

 most, it is a compass signal ; if a square (lag ill to 

 W) is uppermost, it is an urgent or distress or 



' Preparative I Answering ' 



And 'itop' after each complete 'Annnl' Signal. 

 Signal. 



Fig. 2. Dutant Signals. 



danger signal. (2) Signals made with three flags : 

 The meanings of these are not classified according 

 to the top nag; they relate to general subject^ i 

 inquiry or mtiimuiiieation. (3) Signals made with 

 four flags: If burgee (B) is uppermost, it is a 

 geographical signal ; if one of the three pennants 

 C, I), or !' is upiH-rtmmt, it is a spelling or vocabu- 

 lary signal ; if the pennant C} or a square flan ( H 

 to \V ) is uppermost, it is the name of a man-of-war 

 or_ merchant ship. All the two- and three-flag 

 hoists, and also the four-flag geographical hoists, 

 have the same meanings printed in the signal-liook 

 of thf various nations which have adopted the 

 code, each nation printing its own copy of the 

 nignal IxMik in it own language, and thus two 

 hips, totally ignorant of each other's language, 

 may converse by means of these flags. 



As signal-flags can only be used ithin distance* 

 across vliidi their colours are distinct, the Hag 

 code has been supplemented bv what are called 

 distant signals. They are made by taking any 

 two square flags, any two pennants, ami two (tails, 

 and making the signals fur the letteis on the Mag- 

 plate by the combinations shown in fig. 2. The 

 interpretations are made in the usual way by the 

 aid <if the signal-liopk. 



Still further to increase the use of the code, a 

 system of semaphore signals is also available in 

 the same code, the ball of the distant signal Wing 

 replaced by a level arm, the square flag by an arm 

 pointing upwards, and the pennant by' an arm 

 pointing downwards. The semaphore alphabet is 

 shown in fig. 3. 



H 



N 



W 



These may also be 

 nsed from boats 

 or from a boat's 

 crew on a beach 

 by making three 

 persons hold out 

 something resem- 

 bling a ball, pen- 

 nant, and flag, and 

 reading from left 

 to right. A hat, 

 a man's arm, and 

 a square hand- 

 kerchief do very 

 well. 



In this code the 

 largest possible 

 number of two- 

 flag hoists is 306, 

 of tli ree-flag hoists 

 4896, and of four- 

 flag hoiste 73,440, 

 giving a possible 

 total of 78,642 

 different signals. 



These signals 

 are of use only 

 during the day. 

 The question of 

 Night siyniilliiiij 

 at sea is now en- 

 gaging attention. 

 In H/M. royal navy, where the use of the sema- 

 phore is far more common than in the merchant 

 service, the electric light is utilised to make sema- 

 phore signals visible at night The form of night- 

 signalling which finds most favour is that of flash- 

 ing lights. Several ingenious inventors have pro- 

 duced flashing lighte visible at long distances. It 

 is probable that signalling by long and short 

 flashes, using the Morse code in connection there- 

 with, will ultimately become common at sea, 

 especially as the same code may be used along 

 with long and short blasts on a steamer's whistle 

 or other sound signal, and the signals so made 

 could be interpreted cither with or without the 

 signal code-book at will. 



The international signals used by vessels which 

 are in distress and want assistance are : In (lie day- 

 time, a gun fired at intervals of about a minute, or 

 the flags NC, or a square flag having a ball aliove 

 or below it ; in the night-time, a gun fired at 

 intervals of aliout a minute, or flames, ns from a 

 burning tar-barrel, oil-barrel, itc., or rockets or 

 shells of any colour or description, fired one at a 

 time at short intervals. 



For the numerous signals to be made by the 

 various classes of vessels at sea at night or iti fog, 

 &c., reference may be made to the Regulations for 

 Preventing Collisions at Sea, issued in pursuance of 

 the Merchant Shipping Amendment Act, 1862, and 

 as altered in 1886. Briefly, these declare that at 



Fig. 3. Semaphore Alphabet. 



