Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-13

sary, by means of
the telegraph; but
~ when the ships and
treat and maneuver to gain advantage
over an enemy in time of war. or for drill
in time of peace, they have not the aid OF
the telegraph to send orders and COM
mands from ship to ship. Other means
must be employed. and many devices OF
signaling by day and night must be used
to preserve the lines of communication
constantly necessary between the olnerehe
ships of command.
OF all these methods of communication
the commonest is the flag signaling en-
ployed for short distances by day and gen.
orally known as the wig-wag system.
To the landsmen who view squadron OF
war vessels, it is not an uncommon sight
to see jacktar standing on the bridge OF
q ship, waving flag back and forth In an
apparently aimless way. But 1t IS not
really an aimless way, for each motion of
the flag, to the right, to the left, to the
trent, has it's meaning, and the many COM
binaticns Of these motions express the let
ters of the alphabet and the simple num-
erals, so that any message may be sent IN
this way from one vessel to another when
the code Is known, and, II the code be com
mon to army and navy, rapid and eff
ficient communication NAV be kept up be-
tween a sea force near the shore and land
force on near the coast, which may be
quite necessary to their action in con-
Certed attacks or movements.
Last summer on the Connecticut coast
three vessels of our new navy drilled the
raval reserves of New York for few
days, and to test the efficiency of signal
ling. shore stations were taken by squads
from the National Guard and the regular
army forces in the neighborhood, and many
essages We're sent over the line Of many
miles-from ship to shore and from one
shore station to another-some of them be-
irg sent on by telegraph to Washington to
ascertain the time it would take to notify
the authorities at the capital Of the pos
sible approach of a hostile fleet to the east
ern entrance to Long Island sound.
by MINERAL Flags.
But even this method is too slow for the
rapid transmission of the commands for
evolutionS of ships, so a more efficient
means has been adopted Ten large flags
of different colors represent the ten lower
| numerals and several others are used to
represent calls. answering pennants and
| for repetitIons of the numerals. For use in
signaling a large book has been prepared
with many words and sentences of common
| use in navigation. alphabetically arranged,
set opposite number for each one, so that
| if any ship desires to send any common
| short message to be found in the signal
| book it is only necessary to attach the nu-
| neral flags to a ballard in the proper Or
| der for the required signal and run it up
to the masthead, and when the ship sig
| nailed reads the signal, they run up the
| answering pennant and the message is sent
| in less time tran it takes to tell 1t.
For convenience sake every ship in the
| navy has her number in the code and each
| ship in squadron has pennat of her own,
used by any other ship distinguishing
| pennant for that enc ship.
| With these two codes all the evolutions of
sea drills, battle exercises and daily routine
may be carried on. The officers of one ship
may send message to those of another as
| easily as we of the land telephone to a
friend in another part of the city.
For many years the signal numbers to
designate the many different commands
| that might be used during an engagement
| with an enemy were as carefully guarded
as state secrets. and no one hut the trust
ed officers of the ship were allowed to see
them. The book was kept always under lock
and key, and its covers were weighted
with strips of lead, so that in the event OF
the surrender or capture of the ship the
officer in charge of the book might toss ii
overheard to prevent the code book from
falling into the hands Of an enemy, bu,
these precautions are no longer so strin.
| gently kept, as the changes In the mode Of
sea warfare make the code now of but
minor Importance.
In the Darkness of Night.
This is all well erough for the day time
but ships must sail and steam by night a:
well and sometimes fight, so it is equally
as necessary to have a system of signal:
visible on dark nights. OF course lights O
various kinds are used In all these codes
from the simple torch or lantern on {
stick waved back and forth in the wigwas
} code to the elaborate system of electro
lights worked from keyboard with near
! ly a hundred combinations used
Then there are rockets of many color
| used in various ways, from single rookie
} fired as a danger signal to carefully ar
ranged code used rockets of red, green an
; white.
The flashing Of these signal lights in
large fleet makes quite pretty sight, an
l a person uninitiated in the codes woui
take some of the signals for pyrotechni
display.
Where the electric light system is use
5 five lanterns containing red and whit
! | lights are placed at intervals in line froI
3 the ships rail to the masthead. and tn
r | different combinations Of these lights ar
| used for the different letters OF the alpha
| bet, for the numerals and several abrevia
| lions and short words The ship sendin
n the message turns on a signal and the on
t receiving it turns on the same signal whe
8 they understand, thus determining the az
,. curacy. After much practice the sigma
, | officers and signal men become very e1
pert, and the lights flash on and out lik
: the clicking Of telegraph instrument:
e OF course fixed lights are only good Il
!, | limited distance; but one klnd OF mgr
| SIGNALING has been used over distance {
= many miles; on occasions especially favo
y able as far as forty miles. This method
= by use of the search light. Almost ever
= one has noticed the long, shimmerin
: white beam of light cast on the sky by
a powerful search light. and knowing no
a plainly visible 1t Is. 1t is easy to unde
! stand that this beam of light may be use
. shutting it off and on for long and sho
- intervals-to telegraph signal over mill
q of water, or even land, to another ship {
n | station.
l. When the Fog is Thick.
IT But there is time at sea when the keel
IS est eye cannot pierce the air by day. III
y when the brightest light is visible but
IF short distance at night-that is when Il
e fog spreads like a blanket over the waite
IS Then the dangers of navigation becon
- greatest, and there is great need of 81
r. nails If ships are sailing or steaming
d squadron. To accomplish this desirab
in end during a fog. the steam whistles
sirens are used to give the letters of Il
adopted 'wig-wag" signal code in long al
short blasts.
These are the naval signals of our ov
country, but it does not stop there. f
there has been a far-reaching code arran