The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-21
HOW SHIPS TALK.
THE VARIED LANGUAGE OF SIG
NAILS Used AT SEA.
Lights, Flags, Whistles and Horns.
The system That Is Devised for the
Protection of MarIners-An Inter-
national Code.
From the washington Star.

{ hahOniA NO0cs
From the Washington Star.
When the war forces on land during
war advance TO meet an enemy their many
different columns and detachments keep
up constant communication with one an
other BY means of couriers. messengers.
and more quickly. when necessary. by
means Of the telegraph; but when the
ships and and fleets OF a sea force ad-
vance or retreat 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 commands from ship to ship. Other
means must be employed, and many de-
vices of signaling by cay and night must
be used to preserve the lines OF communi-
cation constantly necessary between the
different 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 a squadron of
war vessels. it is not an uncommon sight
TO see a jacktar standing on the bridge of
a ship. waving a flag back and forth in an
apparently aimless way. But it is not
really an aimless way, for each motion Of
the Tag. to the right. to the left. to the
front has its meaning. and the many COM
binations 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, If the code be
common to army and navy, a rapid ana
efficient communication may be kept up
between a sea force near the shore and
land force on or 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
/ naval reserves of New York for rev
days, and, to test the efficiency of signal
| ing. shore stations were taken by squads
from the national guard and the regular
| army forces in the neighborhood and
many messages were sent over the line
| of many miles-from ship to shore and
/ from one shore station to another-some
| of them being sent on by telegraph TO
| Washington to ascertain the time it would
| take to notify the authorities at the capt.
tai of the possible approach of hostile
feet to the eastern entrance to Long
| Island sound.
But even this method is too slow
| for the rapid transmission of the COM
mands for evolutions of ships, so more
| efficient means has been adopted. Ten
| large flags of different colors represent
the ten lower numerals and several other
| are used to represent calls, answering
| remnants and for repetitions of the nu-
| merals. For use in signaling a large
| book has been prepared with many words
and sentences of common use in naviga-
ton, alphabetically arranged, set oppo-
site a number for each one, so that If
| any ship desires to send any common
| short message to be found in the signal
| book 1t is only necessary TO attach the nu-
neral flags to a ballard in the proper
order for the required signal and run
1t up to the masthead, and when the ship
signaled reads the signal, they run up
the answering pennant and the message
is sent in less time then 1t takes to tell 1t.
For convenience sake every ship in the
navy has her number in the code and each
ship in a squadron has pennant of her
own, used by any other ship as distin-
gushing remnant for that one 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 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 but 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, but
| 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.
This is all well enough for the day time
! but ships must sail and steam by night
well and sometimes fight, so IL is equally
as necessary to have a system of signals
visible on dark nights. OF course lights
of various kinds are used in all these codes;
grom the simple torch or lantern on
stick waved back and forth in the wigwag
/ code to the elaborate system of electric
lights worked from keyboard. with near
/ ly hundred combina tons used.
Then there are rockets of many colors
used in various ways, from single rocket
/ fired as a danger signal to a carefully
ranged code used rockets of red, green
and white.
The flashing of these signal lights in a
large fleet makes quite pretty sight, and
a person uninitiated in the codes would
take some of the signals for pyrotechnic
display.
Where the electric light system is used
five lanterns containing red and white
flights are placed at intervals in line from
/ the ships rail to the masthead, and the
different combinations of these lights are
used for the different letters of the alpha
! bet for the numerals and several abrevia-
tons and short words. The ship sending
/ the message turns on signal and the
one receiving it turns on the same signal
when they understand, thus determining
! the accuracy. After much practice tho sig
1 nal officers and signal men become very
/ expert, and the lights flash on and out like
| the clicking of telegraph instrument.
| a limited distance; but one kind of night
! signaling has been used over a distance of
many miles; on occasions especially IA
vorable as far as forty miles. This method
! is by use Of the search light Almost every
one has noticed the long shimmerfng pow
erful search light and knowing how plain
ly visible IL is, it is easy to understand
that this beam of light may be used
shutting II off and on for long and short
interVals-to telegraph a signal over miles
of water, or even lard to another ship or
station.
But there is a time at sea when the keen
est eye cannot pierce the air by day, and
when the brightest light is visible but
short distance at night-that is when the
fog spreads like a blanket over the wa
ter.
Then the dangers of navigation become
greatest, and there is great need of sig
nails If ships are sailing or steaming in
squadron. To accomplish this desirable end
during a fog, the steam whistles or sirens
are used to give the letters of the adopted
"wig-wag" signal code in long and short
blasts.
These are the naval signals of our own
country, but ii does not stop there for
there has been a far-reaching code ar
ranged which any nation may use, and
by which ships, whose crews may even
speak in different tongues, may easily
communicate.