Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-09-20
FLAGS ON WARSHIPS.

FLAGS ON W'ARSHIPS.
THE NATIONAL ENSIGN DURING 4
| NAVAL BATTLE.
Nc Matter How BADLY Battered Vessel
May Be the Enrmy VIII Continue FIR
ing Upon It Until the colors Arc Hauled
| Down or She Ia DESTROYED.
A story is told Of cabin boy on board q
man -of-war who by his action in pulling
down the enemy's flag during bsttle
gained victory for his commander The
story illustrates the value Of the national
nag in naval action and how much de-
Ponds upon the sailors seeing it flying from,
! the masthead above them It was Just at
the beginning Of battle between two
ships that the cabin boy, who had never
been In a fight, asked one of the sailors
how long it would take the enemy to sur
render and what his own ship would
have to do to beat the other.
"Do you see thatf'' asked the sailor,
pointing to the flag which was flying from
the masthead Of the other ship. LAS long
as that is flying the other fellows Will
| nHHJ, UAp WHICH, IL COMES GOWN Gney WILL
stop and their ship will surrender
The cabin boy was too small to fight,
but he anado up his mind to get the dag
for his captain. During the battle when
the ships were dashed together he crawled
Oh board the enolny's vessel and while the
sailors were busy fighting climbed the
rope ladder which ran up the mast, and,
pulling tho flag from its place, wrapped
it around his body and carried it back to
his own ship. The sailors were fighting
brnvely until one, looking up and seeing
that the flag was gone, cried out to his
companions that the captain had pulled
down the flag and there was no use fight
ing longer, The men threw down their
arms, and tho mistake was not discovered
until it was too late, for the cabin boys
| comrades had seized the ship
| The flag of his country Is what every
sailor and soldier throughout the world
fights for during battle. When the flag
is gone, they lose heart and give up easily
Some Of the bravest deeds have been in
defense Of tip flag and to get it back again
when the ci1sany has captured it. When
a ship goes into battle, the national flag is
run up to the masthead, the highest point
on the vessel, where it flies until the en-
gagement is over. Sometimes when the
other ship is the stronger or its sailors fight
better and the captain sees that he is
beaten no pulls down his flag to show the
enemy that he has had enough and wants
to surrender This act is called striking
tho colors." It Is usual thing to run up
a white Gag in tho plnce of the one which
has been hauled down. but often the sim
pie act Of striking the colors is enough to
end battle. SO long as the captain Of q
| ship sees any fog except q white one flying
| from the enemy's vessel he will continue
l IN fire. fpy- L. IL. 90 %I>uA A.
sailors have not given up and are ready
to fight longer.
Sometimes during o naval battle the
ropes which hold tho flag are shot away
| but in such cases there are always some
brave sailors who will climb the mast and
put another In its place. During the Revo-
lutionary war, when the ship commanded
by Paul Jones was fighting an English
vessel, the American flag was shot away
and fell overheard into the water One of
the sailors who saw it fall jumped after it,
and, although he was wounded, swan
with it back to the ship, when it was fas.
tened to the top of the mast again. When
the flag went overheard, the Englishmen
began to cheer, for they thought that Paul
| Jones had surrendered, but when they saw
! 1T Tying from the masthead once more
they changed their minds and finally sur
rendered themselves. The action Of the
wounded sailor In jumping into the water
to rescue the flag made his companions
fight all the harder.
Eyery ono who has read American his
tory knows about the battle Of Lake Erie
and of how Commodore Perry carried the
flag from his sinking ship and hoisted it
| upon another When the English captain
saw Perry going In a rowboat from the
sinking ship with the flag thrown over his
| shoulder, he ordered his sailors to sink the
boat so that the flag couldn't be hoisted at
the masthead Of another American vessel
He knew that if the American sailors saw
that their flag was lost they would lose
heart and surrender, and, us he expected,
when they saw the flag flying again they
worked harder and finally beat his ships
A ship going into action carries several
hags-the national colors, which are hoist
ed In the most prominent place; the union
jack, the pennant, which is a long, narrow
streamer flying from the masthead, and a
set of signal flags, which are used to send
| messages from one ship to another. When
| q squadron of vessels under an admiral
goes into fight, the flagship flies besides
the other flags mentioned one which de-
notes the rank of that officer. In the old
days, when war vessels were made Of wood
and had three masts, most Of the flags
were hoisted to the top Of these Inasts.
Nowadays, however, many Of our fighting
ships have only one mast and several flags
may be hoisted upon that, but the stars
and stripes are always at the top.
When the squadron Is waiting for the
| enelny's ships and they are sighted, the
signal Prepare for action" Is run up on
the flagship. During all the naval wars
1t has been the custom for the captains Of
naval vessels to have on board the flags OF
other countries besides their own, and fire.
quently one Of these flags is used to ad-
vantage During one of the long naval
wars between England and some Of the
other European countries the captain Of q
small English war vessel sighted several
big French men-of-war, which, did they
attack him, would have either sunk or
captured his vessel. France and Spain
We're fighting against England, SO he made
haste to pull down the British flag and
run up In Its stead q Spanish one. When
the Frenchmen cav the Inter flag, they
did not bother with the little vessel and
the Englishman escaped
=. nnrjpr bo rx,or of I o -. Ex,,l;.h -