the royal navy, and also in the merchant service, not by itself, but in
certain combinations.
THE ENSIGN.
The flag under which all our ships now sail is the Ensign.
In early times every chieftain or knight, whether serving in the field
or on board ship, had his own distinguishing flag, and if several
knights were embarked in one ship, the ship carried the flags of them
all. In one of the illuminations of the reign of Henry VI., the sides of
a ship are covered with shields, and in other examples armorial devices
are even shown painted on the sails. When engaged in any active service,
a ship would carry also the flag of the leader or admiral, and, in
addition to this, the emblem of some patron saint, depending in this on
the caprice or superstition of the owner. Besides these a ship usually
bore the flag of her port--a usage which, so far as merchant ships are
concerned, still holds among us in the practice of carrying what are
known as "house flags," though now strictly subordinated to that of
carrying the national ensign. With ships of other countries the usage
continued till comparatively lately. In France, down to the Revolution,
merchant ships flew the flag of their port more commonly than the flag
of France; as for instance, of Marseilles, white with a blue cross; or
of Dunkirk, barry of six argent and azure, with the alternative of the
old English white ensign, white with a small St. George's cross in the
upper corner next the hoist, derived from the English sovereignty in the
seventeenth century.[39] In the same way in the Baltic: in the
Netherlands almost every port had its own flag, and the free towns of
Germany till quite recently followed the same practice. It was the same
in England in early times--a sailor being more a sailor of his port than
of his country.
[39] Laughton's _Heraldry of the Sea_.
Now, as a rule, the ships of all countries sail under their national
colours. With us the flag under which all our ships sail is the Ensign,
of which there are three--the white, the blue, and the red. It is a
large flag of one of the colours named, with the Union in a square or
canton at the upper part of the hoist. I may explain that the portion of
a flag next the staff or rope from which it is flown is called the
hoist, the next is called the centre, and the outer portion the fly.
Besides the Union in the canton, the white ensign has the St. George's
cross extending over the whole field.
Although the Union flag of Great Britain was appointed by royal order in
1606, it was not inserted in the Ensign till 1707. Previous to that the
Ensign bore only the English cross in the canton.
In the royal navy, not always, but for some time previous to 1864, the
fleet consisted of three divisions called the White, the Blue, and the
Red Squadrons, each carrying its distinctive Ensign, and, latterly, each
having its admiral called after the colour of his flag. But till 1805
there was no admiral of the Red. Previous to that the admiral commanding
in the centre flew at the main, not the red flag, but the Union.
The first notice of the division of the fleet appears in a MS. report by
Mr. Pepys, secretary to the Admiralty, in which it is stated that in the
Duke of Buckingham's expedition against the Isle of Rhe in 1627 the
fleet was thus divided. The notice is interesting:--"The Duke now lying
at Portsmouth divided his Fleete into squadrons. Himselfe, Admirall and
Generall in Chiefe, went in y^e Triumph, bearing the standard of England
in y^e maine topp, and Admirall particular of the bloody colours. The
Earle of Lindsay was vice-Admirall to the Fleete in the Rainbowe,
bearing the king's usual colours in his fore topp, and a blew flag in
his maine topp, and was admiral of the blew colours. The Lord Harvey was
Rear Admirall in y^e Repulse bearing the king's usual colours in his
mizen, and a white flag in the maine topp, and was Admirall of y^e
squadron of white colours." In this instance it will be observed the
blue flag took precedence of the white. Under the Commonwealth the blue
was put down to the third place, and when on the Restoration the Union
flag was reintroduced, the precedence of the three colours remained as
it had been determined by the Commonwealth. The arrangement of the fleet
into three divisions continued till 1864; but it often proved puzzling
to foreigners, and it was found inconvenient in action. It was for this
last reason that Lord Nelson, on going into action at Trafalgar, ordered
the whole of his fleet to hoist the White Ensign, and it was under that
flag that that great victory was gained.
During the wars of the seventeenth century the Dutch fleets were also
divided into three squadrons, distinguished, like the English, by the
three colours--orange or red, white, and blue, and both with them and in
our own service this was perhaps necessary when fleets consisted of such
a large number of ships--our own numbering often as many as 200 sail.
Latterly, when fleets were comparatively so much smaller, the
distinctive colours became of less importance, and in 1864 the
classification was discontinued. Now the White Ensign only is used by
all her Majesty's ships in commission. Previous to this it had been
ordered by royal proclamation, in 1801, that merchant ships should fly
only the Red Ensign, and this is still the rule; but since the three
divisions of the fleet were abolished, the Blue Ensign is allowed to be
used by British merchant ships when commanded by officers of the Royal
Naval Reserve, provided one-third of the crew be men belonging to the
Reserve. By permission of the Admiralty the Blue Ensign is also allowed
to be used by certain yacht clubs; and the members of one club--the
Royal Yacht Squadron--have liberty to use the White Ensign.
SPECIAL FLAGS.
The flag of the Lord High Admiral is crimson, having on it an anchor
and cable, and it is hoisted on any ship of which that high officer
is on board. It is also hoisted at the fore top-gallant-masthead of
every ship of which the Queen may be on board. The flag of an admiral
is white with the cross of St. George on it. It is only flown by an
admiral when employed afloat, and then at the main, fore, or mizen
top-gallantmast-head, according as he is a full, vice, or rear admiral.
The Union flag and the Blue Ensign are, with the addition of certain
distinctive badges, used as personal flags by certain high officers, and
also in particular departments of the service. For example, the flag of
the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland is the Union with a blue shield in the
centre, charged with a golden harp. The Governor-general of India has
the Union with the Star of India in the centre surmounted by a crown,
and this also is the flag of British Burmah. British ministers, charges
d'affaires, fly the Union with the royal arms in the centre within a
circle argent surrounded by a wreath. Our consuls have the Blue Ensign
with the royal arms in the fly. There are also differences in the Union
or Ensign with distinctive badges for other offices and departments, and
for the Colonies.
THE PENDANT.
The Pendant is a well-known flag in ships of war. It is of two kinds,
the long and the broad. The first is a long, narrow, tapering flag--the
usual length being twenty yards, while it is only four inches broad at
the head. An Admiralty Memorandum regarding the history of our flags
bears that the origin of the long Pendant is generally understood to
have been this:--After the defeat of the English fleet under Blake, by
the Dutch fleet under Van Tromp, in 1652, the latter cruised in the
Channel with a broom at the mast-head of his ship, to signify that he
had swept his enemies off the sea. In the following year the English
fleet defeated the Dutch, whereupon the admiral commanding hoisted a
long streamer from his mast-head to represent the lash of a whip,
signifying that he had whipped his enemies off the sea. Hence the
Pendant, which has been flown ever since. This certainly has been the
popular tradition, and the English admiral may, on the occasion referred
to, have adopted a flag of the description and for the purpose
mentioned, but it was not altogether a new form of flag. In the Tudor
MS. we find a description of a long tapering flag of somewhat the same
description. It is called a Streamer, and is appointed to "stand in the
top of a ship or in the forecastle, and therein is to be put no armes
but a man's conceit or device, and may be of length 20, 30, 40, or 60
yards, and is slitt as well as a guydhomme or standard." From this
description the streamer would appear to have been a personal flag
bearing "the conceit or device"--crest, badge, or motto--of the owner.
As now used in our navy the long pendant is of two colours--one white
with a red cross in the part next the mast; the other blue with a red
cross on a white ground. The first is flown from the mast-head of all
her Majesty's ships in commission, when not otherwise distinguished by a
flag or broad pendant. The other is worn at the masthead of all armed
vessels in the employ of the government of a British colony. (See Plate
III. No. IV.)
The broad pendant or "burgee" is a flag tapering slightly and of a
swallow-tailed shape at the fly. It is white with a red St. George's
cross, and is flown only by a commodore, or the senior officer of a
squadron, to distinguish his ship. If used by a commodore of the first
class it is flown at the main top-gallant-masthead. Otherwise it is
flown at the top-gallant-masthead.
SIGNALS AND OTHER FLAGS.
Signal flags are those which are used for communication between ships at
sea. In the system instituted by James II. intelligence was communicated
or messages interchanged by a confused number of flags exhibited at
different parts of the ship. Now, signalling has been reduced to a
complete system. The flags are of various shapes and colours, each flag
representing a letter or number, and by a recent arrangement a universal
code has been adopted by which vessels of different nations can now
communicate.
A flag of truce is white, both at sea and on land, but on board ship it
is customary to hoist with it the national flag of the enemy--the white
flag at the main and the enemy's ensign at the fore. On one occasion
during the war in 1814 when the French frigate _Clorinde_ was about to
be attacked by the British frigate _Dryad_, the commander of the former,
being desirous to ascertain what terms would be granted in case he
surrendered, hoisted French colours aft and English colours forward.
Under cover of this the French frigate sent a boat with the message. The
answer was a refusal to grant any terms, but the boat was allowed to
return to the French frigate in safety before the _Dryad_ filled and
stood towards her.
The Ensign and Pendant at half-mast are the recognised signs of
mourning. Sometimes also it is an expression of mourning to set the
yards at what seamen call "a-cock-bill," that is all the yards topped up
different ways on each mast; but this is chiefly done by foreigners,
who, on Good Friday and other occasions, set their yards thus. It is
also customary as a sign of mourning to paint the white lines of a ship
of a blue colour. In older times, when ships were more gaudily painted
and gilded than they are now, they were painted black all over as a sign
of mourning.
The red or bloody flag is a signal of mutiny, and as such it was
displayed in our own navy on two noted occasions in the end of last
century, when the fleet at Spithead mutinied, and afterwards that at
the Nore. In the latter case the mutineers hauled down the flag of
Vice-admiral Buckner and in its stead hoisted the red flag. It is a
singular fact, however, and characteristic of the British seaman, that
on the 4th of June, the king's birth-day, while the mutiny was at its
height, the whole fleet, with the exception of one ship, evinced its
loyalty by firing a royal salute, and displaying the colours usual on
such occasions, the red flag being struck during the ceremony, and only
re-hoisted when it was over.[40]
[40] James' _Naval History_, ii. p. 73.
The yellow flag is the signal of sickness and of quarantine.
USE OF FLAGS IN NAVAL WARFARE.
Such are the principal naval flags. Of the circumstances in which they
may or may not be legitimately used, especially in naval warfare, some
interesting stories might be told.
Although it is prohibited to merchant ships to carry the colours used in
the navy, this may be done in time of war to deceive an enemy. I may
mention one instance when it was practised with happy effect. In the
French war in 1797 the French Rear-admiral Sarcy, when cruising with six
frigates in the Bay of Bali, came in sight of five of our Indiamen--one
of them, the _Woodford_, Captain Lennox. They were homeward bound, and
all richly laden, and to all appearance they had no chance of escape,
when Captain Lennox rescued them by an act of great judgment and
presence of mind. He first of all hoisted in his own ship a flag which
the French admiral knew well--that of the British Admiral Rainier, blue
at the mizen, and he made all the other ships in his company hoist
pendants and ensigns to correspond. But he did more. He detached two of
the Indiamen to chase and reconnoitre the enemy; and as these advanced
towards the French reconnoitring frigate the _Cybele_, the latter,
completely deceived, made all sail to join her consorts with the signal
at her mast-head--"The enemy is superior in force to the French." On
this the French admiral, believing that he was in the presence of a
powerful British squadron, made off with his frigates under all sail,
and Captain Lennox and his consorts completed their voyage in safety.
When Admiral Sarcy discovered afterwards the ruse that had been
practised on him, and which had lost him a prize of such great value,
his mortification may be imagined.
In going into action it is the custom with the ships of all nations to
hoist their national colours. Nelson at Trafalgar carried this to
excess, for he hoisted several flags lest one should be shot away. The
French and Spaniards went to the opposite extreme, for they hoisted no
colours at all, till late in the action, when they began to feel the
necessity of having them to strike.[41] Nelson on that occasion ran his
ship on board the _Redoubtable_, a large seventy-four gun ship, and
fought her at such close quarters that the two ships touched each other.
Twice Nelson gave orders to cease firing at his opponent, supposing she
had surrendered, because her great guns were silent, and as she carried
no flag there was no means of instantly ascertaining the fact. It was
from the ship which he had thus twice spared that Nelson received his
death wound. The ball was fired from the mizen-top, which, so close were
the ships, was not more than fifteen yards from the place where he was
standing. Soon afterwards the _Redoubtable_, finding further resistance
impossible, hoisted her flag, only to haul it down again in sign of
surrender, within twenty minutes after the fatal shot had been fired. In
this great battle each of the Spanish ships had in addition to her
ensign a large wooden cross hung to the end of her spanker boom.
[41] Southey's _Life of Nelson_.
When a ship surrenders the fact is usually intimated by her hauling down
her flag, but in Lord Cochrane's spirited attack on the French fleet in
Basque Roads in 1809, two of the French ships, the _Varsovie_ and
_Aquilon_, made the token of submission by each showing a Union Jack in
her mizen chains; and in other instances during the war French ships
hoisted a Union Jack as the signal of their having struck.
Of course when a ship has surrendered the fire of both ships ceases. In
an action off Lissa between British ships and a Franco-Venetian
squadron, the French ship _Flore_ surrendered to the British frigate
_Amphion_. Immediately afterwards the Venetian frigate _Bellona_ bore up
and commenced a heavy fire against the _Amphion_, and some of the shot
struck the captured ship on the other side. Supposing, erroneously, that
the shot came from the British ship, one of the officers of the _Flore_,
in order to make more clear the fact of her having absolutely
surrendered, took the French ensign, halliards and all, and holding them
up in his hand over the taffrail to attract the attention of the
_Amphion's_ people, threw the whole into the sea. Having captured the
_Bellona_ also, the captain of the _Amphion_ temporarily left the
surrendered ship while he pursued another of the enemy, the _Corona_,
which he also captured. When thus engaged, however, he was mortified to
see his first prize, the _Flore_, notwithstanding her emphatic act of
submission, dishonourably stealing away, and she actually effected her
escape into the harbour of Lessina. Captain Hoste, who commanded the
British squadron, afterwards sent a letter by a flag of truce to the
captain of the _Flore_, demanding restitution of the frigate in the same
state as when she struck her flag and surrendered to the _Amphion_; but
the commander of the French squadron replied by a letter, neither signed
nor dated, denying that the _Flore_ had struck, and falsely asserting
that the colours had been shot away. The letter was sent back and the
demand repeated, but no answer was returned.
I may mention another instance in which captured colours were thrown
into the sea in token of surrender under different circumstances, but
not more creditable to the vanquished party. In the war between America
and the Barbary States in the early part of the century, the United
States schooner _Enterprise_, under the command of Lieutenant Sterrett,
fell in with and engaged a Tripolitan polacre ship, and in the course of
the action the colours of the latter were either shot away or struck--in
all probability the latter, for the Americans believed she had
surrendered and quitted their guns. The Corsair, however, re-hoisted her
flag and continued the action. Thereupon the _Enterprise_ poured in so
destructive a fire that her opponent this time unequivocally hauled down
her colours, and Lieutenant Sterrett ordered her under his lee quarter.
This order was obeyed, but the Tripolitan, when he got there, thinking
his position favourable, re-hoisted the red flag, and having poured
another broadside into the _Enterprise_, prepared to board. The
Americans, justly incensed at this treacherous act, delivered a raking
broadside which effectually terminated the affair. The Tripolitan
captain now abjectly implored the quarter which he had justly forfeited,
and bending over the waist barricade of his ship, and as an indication
of his sincerity, raised his colours in his arms and threw them into the
sea.
In contrast to the conduct of the captain of the _Flore_ in carrying off
his ship after he had surrendered, may be mentioned the very different
course taken by the officer in command of a French 40-gun frigate, the
_Renommee_, which was captured off Madagascar in 1811, after an action
between a French squadron, and a British squadron under Captain
Schomberg. From the state of the British ships after the action, Captain
Schomberg, when night was coming on, could only send on board the prize
a lieutenant of marines and four seamen, in a sinking boat. At this time
the _Renommee_ had a crew of nearly 400 effective officers and men, and
they could have had at once retaken the ship and got off during the
night. The crew wished to do so, but Colonel Barrois, who--the captain
having been killed--was now, according to the etiquette of the French
service, the commanding officer, acting on a high principle of honour,
refused to give his sanction, as they had surrendered by striking their
flag. The lieutenant and his few hands remained accordingly in quiet
possession of the prize, till the prisoners were taken out next morning,
and a proper prize crew placed on board.
When an action takes place at night, when flags cannot be seen, other
modes of intimating surrender have to be reverted to. In the war with
America, in 1815, when a British ship in a disabled state found she had
no alternative but to surrender at midnight to an American ship of
superior force, she did so by firing a lee gun and hoisting a light. In
another case a French frigate, the _Nereide_, after a severe action
during night with the British frigate _Phoebe_, surrendered to the
latter by hauling down a light she had been carrying, and hailing that
she surrendered. In another case a French ship intimated the fact of her
surrender by hoisting a light and instantly hauling it down.
When a ship has surrendered and is taken possession of, the captor
hoists his ensign over that of the enemy. In one instance a mistake in
this produced disastrous results. In the celebrated capture of the
_Chesapeake_ off Boston in 1813, when the American flag was struck, the
officer of the _Shannon_ who was sent on board the _Chesapeake_ to take
possession, inadvertently--owing to the halliards being tangled--bent
the English flag below the American ensign instead of above it. By this
time the two ships were drifting apart, and when the _Shannon's_ people
saw the American stripes going up first they concluded that their
boarding party had been overpowered, and at once reopened their fire, by
which their first-lieutenant and several of their own men were killed.
The mistake was discovered before the flags had got halfway to the mizen
peak, when they were hauled down and hoisted properly. In this brilliant
but short action--for between the discharge of the first gun and the
conclusion of the fight only fifteen minutes elapsed--the American ship,
by way of display, carried more than the ordinary number of flags. She
flew three ensigns, one at the mizen, one at the peak, and one, the
largest of all, in the starboard main rigging. She had besides, flying
at the fore, a large white flag inscribed with the words "Sailors'
Rights and Free Trade," with the intention, it was supposed, of damping
the energy of the _Shannon's_ men by this favourite American motto. The
_Shannon_ had the Union at the fore and an old rusty blue ensign at the
mizen peak, and besides these she had one ensign on the main stay and
another in the main rigging, both rolled up and "stopped" ready to be
cast loose in case either of the other flags should be shot away.
A similar display of flags occurred on the occasion of the encounter off
Valparaiso in 1814 between the British 36-gun frigate _Phoebe_ and the
United States 32-gun frigate _Essex_, which resulted in the capture of
the latter. Captain Porter, who commanded the American ship, made an
attempt, as in the case of the _Chesapeake_, on the loyalty of the
_Phoebe's_ seamen, by hoisting at his fore top-gallant-mast head the
stock motto, "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." This, in a short time,
the British ship answered with the St. George's ensign and the motto,
"God and Country--British sailors' best rights: Traitors offend them."
Subsequently the _Essex_ hoisted her motto flag at the fore, and another
on the mizen mast, with one American ensign at the mizen peak and a
second lashed on the main rigging. Not to be outdone in decorations the
British ship hoisted her motto flag with a profuse display of ensigns
and union jacks, and all these were flying when the American ship was
captured.