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What Ship, Where Bound?: A History of Visual Communication at Sea
What Ship, Where Bound? takes its title from the familiar opening exchange of signals between passing ships and celebrates the long history of visual communications at sea. It traces the visual language of signaling from the earliest naval banners or streamers used by the Byzantines in AD 900 through to Morse signaling still used at sea today.
The three sections, Flag Signaling, Semaphore, and Light Signaling each trace the development of the respective methods in meeting the needs of commanders for secure and unambiguous communication with their fleets. Though inextricably linked to naval tactics and fleet maneuvers, the history of signaling at sea also reflects the exponential growth in global maritime trade in the nineteenth century when dozens of competing systems vied for the attention of ship owners and led to a huge proliferation of codes.
The three sections, Flag Signaling, Semaphore, and Light Signaling each trace the development of the respective methods in meeting the needs of commanders for secure and unambiguous communication with their fleets. Though inextricably linked to naval tactics and fleet maneuvers, the history of signaling at sea also reflects the exponential growth in global maritime trade in the nineteenth century when dozens of competing systems vied for the attention of ship owners and led to a huge proliferation of codes.
- GenresNonfiction
96 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2021
Sails, flags, flares, and lights have all been used to send messages among ships. This is a wonderful book about the origins and improvements to signaling ever since man first went to sea. Each method is explained, and others are also presented. All the illustrations and pictures make this work visually stunning as well.
Timelines serve as a unifying theme among principal sections of the book: Flag Signaling, Semaphore, and Light Signaling. The use of flags has a history that begins circa 450 BC with a quote from Herodotus, and ends seven pages later in 1889. Many individuals contributed to this process, including several foreign naval officers and dignitaries. Ten different sets of flags representing numbers are also pictured together. The British Admiralty adopted the first set of signal flags in 1665.
Visual communication involves “shapes, shutters and semaphore.” This section discusses a new alphabet developed for hand-held flag waving and mechanical methods for “telegraphing” messages. The Admiralty first erected signaling stations on land in 1795 and some of their devices were still in use during World War I.
Developments in signaling with light have a nine-page timeline that begins in 1746 and ends in 1897 with a controversy about which signaling method the Admiralty should choose. Included in this history is the creation of Morse Code and how messages can be spelled out one letter at a time using plain English. A complete ship to shore communication is presented to show how Morse Code is sent and each message is acknowledged.
Other aspects of signaling are also covered: why and how England’s national flag of St. George was modified for Great Britain’s Union Jack to ensure all would still recognize a Royal Navy vessel; Nelson’s message to the fleet before the Battle of Trafalgar; the way signals contributed to a collision during fleet maneuvers; and present-day efforts to improve signaling for warships at sea, including automating the process and having signals look more like text messages.
Notes about sources and quotations are found at the end of the text. There is also a bibliography with resources on the Web and an index, not available in the galley, is included in the published version. Hundreds of illustrations accompany the text.
If you have ever wondered what the flags decorating a docked ship are saying, or other examples of signals encountered in daily life, this book has the answer. Interesting and well told, What Ship, Where Bound? It is wholeheartedly recommended.
Timelines serve as a unifying theme among principal sections of the book: Flag Signaling, Semaphore, and Light Signaling. The use of flags has a history that begins circa 450 BC with a quote from Herodotus, and ends seven pages later in 1889. Many individuals contributed to this process, including several foreign naval officers and dignitaries. Ten different sets of flags representing numbers are also pictured together. The British Admiralty adopted the first set of signal flags in 1665.
Visual communication involves “shapes, shutters and semaphore.” This section discusses a new alphabet developed for hand-held flag waving and mechanical methods for “telegraphing” messages. The Admiralty first erected signaling stations on land in 1795 and some of their devices were still in use during World War I.
Developments in signaling with light have a nine-page timeline that begins in 1746 and ends in 1897 with a controversy about which signaling method the Admiralty should choose. Included in this history is the creation of Morse Code and how messages can be spelled out one letter at a time using plain English. A complete ship to shore communication is presented to show how Morse Code is sent and each message is acknowledged.
Other aspects of signaling are also covered: why and how England’s national flag of St. George was modified for Great Britain’s Union Jack to ensure all would still recognize a Royal Navy vessel; Nelson’s message to the fleet before the Battle of Trafalgar; the way signals contributed to a collision during fleet maneuvers; and present-day efforts to improve signaling for warships at sea, including automating the process and having signals look more like text messages.
Notes about sources and quotations are found at the end of the text. There is also a bibliography with resources on the Web and an index, not available in the galley, is included in the published version. Hundreds of illustrations accompany the text.
If you have ever wondered what the flags decorating a docked ship are saying, or other examples of signals encountered in daily life, this book has the answer. Interesting and well told, What Ship, Where Bound? It is wholeheartedly recommended.
July 29, 2021
What Ship, Where Bound? covers the history of visual signalling at sea, from a British perspective but also covering important developments elsewhere. While it receives limited focus in naval history, communications are fundamental to fleet and squadron tactical operations and understanding the history of how the systems of communication developed is valuable information in understanding how ships operated (and continue to operate, even though visual signalling is less important today).
The book itself is a succinct, interesting path through the development of flag signalling, semaphore and light signalling (each with their own section) from a maritime and primarily naval context. It outlines the evolution of the systems using a timeline of key events, and then provides examples of them in action – for example, describing instances of both flag and semaphore signalling at the Battle of Jutland – or discusses thematic topics.
The writing is clear and accessible, with an interesting-to-read style, and the standard of editing is generally high, with (as best I can tell – I can’t speak for the history of signalling) only a few typos. There are reference notes and a bibliography for further reading for people that want to take their journey into all things signalling further. There is also a brief index.
On theme, the book is striking visually, printed in colour throughout and making good use of this to display signal flags, colour reproductions of artwork and photos, and diagrams.
For anyone looking for an guide to the history of signalling (relatively broad-brush, which is understandable given the size of the book) it’s an easy recommend - it would be hard to think of any way What Ship, Where Bound? could be better.
The book itself is a succinct, interesting path through the development of flag signalling, semaphore and light signalling (each with their own section) from a maritime and primarily naval context. It outlines the evolution of the systems using a timeline of key events, and then provides examples of them in action – for example, describing instances of both flag and semaphore signalling at the Battle of Jutland – or discusses thematic topics.
The writing is clear and accessible, with an interesting-to-read style, and the standard of editing is generally high, with (as best I can tell – I can’t speak for the history of signalling) only a few typos. There are reference notes and a bibliography for further reading for people that want to take their journey into all things signalling further. There is also a brief index.
On theme, the book is striking visually, printed in colour throughout and making good use of this to display signal flags, colour reproductions of artwork and photos, and diagrams.
For anyone looking for an guide to the history of signalling (relatively broad-brush, which is understandable given the size of the book) it’s an easy recommend - it would be hard to think of any way What Ship, Where Bound? could be better.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews