These are the sources I have found including the main US and UK
Maritime Musems. Most of them are quite detailed, so I am unable to
place all the information here. I recommend you view each of the
sites. Also, different countries have had different codes so I have
mainly concentrated on the history of the US and UK.
Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center (US) gives a good
outline of the history of signaling at sea ?
"The use of signals at sea, including flags, is first mentioned in
Greek mythology and confirmed in the ancient writings of Virgil and
Polybius. Prior to the development of radio, visual signals were
essential for communication at sea, and despite advances in
technology, remain important today. The use of flag signals by the
Royal Navy is documented as early as 1530, and evolved into an
unwieldy system later simplified by Admiral Lord Howe and others in
the late 1700s."
Click on the link for additional information and books which were used as sources.
There are also original copies of three of the US Navy?s early signal
books including Thomas Truxtun's Instructions, Signals, and
Explanations, Ordered for the United States Fleet (1797), located in
the collection of the Navy Department Library.
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/spec2.htm
If are near Washington, a visit to the library may well be very productive.
The Navy Department Library
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Click here for the library catalogue
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/index.htm
Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq101-1.htm
Signaling at sea ?
A good account of the history of using flags at sea. By the Athenians,
Dutch, French, British and US navies into modern times and the
creation of a international code of signals. Far too comprehensive to
copy here.
http://home.earthlink.net/~mcmillanj/signals/Signals.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~mcmillanj/signals/sigflags.html
"The International Code of Signals has been in continuous use since
1857, when it was published by the British Board of Trade as a means
of maritime communications. The original Code contained 17,000 signals
using 18 signal flags, some of which were specific to the United
Kingdom. The Code was revised in 1932 to include seven languages:
English, French German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Norweigan. When
the code was revised again in 1969, the revision included Russian and
Greek, plus giving a complete meaning to each of the alpha-numeric
nautical signal flags."
http://www.reedsalmanac.com/signal_flags_d.html
The Peabody Essex Museum (Massachusetts, USA) has some early
examples of 19th century signals with original paintings of ships
where one can interpret the signals on display.
http://www.pem.org/archives/guides/signals.htm
"International Code of Signals, and additional flags currently in use
by the U.S. Navy and apparently by the British Navy as well"
http://www.hypermaths.org/quadibloc/other/flaint.htm
This Sea Cadet Corps publication has an account of the history of
Naval Communication which contains a useful timeline
http://www.sccheadquarters.com/publication/comms/Chapter-03.pdf
http://www.sccheadquarters.com
Boy's Manual Of Seamanship And Gunnery circa April 1871 (UK)
Original pages including instructions on signaling.
http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/B_S_M/Contents.html
This book appears to be an excellent introduction into the subject -
Flags at Sea: A Guide to the Flags Flown at Sea by Ships of the Major
Maritime Nations, from the 16th Century to the Present Day,
Illustrated from the Collections
by Timothy Wilson
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/155750296X/104-9345803-6698322?v=glance
Other sources recommended by the National Maritime Museum ? UK are ( I
have been unable to source them on the internet) -
Kent, Barrie, Captain, Signal! A history of Signalling in the Royal
Navy (Clanfield: Hyden House 1993)627.72(42) "19" (A general history
of naval communications. Contains handy tables showing 'England
Expects', Marryat's code, semaphore, and World War Two and present day
naval signal flags.)
Woods, D L, The Evolution of Visual Signals on Land and Sea PhD thesis
(Columbus: Ohio State University 1976) 627.724/0725 (A useful guide to
most of the different signal codes. Look here to find out to which
code a particular group of signal flags belongs.)
The museum also comments that,
"Numerical naval signal codes were introduced at the end of the 18th
century, replacing the simpler system set out in various editions of
the Sailing and Fighting Instructions. In the new codes, a series of
different flags was numbered one to ten and hoisted in groups of one
to four flags. The number the flag hoist represented corresponded to a
numbered order, word or sentence in the codebook. In 1817 Captain
Frederick Marryat introduced a similar code for the merchant service.
From 1857 this was gradually superseded by the Commercial Code of
Signals later known as The International Code. Nineteenth century ship
portraits frequently show the vessel flying a hoist of four signal
flags and a pennant. This is usually an identification code indicating
the vessel's name. These identification signals are listed in the
merchant codebooks available in the Museum Library. Older signal
codebooks are in the rare books collection and the manuscript
collections (see single volumes SIG/A Sailing and Fighting
Instructions SIG/B signal books)."
National Maritime Museum - UK
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/site/request/setTemplate:singlecontent/contentTypeA/conWebDoc/contentId/608/viewPage/2
A reviewer of this book commented? "It is at once a social history of
the Royal Navy that spans the Ironclad, Dreadnought and Great War
eras, a dissertation on naval signalling and fleet-handling in a
period of unprecedented technical innovation"
The Rules of the Game : Jutland and British Naval Command
by Authors: Andrew Gordon , John Woodward
Released: September, 2000
ISBN: 1557509719
Paperback
http://www.history-asia.com/The_Rules_of_the_Game__Jutland_and_British_Naval_Command_1557509719.html
I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder
maritime history us
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=maritime+history+us
navy signals flags
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=navy+signals+flags
"signal flags" history
://www.google.com/search?q=%22signal+flags%22+history&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=70&sa=N
signalling navy history
://www.google.com/search?q=signalling+navy+history&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N
signalling naval history
://www.google.com/search?q=signalling+naval+history&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N |
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