The Famine Ships by Edward Laxton

Author:Edward Laxton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

13

Flags for Convenience

During the 19th century, thousands of ships plied the seaways, rivers and canals, loaded with cargoes and passengers. Sea transport was a haphazard and ill-regulated trade until the latter half of the last century. At any one time, ten or 20 ships, often very similar in size and design, and sometimes bearing the same name or ensign, might cross the ocean. Certain much-loved names abounded, such as Eliza, a popular Christian name for a girl. Constitution was also common; at least three ships of that name sailed between Liverpool and New York during the Famine years; and two Hannah’s, registered to ports in Ireland, carried Famine emigrants. Though a ship could be identified by its owner’s pennant, this was normally only hoisted when entering or leaving port.

At the time of the Famine, however, Lloyd’s Register introduced a series of identification flags which corresponded to ships’ identification numbers in the Register. Captain Joseph Marryatt, an officer in the Royal Navy, suggested this system of identifying ships in the 1830s and by the following decade it was accepted throughout the world. Ten coloured flags represented numbers from zero to nine, and each ship flew the four flags corresponding to the number by which she was known in the Register. One was signified by the colours white with a blue square; five by a red flag; eight by blue with a yellow square; and nine by blue and yellow quarters. But configurations involving double numbers, such as 2102, 3103 or 9109, were avoided. As a result, far fewer than 9,999 ships could be identified by the use of the four flags. To overcome the problem, ships introduced later in the century flew a First Distinguishing Pennant either from a different mast or above their own signal flags. This was a long, triangular flag in white with a red spot near the hoist. Later, Second and Third Distinguishing Pennants were added and, by the time Marryatt’s Code of Signals was published in 1856, some 30,000 separate identities were established

Possibly these identities were not of such great consequence once a ship was at sea, but if lost or wrecked, a ship’s position and identity was of paramount importance – to the owners and especially to the insurers and Lloyd’s officials. To help keep track of ships’ movements, all vessels were logged on entering and leaving port, and when sighted by another vessel at sea, such sightings being reported to Lloyd’s local agents. As all sea-faring nations, especially America, began to increase their tonnage on the high seas, these new identification systems and enforced regulations became essential for the smooth running of an expanding shipping trade. There were other flags in the system which conveyed a particular message when flown alone, such as ‘I have lost my anchor chain – request assistance’. Lighthouses and coastguards also flew special flags signifying various warnings for ships at sea.

There were also time-honoured distress signals: the Red Ensign, a red flag with the Union Jack in one corner,

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