Code Breakers: Solve Puzzle Master Greg’s Secret Codes!

by Andy Chin | Apr 7, 2020 | Boating, eLearning, Fun, Grades 5-8, Grades K-4, Sailing | 1 comment

“Whensoever, and at all tymes the Admyrall doth shote of a pece of Ordnance, and set up his Banner of Council on Starrborde bottocke of his Shippe, everie shipps capten shall with spede go aborde the Admyrall to know his will.”

In the early days of sail, the use of signals to communicate between ships was primitive, as seen by one admiral's instructions to his fleet in 1530

Nautical flags were originally used for communications among comrades during military entanglements. What started as a limited communication system evolved over centuries into a comprehensive, internationally-recognized signaling system functional for military and non-military purposes. Recreational vessels also use nautical ship flags as well as code signal flags to identify themselves and to communicate with other ships.

There are various methods by which the flags can be used as signals:

A series of flags can spell out a message, each flag representing a letter.
Individual flags have specific and standard meanings; for example, diving support vessels raise the “A” flag indicating their inability to move from their current location because they have a diver underwater and to warn other vessels to keep clear to avoid endangering the diver(s) with their propellers.
One or more flags form a code word whose meaning can be looked up in a code book held by both parties. An example is the Popham numeric code used at the Battle of Trafalgar.
In yacht racing and dinghy racing, flags have other meanings; for example, the P flag is used as the “preparatory” flag to indicate an imminent start, and the S flag means “shortened course”