sign in sign up
<<
Home , Flag semaphore, Morse code

Little Mates, Ahoy! - Week Seven

- Communicating at Sea-

... Who Are You? Naval communication is an extremely important subject. For as long as people have been sea, have had to figure out how to talk to other ships on the water and it hasn’ always been easy. One of the earliest forms of “communication” came as single flag to announce who you were. Why is that important? ______. Many early navies or trading ships would fly a to show who they are to other vessels. This is something that still happens to this day. How about you create a flag of your own!? Draw it in below, or get creative with it! Phonetic ALFA-bet

A AL-FAH 1 WUN BRAV-OH 2 TOO CHAR-LEE 3 TREE DEL-TAH 4 FOW-ER ECK-OH 5 FIFE FOKS-TROT 6 SICKS GO-LF 7 SEV-EN -TEL 8 ATE IN-DEE-AH 9 NINER JEW-LEE-ETT The phonetic is used to make it easier to KEY-LOH understand over . Read all of the letters in LEE-MAH the alphabet and make sure you are saying everything correctly. When you’ve finished learning MIKE them, try out these phrases: -VEM-BER 1. State your name: ______O OSS-CAH 2. US Brig Niagara P PAH-PAH 3. Erie KAY-BECK ROW--OH SEE-AIR-AH T TANG-OH YOU-NEE-FORM

V VIK-TAH

W WISS-KEY Pick a partner and come up with your own messages ECKS-RAY to read off to one another! YANG-KEY ZOO-LU Signal Flags Signal flags are another form of communication - especially at sea. These colorful flags are flown on ships to send messages to other vessels in the area. For example, flying the “OSCAR” flag means your ship someone fell “overboard”. Signal flags were first used on ships in ancient times however, not like they are today, Modern code signaling was first created in the 1650s when the Duke of York was made the Royal Navy’s Lord High Admiral. developed a code based on flags which were hoisted in certain areas of the ship. Over the next few hundreds years, the became more complex. Most maritime nations use the International Code of Signals that was developed over 300 years of maritime history. For this activity, we will learn all of the signal flags, what they look look, as well as make a signal flag necklace! Signal Flags

Activity Instructions:

Flag Signaling requires a set of flags with 26 letters (the alphabet), 10 numbers, 3 substitutes, and the answering pennant. The letters A and B are burgees (they have a swallow-tail). The rest of the alphabet flags are rectangular. The numbers are pennants, along with the “code” or answering flag, which is also used as a decimal point if needed. The substitutes are triangles. Group denotes one or more letters or numbers which together compose a signal A hoist is one or more groups displayed from a single halyard. Tackline is a length of halyard about 2 meters long used to separate each group.

You can color the hoist on this page using the key below. Once you are done with this page, Go to the next page for our Signal Flag Necklace or Wall Decoration Craft!

1 = RED 2 = WHITE 3 = BLUE 4 = GOLD Signal Flags

Activity Instructions:

Here is what you will need:

• Coloring Utensils

• Scissors

• Hole Punch (optional)

• String

Steps:

 Pick your message - this could be your initials or name.

 Find the letters in the next few pages. Once you have found the letters you will need, look up on the answer sheet (next page) the colors of your signal flags.

 Color your signal flags.

 With an adult, cut out your signal flags and put a hole in the top left hand corner of your signal flags.

 Take the string and cut it to the right length.

 Run the string through each of the signal flags.

 Tie off the string or hang your craft on your wall!

 All Done! Try and get your siblings, friends, family to guess your message. Signal Flags Signal Flags Signal Flags Signal Flags Signal Flags Signal Flags Signal Flags

Signal Flags

Signal Flags

During the War of 1812, Oliver Perry had to build his squadron quickly with limited supplies. Perry didn’t have enough flags he developed his own code with the few flags he had. At the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry would raise his flag commands at certain points on his ship. Other ships in his squadron would see the flag and know what to do.

Why don’t you try making up your own flag code!? Try it out with a partner.

This is Perry’s flag code from his time on USS Java. ------> Other form of communication at sea is done with . This is typically done with two colored flags. The code is sent out by a sailor who moves the flag in cer- tain positions around their body. Check out the alphabet below: Semaphore

For this activity, you will get to try out some flag semaphore. Make your own version of a semaphore flag, look at the alphabet and practice some of the positions. When you feel like you have the hang of it, try sending messages to a partner! Morse Code is a version of “” that uses a series of and dots and dashes to send out messages. Morse code is named after who was one of the people who helped invent it. Dots came through like “dits” and a dash would sound like a “dah”. Dashes were three times as long as a dot. For this activity, check out the Morse Code alphabet below. On the next page are some codes for you to solve. --. / --- /--- / -.. / .--. / ..- / -.-. / -.- (Good Luck) Morse Code

Crack the codes below (the / represents a letter change): -. / .. / .- / --. / .- / .-. / .- / ______… / .- / .. / .-.. / --- / .-. ______.-.. / .- / -.- / . [] . / .-. / .. / . ______… / - / ..- / .-. / --. / . / --- / -. ______.--. / .-. / . / … / --.- / . [space] .. / … / .-.. / . ______Write out following messages in Morse Code USS Michigan ______Pennsylvania ______Brig ______Hardtack ______Sails and Masts ______