THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING

by Guy Miller, Vice Chair Emeritus, Chennault Aviation and Military Museum

I’m sure you are very familiar with the custom of trying to pull a prank on another person on April 1st of each year. These pranks typically take the form of pretending something untrue is happening or has happened. If the other person is convinced what they have been told, seen or experienced is true then the hoax can be revealed.

During the Age of Sail the captains of the various navy, privateer or pirate ships did not wait until April 1st to pull off a hoax. They did this at every reasonable opportunity that presented itself.

Sailing vessels are neither fast nor capable of moving directly in all directions. The speed of a sailing vessel over water and it’s responsiveness is controlled by many factors. These include but are not limited to wind speed, shape and size of the vessel, number, size and shape of the sails, tonnage carried and quickness of the crew at shifting or adding sails. The speed and responsiveness of an Age of Sail vessel came into play when the captain wanted to engage a hostile (or merchant ship) or to escape from a hostile.

Another factor that came into play was how far away another ship was when first sighted. A lookout aloft in the rigging might see the sails of another ship peeking over the horizon as much as twelve miles away on a clear day. When sails were sighted there was no way of knowing whether it was a friendly ship or a hostile. A friendly ship might be welcome to provide added security, trade of needed supplies or just brief companionship to break the monotony of a long voyage. A hostile ship had to be avoided by a merchant. A naval vessel might have wanted to capture or sink a hostile vessel of equal or lesser size or avoid a much larger one. At some point the ship’s captain had to decide to close with the other vessel or to do his best to prevent the other from closing with him. What might be surprising to people today are the ruses used during the Age of Sail to lure another ship closer and to keep it from firing its guns for as long as possible.

It was common for the sailing vessels of old to carry flags of multiple nations. When sighting another ship the captain who could first identify the nationality or intent of the other had the upper hand when deciding to escape or to lure the other ship closer. Once the distant ship was identified the first ship might raise the flag of the distant ship’s nation or of a nation friendly to it. The goal was to convince the other captain that you were friendly so you had the best opportunity to either get away or to get close enough to him to engage in battle. For example a British frigate upon sighting a French frigate during a time of war might haul down his British ensign and raise a French flag to allow him to close with the other ship. This was more often true if the wind and weather conditions were not favorable to the British ship and the Frenchman could easily avoid the British ship once spotted.

At this point you might be asking why can’t the two captains identify the other ship’s nationality by its appearance? We know today that American Navy ships look very different than warships of Russia, Britain or any other shipbuilding nation. The surprising answer is that during the Age of Sail the goal was most often not to sink the other ship but to disable it enough so it could be captured. Not only were the contents of the captured ship useful or valuable but the ship might be repairable. If so it could be sailed to a home port by a prize crew. A Naval Board would decide to sell a captured ship or to refit it as a naval vessel of their own country. In either case the captain and crew of the ship that made the capture would share in prize money equal to the value of the ship and its contents. Because of this then-tradition of reusing captured foreign vessels, ships built by almost any seagoing nation might be found within the navies of their enemies. French-built ships were used as British men-of war for example and captured British ships became French naval vessels.

Since no determination could be made by the appearance of a closing ship, the national flag that it flew was the only initial clue. As it neared and the deck could be seen the first captain would have additional information for his decision to continue to close or to veer away and try to evade. For this reason, the officers and crew of the “pretending” ship would wear uniforms or nondescript clothing that would further make them appear to be friendlies. Sometimes sailcloth, spare wood and paint might be used to make a ship appear to be of a different type. The gun ports of a warship might be covered with painted fabric in order to present the smooth hull appearance of a merchantman.

Once the pretending vessel closed within the best possible firing distance, the false flag was hauled down, the correct national ensign was pulled up, the friendly uniform coats and hats were thrown off and the guns let loose. April Fools!