British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea: With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National DevicePerrin, William Gordon
History
British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea: With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device
Perrin, William Gordon
Flags -- Great Britain
At noon on the 30th inst. the broad pennant of Commodore Frushard
will be saluted by eleven guns from the battery at the Apollo
Pier. The flag of the Indian Navy, long known as "the Company's
Jack," will then be hoisted at the Castle flagstaff and saluted
by twenty-one guns. At the close of the salute the Indian Jack
will be hauled down, the broad pennant of Commodore Frushard and
the pennants of all the Indian Naval vessels in harbour will be
struck, and the Indian Navy will cease to exist as an effective
service[318].
A new "Bombay Marine," consisting of a few small vessels engaged in the
local transport and pilotage service of that port, similar to one that
had already come into existence at Calcutta, was thereupon instituted.
The Indian Marine Service Act of 1884 made provision for placing the
vessels belonging to the Government of India under the Naval Discipline
Act in time of war, and for constituting such ships vessels of war in
the Royal navy. At the same time a warrant was issued authorising the
vessels of the Indian Marine (to which the Prefix "Royal" was added
in 1892) to fly a blue ensign with a badge of the Star of India in
the fly, and a Union jack with a blue border. These vessels were in
November, 1921, authorised to fly a red pendant when in commission.
(ii) PRIVATE MEN-OF-WAR
The "private man-of-war" or "privateer[319]" was a vessel the owner
(or owners) of which had received from the Crown, or from the Lord
High Admiral, "Letters of Marque and Reprisal." The occasion for the
issue of such a licence, which was originally granted in the form of
Letters Patent--whence the name--might be either special or general.
It might be issued "specially" to some merchant who was able to prove
that he had suffered certain losses from the action of the subjects of
some foreign power, and who was thereupon authorised to make seizure
of any ships or goods belonging to subjects of that State until he
had by that means taken sufficient plunder to make good the losses
formerly sustained by him, but no more. Such licences were also issued
"generally" upon the outbreak of hostilities with a foreign state, to
any subjects who wished to make war upon enemy vessels on the chance
of making some profit by it, and who were able to give satisfactory
security that they would comply with the regulations laid down for
their conduct, particularly in the matter of the disposal of prizes
taken. During the wars of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
merchants frequently sought Letters of Marque for their vessels, not
because they wished them to take the offensive as regular privateers,
but because they were thereby freed of all danger of being classed as
"pirates" should they attempt to turn the tables upon any enemy that
attacked them. For this reason many, perhaps most, of the ships of the
East India and Guinea Companies fitted out in the seventeenth century
carried Letters of Marque and displayed the Union jack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account