Plausible signal flags for a docked transport?

Show the BRAVO flag,  (all red)

Usually in drydock(the ship is always a mess with welding, fabricating, sandblasting, grinding, red leading, people yelling, etc ) the only flags I recall is the daily posting of colors and the display of the "third repeater"(Captain not aboard pennant, white with a black stripe). If the ship is leaving a flooded dry dock, preparing to leave port, it usually runs up the ship's call sign flags. If the dockside availibility isn't "messy" and the sun is shining I've observed the QM's running all the signal flags up the hoist to dry them out and check on their material condition. Good luck in your project.

Mike

If memory serves (it usually doesn't) ship's call sign when entering or leaving port, especially if its not the ships homeport. "Bravo" definately when handling hazardous materials. All the signal flags may be laid out for inspection, repair, drying out etc. If the signalmen are running inport training drills with other ships you'll see all kinds of different flaghoists plus signal light drills too. Did you say your ship is in drydock or just alongside the pier?. If in drydock you probably won't see much in the signal dept. Even the halyards themselves might be taken down for replacement or repair. If your ship is alonside the pier, the callsign, and "bravo" , and possible the capt. absentee pennant would be up. Hope that helps.

Good stuff, thanks for the input. As my ship is docked, I'll have to check and see if my Trident Hobbies decal sheet has the captain not aboard flag - which would be the triangular white flag with the black stripe horizontally through the center, correct?

Now if I can just figure out a way to make the darn things look like they're flapping ...

Also remember that if she is in a foreign Port, any vessel flies the flag of that particular country while they are docked.

surfsup wrote:

Also remember that if she is in a foreign Port, any vessel flies the flag of that particular country while they are docked.

I don't know about other navies, but US Navy ships do not fly the flags of foriegn nations. They also do not acknowledge the rendering of honors from foriegn ships.

subfixer wrote:

surfsup wrote: Also remember that if she is in a foreign Port, any vessel flies the flag of that particular country while they are docked. I don't know about other navies, but US Navy ships do not fly the flags of foriegn nations. They also do not acknowledge the rendering of honors from foriegn ships.

http://www.ushistory.org/BETSY/images/ntp13b.pdf

NTP 13 is the US Naval protocol for flags and rendering honors.

Check paragraph 603 and following.

Surfsup statement perhaps should have read "may fly the flag"

"Captain not aboard" is a pennant not a flag. Believe it is the third substitute.

It is custom to fly the flag of a friendly nation (NATO) from a halyard BELOW the national ensign.
The ship may also fly a flag of her crews choice. Examples may be the state flag of the home port or namesake. My ship flew the "Evergreen" Flag; White with an Evergreen tree and the words, "An Appeal to Heaven" in black.

W

I do stand corrected. The regulation is dated as from 1986. I was a quartermaster from the early to mid seventies. Part of our training was in "Honors and Ceremonies" and flag etiquette was a part of that particular training (I must have slept through some of that class). What I should have made clear in my statement was that a US Navy ship does not dip her national colors (flag) to a vessel rending that salute to her. We never flew foriegn national flags when entering foriegn ports either, at least not to the ports I visited. Special honors due to a boarding VIP (or honoring a special foriegn holiday while visiting that country)  is quite a different set of circumstances and in addition to  figuring the amounts of saluting rounds to be fired, the amount of sideboys, whether to full dress the ship, man the rails and whatnot, you've got to make sure all of the flags are correct. Navy tradition...

We never flew a "crew's choice" flag either nor do I recall seeing one on any other ship during that time. I see them nowadays on occasion when ships return from deployment. Maybe a later reg covers it.

P.S. What flag that we did fly throughout the fleet in 1976 (Bicentennial Year) was a yellow "Don't Tread on Me" Rattlesnake Flag at the jackstaff. That was a replica of a Revolutionary flag. The "olde":

The present:

PLUS THISEQUALS THIS:

As we are now into being PC and not offending anyone, I doubt you'd see a "Don't Tread On Me" flag on a any Naval Vessel!

We also flew the Jolly Roger during initiations, but that was done far out at sea. . .

W

deadhead wrote:

As we are now into being PC and not offending anyone, I doubt you'd see a "Don't Tread On Me" flag on a any Naval Vessel! We also flew the Jolly Roger during initiations, but that was done far out at sea. . . W

The striped rattlesnake union jack flies on the jackstaff of every US Navy ship that is in commission. Here is a wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Navy_Jack

 

Interesting the way these threads veer off into unexpected directions ...

Thank you all for the valued input. After a lot of fussing and fuming with tiny little fragile decal squares, I decided to stick with the call sign NDWV on the port yardarm and the Bravo flag on the starboard one. My Trident flag decal sheet doesn't have the repeater penants, and anyway, I was out of patience!