A crack ship and crew ~ A proud full-rigged ship

[Clyderigged]

This has to be my favorite photo of a square-rigger. This photograph is from the Bancroft library, UC Berkeley and shows the British 3 masted full rigged ship, Barfillan, working her way to the anchorage off San Francisco.
You can see Alcatraz behind the bowsprit and Mt. Tamalpais in the background off her stern.

Notice the local Crimps and their Whitehalls at the bow and stern trying to entice ole Jack Tar.
Both anchors catted and ready to let go.
Hard won and honest rust stains after her struggle rounding Cape Horn.
Tight harbor furls on the square sails, with 2 men aloft fisting canvas on the main topgallant and fore royal yards.
Yards squared away –a handsome sight of a proud shipThis is one fine ship with a crack crew.

http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/moac/ucb/images/brk00017850_31a_k.jpg

[C. Ross]

Very nice indeed.
Can anyone figure out what the colors signal?

[mmd]

C. Ross, are you referring to the band of colours just above the metric scale at the bottom of the picture?

[P.L.Lenihan]

Would someone kindly explain what a ''crimp'' is to this too young a puppy to know the lingo. Thank you.Lovely photo ,by the way!!

Peter

[Paul Pless]

Clyderigged, thanks for the post. Would you have a guess at the approximate year that this photo was taken?

[mmd]

A crimp is a person who essentially kidnaps people and delivers them to outbound ships as impressed crew. In the picture above, the crimps are lurking about the incoming ship so that they can offer to take the crew ashore to sample the delights of the red light district, promising them free transportation, copious libation and bounteous beauties. What they will most likely get is a mickey finn in a seedy bar, robbed of all their possessions including most of the clothes on their back, and deposited unconcious aboard an outbound ship where they will awake the next morning already asea for another year or more.

Pleasant folk...

[Tom Hunter]

I think C Ross is reffering to the 4 signal flags below the Red Duster

But without color we can't even guess, since the bottom two don't even have a pattern

[Clyderigged]

As to the year of the photograph, my guess would be late 1890's. The Barfillan was built by William Hamilton & Co., Port Glasgow and launched in 1892.

[outofthenorm]

Any signals experts out there?
The top flag appears to be M ( I have a doctor on board),http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/flags/signal/m-icon.gif
the second looks to be a Blue Peter (I am proceeding to sea),http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/flags/signal/p-icon.gif
the lower 2 appear to be solid - but there are no standard solids save Q http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/flags/signal/q-icon.gif that I know of.

The P doesn't make sense if the vessel is bringing to - and I'll take Clyderigged's word on that - but the M could make sense if one of the lower ones is Q. Nice wee puzzle.

- Norm

[ron ll]

I guess I'm confused about where the wind is. Her upper tops are braced to a port tack yet her jibs appear sheeted to port. Is she hove to?

Okay, on second look I would guess that maybe the jibs are still pulling but the yards are braced around to spill so as to make them easier to clew up and furl?

[John E Hardiman]

I think C Ross is reffering to the 4 signal flags below the Red Duster

But without color we can't even guess, since the bottom two don't even have a pattern

Most likey she is giving her number. All ships are assigned a 4 letter code to identify themselves.

[John E Hardiman]

Also the upper cellbock is in place, so that would up it most likely after 1912.

[John E Hardiman]

Here is a painting of her from The State Library of Victoria. Note her call letters. Still can't find them.... MP?? MP A/B ? Third hoist looks swallowtail.

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/brodie/0/0/1/im/bs001621.jpg

[C. Ross]

I think C Ross is reffering to the 4 signal flags below the Red Duster

Yes, and agreed Norm, it's a nice wee puzzle. In addition to the aesthetics, and the great story lines that Clyderigged pulled out of the picture, sometimes a few minutes with Google can help tease out things like, is this Barfillan?

Here's snips of the two pictures and indeed it looks like M P _ _.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/2196175305_b90f2d9cc8.jpg

But what about the last two signal flags?


Here's the Record of American and Foreign Shipping for 1894, digitized at Mystic Seaport website.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2017/2196962110_56cc823544.jpg

Hard to read at this resolution, but other ships have four letter signal letters, but not Barfillan or some others.

So just for grins, is there a registry of British ships' signal letters on line? Did MPxx belong to Barfillan, or is this a different ship?

Cris

[BrianM]

Also the upper cellbock is in place, so that would up it most likely after 1912.

I was thinking along the same lines as I was not aware of the prison being there before the turn of that century.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Pleasant folk...

Indeed!!! Thanks for the info. Mr.Mason! My nautical vocabulary has just been expanded :)

Peter

[Wairds]

Here's what I know! We have this photo of the Barfillan hanging in our hallway along with a Certificate of Competency (1909) for William Arthur Bromley - my husband's grandfather. We knew he sailed around Cape Horn in the Barfillan around the time of the 1906 earthquake and the photo was taken by a chap called Oliver in 1905 - we got our copy from the Bancroft Library. Seems Oliver just hang around the bay taking piccies of ships which was a good bit of luck for us! It all seems to tie in well. We have to believe that William Bromley was on board and probably an officer at the time the photo was taken.

The flag with the blue background and white cross - well that's easy. It's the flag of Scotland of course!

We've often tried to find out more about Barfillan so it was quite a surprise seeing this posting.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

In Jamie's photograph, which is indeed lovely, I would certainly expect the ship to be making her signal letters, as she is making port and coming to an anchor.

Remember - no radio - and the very first duty of a ship on making port is to let those ashore who have business with her know of her arrival.

The signal letters would be a four letter hoist, even at that date, I think.

In John's painting there can be no doubt that she is flying her signal letters, as the picture is a portrait of her and that was the convention in ship portraits.

So we can be pretty sure that she is making her signal in Jamie's picture and the first two letters are MP in both pictures. The third flag looks like B in John's picture and the fourth might be Q rippling in the breeze, as the bars are the wrong way for C, Y or G.

I am going to differ from Jamie on one small point - I doubt if the Whitehall hooked on aft is a crimp's boat - I think she is "legitimate" - she will be the Agent's boat with the water clerk, come to take the Notice of Readiness to the charterers so that laytime can commence.

The other two, lurking around but not hooked on (they would have been chased off by the Mates) are indeed probably crimps or tailor's boats.

San Francisco was of course the great home of the crimping trade... because nobody wanted to go to China.

Here is a link to what looks like an excellent Wikipedia article on crimping, but it does not explain why no-one wanted to go to China - the reason was twofold - the length of the voyage and the dread of contracting yellow fever when you got there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimp_%28recruitment%29

[Gary Bergman]

Looks more like the fort on Alcatraz than the slammer...

[Hwyl]

Any signals experts out there?
The top flag appears to be M




The flag with the blue background and white cross - well that's easy. It's the flag of Scotland of course!



Code flag M and the flag of Scotland are the same of course, and there are other flags that are the same as or similar to National flags, that's why various governments put out lists as to how one dresses ship, that order depends on the status of those countries in the view of the government.

It would be nice to think that all Scottish ships letter hoists started with the letter M and therefore it's national flag. It's a thought that I'll keep until disabused of it by someone more knowledgeable.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

British ships have always started with either "G" or "M".

The signal letter hoist has been four letters for a very long time - certainly since the 1860's

I cannot confirm that Scottish ships always started with M but it does seem very likely. Since I know the present Registrar (an ex-RN flat top steam engineer) I have asked him.

I have had more to do with ships starting with V (Hong Kong!)

[John Bertenshaw]

Great thread ,thankyou.

[C. Ross]

It would be nice to think that all Scottish ships letter hoists started with the letter M and therefore it's national flag. It's a thought that I'll keep until disabused of it by someone more knowledgeable.

I really like this thread. Hwyl, I believe you're Welsh. Sorry if mistaken. I've always wondered why the Welsh dragon flag isn't seen more often, and why it wasn't made part of the Union Jack. Do you know?

If this offends any sensibilities among our UK forumites I apologize.

[gavinpascoe]

Wales was under one crown since the 1530s (to rub it in to the Welsh princes and their followers, the heir apparent to England has ever since been the Prince of Wales). This was decreed under Henry the VIII. The Tudors were a mostly Welsh family anyway - they used a lot of British (as opposed to Saxon) imagery to help get the western people to get used to the idea. Eg they called their sons Arthur, made a big deal of the round table at Winchester, etc. Then in 1603 or therabouts James VI of Scotland became king of England, the Union flag was invented, combining the crosses of St George and and Andrew. The cross of St Patrick was added some time early in the 19th century to make the flag look like we know it today.

You could really say the last English Monarch was the first one (Alfred - and he was a saxon, not a Briton). Then came French, Welsh, Scottish, Dutch and now German dynasites. They're all in-bred really - for example Diana Spencer was descended from one of the Kings Charles through 6 different lines. No wonder they're mad!

The red dragon represents Wales/Britons and the White dragon does England (Anglo/Saxon peoples) in the Welsh Mabinogion. The cross of St David is Black and gold. It represents cultural and national unity I suppose.

[Mad Scientist]

I hadn't known about 'M' for British ships, but it makes sense - so many ships of British registry that they might have simply run out of combinations starting with 'G'.
The signal book in use in the late 19th century had three-letter signals, instead of the two-letter signals in todays International Code.

Warships still use the 4-letter designators (now called International Radio Call Signs) when entering or leaving harbour.

[ishmael]

Nice pic, good thread.

No one has mentioned the guys up in the rigging furling sail.

Height is an odd thing. When I used to work carpentry we did the whole house, and in the spring, when we'd been doing indoor work for the winter(with luck,) the first time of the year up on a high roof was always a bit scary for me. Two weeks on, I didn't give it a second thought.

I climbed the Conrad's mainmast at Mystic, a considerably smaller ship, and those guys in this photo in the rigging are way high up , feet in the boltropes. Now, rather than a placid day on SF bay, put the ship in the southern ocean during a gale. At least a roof doesn't pitch! It has a pitch, but it doesn't toss you around.;)

The faux gunports also speak volumes. Who are those gonna fool? Great pic.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I don't think that painted ports were intended to fool anyone. When this ship was built, warships were driven by steam, armour plated, and carried rifled breech loading guns in turrets - the painted ports were a convention which made a ship look more attractive and some owners were willing to incur the extra cost of such a paint scheme.

[Banjo]

Very nice indeed.
Can anyone figure out what the colors signal?

Top flag looks like Great Briton flag.
Second from top could be either ( V or "I require assistance" ) or could be ( Mike or "I am Stopped" )

Can't identify the rest.. :(

edit...
Bugga, I see many have beaten me to it again..... :/