Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 23, 2020 #1 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) I've been looking at some old video of Queen Victoria from 2008 and spotted this unusual flag "Y" meaning "I am dragging my anchor". Now we have dragged anchors on a couple of ships but this was a calm day so fairly sure that wasn't the case here. So my first question is, do they use that when holding station using the thrusters? Edited December 23, 2020 by Colin_Cameron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 23, 2020 Author #2 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Other common flags are: "H". Pilot on board. "Q". My vessel is 'healthy' and I request free pratique. (Often mistakenly referred to as the Quarantine flag) "P". The blue Peter. All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea. (Not seen this for a few years) Second question. What others has anyone spotted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Victoria2 Posted December 23, 2020 #3 Share Posted December 23, 2020 I'm sure I' saw that flag when on Elizabeth when the engines failed, a few years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted December 23, 2020 #4 Share Posted December 23, 2020 If you mean red/yellow diagonal stripes flag it means "I am carrying mails" according to Google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted December 23, 2020 #5 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said: Other common flags are: "H". Pilot on board. "Q". My vessel is 'healthy' and I request free pratique. (Often mistakenly referred to as the Quarantine flag) "P". The blue Peter. All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea. (Not seen this for a few years) Second question. What others has anyone spotted? “Bravo” - handling dangerous substance - you ship will fly this when taking on fuel. ”Oscar” - man overboard. Edited December 23, 2020 by navybankerteacher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 23, 2020 Author #6 Share Posted December 23, 2020 31 minutes ago, majortom10 said: If you mean red/yellow diagonal stripes flag it means "I am carrying mails" according to Google. I had discounted that possible meaning as it wasn't flying when we arrived nor when we left. The still from the video was taken from ashore while the ship was either anchored, or holding station in the middle of the bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac1953 Posted December 23, 2020 #7 Share Posted December 23, 2020 How about the Commodore's Flag, flown when he is aboard, which we bought at the auction. It now hangs in our stairway. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 23, 2020 Author #8 Share Posted December 23, 2020 22 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said: “Bravo” - handling dangerous substance - you ship will fly this when taking on fuel. I've seen this on the bunker tanker but never noticed it on our ship. 23 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said: ”Oscar” - man overboar Watched a few MOB exercises and not seen it used. Fortunately not been aboard anytime it would have to have been used for real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted December 23, 2020 #9 Share Posted December 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said: I had discounted that possible meaning as it wasn't flying when we arrived nor when we left. The still from the video was taken from ashore while the ship was either anchored, or holding station in the middle of the bay. I have since searched Google further and according to Wikipedia it means " I am dragging my anchor". Rather confusing as would have thought every flag should have the same meaning or else what is the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanky Lad Posted December 23, 2020 #10 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Not a common flag, but somewhere I a picture of the Cunard and White Start pennant on QE2 as part of the 40th anniversary trip. I have also seen the Royal Mail pennant on QM2 and of course QE2 had it's paying off pennant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 23, 2020 Author #11 Share Posted December 23, 2020 31 minutes ago, majortom10 said: ... would have thought every flag should have the same meaning or else what is the point. Some of them are listed as having different meanings depending on whether the ship is ‘in port/docked/anchored’ or ‘at sea’. Although this one isn’t listed as such I had assumed a similar distinction for these two possible meanings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfred Posted December 23, 2020 #12 Share Posted December 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said: Some of them are listed as having different meanings depending on whether the ship is ‘in port/docked/anchored’ or ‘at sea’. Although this one isn’t listed as such I had assumed a similar distinction for these two possible meanings. We were on QE in the Bay of Islands NZ a few years back, and we held station with the thrusters for several hours prior to departing. The captain came on the 1MC to say that he was having difficulty maintaining position with the anchor while recovering the last several tenders from shore, and we would be flying a station keeping flag. Unfortunately while this was happening we had an excellent table in the Commodore Club with a great view around the bay, and several pints of beer, and could not see the colour of the flag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanky Lad Posted December 23, 2020 #13 Share Posted December 23, 2020 1 hour ago, sfred said: We were on QE in the Bay of Islands NZ a few years back, and we held station with the thrusters for several hours prior to departing. The captain came on the 1MC to say that he was having difficulty maintaining position with the anchor while recovering the last several tenders from shore, and we would be flying a station keeping flag. Unfortunately while this was happening we had an excellent table in the Commodore Club with a great view around the bay, and several pints of beer, and could not see the colour of the flag. At least you have been able to confirm that there is such a flag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L4605 Posted December 26, 2020 #14 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Signal flags from Olsens Almanack 1988 not sure if any has changed since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShipsAreTheBest Posted December 29, 2020 #15 Share Posted December 29, 2020 On 12/23/2020 at 7:44 AM, Colin_Cameron said: I've been looking at some old video of Queen Victoria from 2008 and spotted this unusual flag "Y" meaning "I am dragging my anchor". Now we have dragged anchors on a couple of ships but this was a calm day so fairly sure that wasn't the case here. So my first question is, do they use that when holding station using the thrusters? The hoist shown is “RY” (“Romeo Yankee”) and it means that “vessels passing me should do so at slow speed” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 29, 2020 Author #16 Share Posted December 29, 2020 2 hours ago, ShipsAreTheBest said: The hoist shown is “RY” (“Romeo Yankee”) and it means that “vessels passing me should do so at slow speed” That certainly makes sense as they were running tenders. I hadn't identified the upper flag as in some frames of the video it looks like the two upper quarters are blue and the lower ones red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted December 29, 2020 #17 Share Posted December 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said: That certainly makes sense as they were running tenders. I hadn't identified the upper flag as in some frames of the video it looks like the two upper quarters are blue and the lower ones red. The upper quarters are somewhat shaded, and difficult to confirm; but the lower quarters are certainly red , and there is a yellow cross creating the quarters —- it has to be “Romeo”, as there is no other signal flag it could possibly be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colin_Cameron Posted December 29, 2020 Author #18 Share Posted December 29, 2020 2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said: ... there is no other signal flag it could possibly be. Agreed. For a while I wondered if it could be the flag of Samos, which is where we were, but it’s on the wrong halyard and upside down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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