A study of the Order of St John’s maritime signalling (ca.1650 - ca.1750)

Abstract

The choice of this dissertation’s topic, the naval squadrons of the Order of St John and the signalling utilised by them, came as a result of my personal interest in naval history and the Order, an interest fostered since childhood from watching large vessels in movies of pirates and naval battles. By being native to the island where the Hospitallers once ruled, leaving numerous physical traces of their reign, pushed me further to proceed with this dissertation topic. Ever since the first form of signalling at sea was utilised, it has always played a crucial role in communicating from one ship to another. Communication at sea required different methods than on land because it generally had to be transmitted from far away and not within speaking distance. Communication at sea required visual and non-verbal communication methods which ultimately resulted in the use of signalling, a common practice for all fleets of the Mediterranean. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines signalling as follows: ‘to convey information or instructions by means of a gesture, action, or sound’, and communication as ‘the transmission or exchange of information, knowledge, or ideas, by means of speech, writing, mechanical or electronic media, etc...’. However, a distinction should be made between signalling and saluting, because although both serve as a means of communication at sea, they have a different meaning. As the OED defines it, saluting in a military and naval aspect is done ‘to pay respect to (a superior) by a prescribed bodily movement’. The Order of St John was a religious institution with an established and powerful navy of its own. It had established its significance in the Mediterranean through past events such as during the Second Venetian Ottoman War of 1499-1502/03. As a result of this extensive maritime activity, it too had developed signals and salutes that were common amongst other maritime powers, especially Venice, in order to communicate internally as a squadron, and with other fleets. The use of illustrative examples throughout this dissertation will allow for a better analysis and understanding of signals and salutes. Together with this, the dissertation aims to highlight, interpret and understand the different situations, methods and meanings where communication was employed by the Order’s naval squadrons from the mid-17th century to the first half of the 18th. To structure the argument well, this dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter One focuses on giving the framework to the rest of the dissertation by discussing the context, historiography on material culture and the Order’s navy, and the archival sources that were used. Chapter Two presents the significance and the variation in navigational signals that the Order’s navy used throughout the day, at night, or during bad weather. Chapter Three looks at a number of signals that were used specifically during sea battles by the Order, followed by focusing on battle standards and analysing numerous paintings depicting naval battle scenes. Lastly, Chapter Four, discusses the important aspect of saluting at sea, the disciplinary actions imposed with regards to the Order’s naval instructions, and the rituals and ceremonies performed by the Order out at sea or in the Maltese harbour.