With an account of their use during the practice cruise of the Constellation of 1893.
II.
The practice cruise of the U.S.P.S. Constellation of 1893 afforded another opportunity for using homing pigeons as messengers. The experiment proved entirely successful, and the practical value of this service for naval purposes was again fully demonstrated, as it had been on the two previous cruises of the Constellation (see Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, Nos. 54 and 64). The report made on this subject by Commander C. M. Chester, U.S.N., from the memorandum prepared by Ensign F. K. Hill, U.S.N., who had charge of the matter during the practice cruise of 1893, states as follows: "Twenty-seven pigeons of various ages, and trained up to corresponding lengths of flight (from 20 to 150 miles) were furnished the Constellation from the Naval Academy loft when she left Annapolis, the 5th June, 1893. The first necessity for sending pigeons occurred about 12 miles from Annapolis, when Thomas Gilkie, seaman, was killed and it was necessary to send the body ashore. As speedy delivery was desired, duplicate messages were sent by two 1 50-mile birds, telling of the accident, and that the body would be sent ashore in the ship's steam launch. Later, the weather proving unfavorable, two more 150-mile birds were sent with a message, asking that the Standish be sent for the body.
"This message was sent at 9.30 A.M., June 7. The Standish was alongside a little after noon of the same day, and brought back the four birds which had carried the messages.
"With these two exceptions, birds were liberated during the cruise down the bay, at distances corresponding to their ages and training.
"The last birds flown were the four 150-mile birds brought back to the ship by the Standish. They were liberated June 12, at 10 A.M. Lat. 36°50" N, Long. 75°10" W., and arrived at Annapolis early the following morning.
"One bird carried a message to Captain Phythian changing the objective point of the cruise from Lisbon to Funchal, and requesting that mail be sent to the latter place.
"Of the twenty-seven birds liberated, but two failed to reach Annapolis. Twenty-four messages were taken from birds on their arrival, and one was afterwards found in a nest in the cote. As one of the two messages which failed to reach Annapolis was a duplicate, but one message was really lost."
Commander Chester states that the result of this work, as shown in Mr. Hill's memorandum, was very satisfactory, and says in conclusion: "I believe the adaptability of homing pigeons for naval purposes has now passed beyond the experimental stage, and, if the government desires to perfect this system of communication, it would seem appropriate that the necessary expense of maintaining the same should not be left to depend upon the subscriptions of individuals, as heretofore. In my opinion, the subject is worthy of generous consideration."
Another experiment on a larger scale took place during the recent naval rendezvous in Hampton Roads, when pigeons were liberated from the Dolphin and the Atlanta, carrying important messages from the Secretary of the Navy and others to Annapolis, Washington, Richmond, Philadelphia and other cities, over distances ranging from 50 to 300 miles.
The Annapolis birds of the Naval Academy loft liberated from the Dolphin, which had been previously trained, returned all in very good time and the messages forwarded were received on the day of liberation.
The only failures, which were few, were caused by untrained birds, furnished from other places, or by the defective manner of fastening the message to the bird. They emphasize the necessity of previous training and the importance of a systematic organization.
Homing pigeons were also successfully used as message bearers during the recent trial trip of the U.S.S. New York.
Besides the original cote, No. 1, formerly of the U.S.P.S. Constellation, and now in the Naval Academy loft, there are three cotes on board U.S. vessels of war; namely, No. 2, on board the U.S. armored cruiser New York, now in the harbor of Rio, Brazil (which was donated by the late Geo. W. Childs, and is complete in all its parts), No. 3, on board the U.S.S. Bancroft, now at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, and No. 4, on board the U.S.S. Monocacy, at present in the Yang-Tse River, China. This last has been recently established by Lieutenant A. L. Hall, on the model of the Constellation's cote.
All the principal European powers have now a well organized messenger pigeon service for both military and naval purposes, in most cases under the direct control of the government. Canada has been of late very active in establishing new messenger pigeon stations along the Atlantic coast, and efforts are now being made * to connect Sable Island with Halifax by pigeon post (a distance of about 150 miles) with a view to signal shipwrecks in the vicinity of the island and receive rapid communications from vessels cruising between these stations.
Recent experiments abroad, as well as in the United States have demonstrated the fact that well trained birds can be relied upon to carry messages from ships to shore when no other means of rapid communication are available and will result, it is hoped, in the establishment of a naval messenger pigeon service in the United States (as advocated in No. 64 of the Proceedings) similar to those existing in the European navies.
*Since sending the above to press the writer has received a communication from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries of Canada, stating that a report has been received from Captain Dopping Hepenstal, R. E., Supt. of Signals at Halifax citadel, informing the Department that the proposed line of communication by pigeon post between Sable Island and Halifax (distance about 150 miles) has been successfully established.