A lecture delivered at the Naval War College, Newport, R. I., July 20, 1896, by Professor H. Marion, U. S. Naval Academy
So much has been written about the use of pigeons as dispatch bearers on land that it would appear superfluous to dwell upon what has already been said about them.
The principal object of this paper is to discuss the employment of pigeons as message-bearers over bodies of water, a question which has of late attracted considerable attention in this country and abroad.
There are many instances of the early employment of pigeons for transmitting intelligence from ship to shore. The fancy for pigeons was already in vogue among the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. It is recorded that pigeons were used as message-bearers by the early navigators of Egypt, Cyprus and Candia, who often announced their approach by pigeons three days in advance of their actual arrival at port. The Venetians used them during the 12th century with great success in their war with the Turks, and it is said the island of Candia was once saved by a pigeon, which carried to Venice the news of the return of the Turks in time to send a fleet, which prevented the invasion of the island by the enemy. In memory of this event, pigeons were, for centuries, fed at the expense of the Venetian government in the famous square of St. Mark. Further notable instances of the use of pigeons as war messengers are the siege of Haarlem in 1573, that of Leyden in 1575, and the bombardment of Antwerp in 1632. The organization of the modern military pigeon systems, however, may be said to date only from the siege of Paris (1870-71), where homing pigeons were most extensively and successfully used.
France took the lead in establishing a military pigeon service and was soon followed by almost every continental nation of Europe. The military budget of France assigns an annual credit of nearly 100,000 francs for the maintenance of the military and maritime pigeon lofts. In accordance with law, the military authorities have also a right to requisition messenger pigeons from private lofts, and an annual census is taken of all available trained birds which might be utilized as auxiliaries to the regular military contingent. In order to encourage the breeding and training of homing pigeons, the government offers yearly premiums to the various columbarian societies in the shape of medals, diplomas and money awards. The experiments with pigeons for naval purposes were commenced in France a few years ago with the co-operation of the Engineer Corps of the Army, which loaned some of their pigeons to the Navy and detailed a number of their men (sapeurs du genie) as instructors at the various ports. The naval pigeon stations at Brest, Nantes, Toulon and Marseilles have given excellent results.
Each year, in April, a certain number of sailors are instructed in the care and training of pigeons for sea service. A torpedo-boat is assigned to each station for the training of the birds, which are liberated at sea, beginning with five miles, and by gradually increasing the distance, the birds soon become accustomed to their work. It has recently been proposed further to extend the French naval messenger pigeon service by having three different lines of communication radiate from each station, viz.:
- By pigeons trained seaward as far as 300 miles, towards the English coasts on the Atlantic Ocean, and towards Corsica, Sardinia, Algeria and the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean.
- By pigeons trained from each naval station towards Paris.
- By pigeons trained to connect the various military ports with each other.
To insure these communications, birds are to be distributed as follows: Cherbourg, 500; Brest, 600; Lorient, 500; Rochefort, 500; Toulon, 1000; Paris, 500. The line of communication by pigeon post, established some time ago by the maritime authorities at Toulon for service between that port and Calvi (Corsica), is now in full operation, and a new line between Bizerta and Bonifacio has recently been established, and flights will be attempted this year between Algiers and Marseilles, a distance of 480 miles, with possible relays at Ajaccio (Corsica). In the colonies a regular service exists between the Reunion Island and Mauritius. French societies all along the coast of Normandy are constantly flying their birds from Portsmouth and Plymouth, and these birds have often crossed the English Channel at its widest part. But by far the most interesting and conclusive experiment ever attempted in Europe, with a view of demonstrating the value of homing pigeons for sea service, was undertaken last year, by and through the initiative of Le Petit Journal, of Paris, as the result of a controversy with the Paris Figaro, on the possibility of receiving news by pigeons from the long delayed steamer La Gascogne, of the Cie. Transatlantique, on her return trip to New York two years ago.
The writer of the Figaro, who claimed to be an authority on pigeon matters, stated that pigeons could never fly 100 miles at sea, and would become sea-sick on board ship and consequently unable to leave it.
Parenthetically, I will state that I took occasion at that time, through the New York Herald, to contradict this statement, and cited an instance when pigeons, which had been purposely kept confined 21 days on board the Monongahela, between decks, had returned to the Naval Academy loft at Annapolis, over a distance of 200 miles. (See article by Lieutenant A.M. Knight, U.S.N., Proceedings U. S. Naval Institute, No. 72, 1894.)
The director of the Petit Journal, in order to settle the question in dispute, moved by high humanitarian motives, chartered at his own expense, aided by a popular subscription, the steamer Manoubia, of the Cie. Transatlantique, for that purpose. This great and novel undertaking, which cost nearly $5000, was carried out as projected. About 4500 pigeons, belonging to various columbarian societies of France, Belgium, Holland and England, were put on board the Manoubia, June 30, 1895, at St. Nazaire. All arrangements for their care and comfort had been carefully made, and the different cabins had been turned into so many minor lofts, each dedicated to this or that country and province from which the birds, occupying it, had come.
The operations were carried on under the management of the Le Petit Journal and a committee representing the various societies, and were under the intelligent supervision of M. Ch. Sibillot, editor of La France Aerienne, the leading columbarian newspaper in France.
Four tosses or liberations took place:
800 pigeons were liberated at 146 km., at about 91 miles from nearest shore (Pointe du Croisic),
1600 pigeons were liberated at 200 km., at about 125 miles from nearest shore (Pointe du Croisic).
600 pigeons were liberated at 300 km., at about 187 ½ miles from nearest shore (Pointe du Croisic).
Finally, 1500 pigeons were liberated at 500 km., at about 312 ½ miles from nearest shore (Pointe du Croisic).
Of the 800 pigeons liberated at 146 km. (about 91 miles), none returned to the ship.
Of the 1600 pigeons liberated at 200 km. (125 miles) during a heavy rain and strong wind, only three returned to the ship. Of the 600 pigeons liberated at 300 km. (187 ½ miles), only one returned to the ship. Of the 1500 pigeons liberated at 500 km. (312 ½ miles), twelve remained on the Manoubia, making a total of only sixteen pigeons out of 4500 which refused to seek land. During the trip, which lasted ten days, the pigeons drank, ate and cooed, apparently indifferent to their being on board ship, and none showed any signs of sea-sickness, thus disposing of the theory that pigeons would be unfitted for flying from that cause. In fact, pigeons or any high-flying birds stand transportation at sea much better than over land, as the rolling and pitching of the ship, providing they are not too crowded in their baskets, has no different effect than that which would be naturally produced by the swinging of the branches on which they are accustomed to perch when free.
The results obtained by this experiment surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the promoters of the enterprise.
The first prize, offered by the President of the French Republic, was won by a pigeon from Tours, which made the distance of 743 km. (about 465 miles), of which 500 km. (312 ½ miles) over water, in 15 hours and 12 minutes, at an average speed of 48 km. 850 m. per hour (30 ½ miles).
One of the most interesting features of the experiment was the speed made by these pigeons, of which Prof. Caustier, a member of the Zoological Society of France, has made an exhaustive study. From previous observations the speed of pigeons that had been flown over water was said not to have exceeded 35 km. (22 miles) per hour. (This statement was erroneous, as some of the Naval Academy pigeons had made over 100 miles at the rate of 40 miles an hour.)
The speed of pigeons liberated from the Manoubia at 500 km. (312 ½ miles) varied from 40 to 48 ½ km. (25 to 30 ½ miles) per hour.
At 300 km. (187 ½ miles) a pigeon of Rochefort flew at a speed of 60 km. (37 ½ miles) over a distance of 450 km. (281 miles); others made from 55 to 60 km.
At 200 km. the speed rose, in some instances, to 88 km. (55 miles) per hour. The average speed, however, was somewhat inferior to that made over land.
It must be stated here that very few of the pigeons liberated from the Manoubia had ever flown over water before.
Considering all the disadvantages of unfavorable weather and lack of training, the experiment proved a conclusive success. The utmost enthusiasm was aroused in Paris, Brussels, and at all the columbarian centers of Europe, and the owners of the winning birds received a great ovation.
From careful observations made by M. Ch. Sibillot, one of the chief promoters of the experiment, who remained on board the Manoubia, it appears "That the height of the flight of the birds, when liberated at sea, increased in proportion to the distance they are from land." When liberated at 90 miles from land they circled at an altitude of 150 to 200 m.; at 125 miles they visibly rose much higher; at 187 miles they were at least 600 m.; and at the long-distance liberation of 312 miles they were soon lost from sight almost vertically above the vessel, and it was noticed that, at this distance, the birds pointed at once towards the sky, their beak and tail being in an almost perpendicular position, and then formed in separate squads, each taking their flight towards their respective homes, some flying directly against the sun, in spite of the legend that pigeons never fly in that manner.
The question naturally arises in reading of these experiments, Did these pigeons fly by sight in recognizing land?
This long debated question has never been satisfactorily answered, and as a famous French writer (M. de Gasparin) said, "Un panier de pigeons-voyageurs renferme un probleme a desesperer toutes les Academies."
Some of the best known authorities, among whom is Mr. Tegetmeier, the English expert, claim that homing pigeons fly mostly by sight. Others claim that they are influenced by the position of the sun, by atmospheric currents, and by the magnetic attraction of the earth. Others, that they possess an intuitive sense of orientation (or taking one's bearings instinctively), developed to a very high degree, and common to all animals, civilized man excepted.
In order to illustrate the fallacy of the pure sight theory, let us consider the following examples of flights actually made, with distances computed from Bowditch’s useful tables of visible distances at sea. Taking height of land about Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at 75 feet above sea-level, pigeons liberated from the Monongahela, no miles off shore, would have been obliged to rise 5600 feet, or over one statute mile, to see the land. Taking as another illustration, height of land about Newport at 165 feet (height of Beacon Hill), visible 17 miles at sea-level, a pigeon liberated at 150 miles would have to rise 10,200 feet, or nearly two miles above the sea-level.
Taking height of land about St. Nazaire, France, at 400 feet, the pigeons liberated from the Manoubia, at 312 miles off shore, would have had to rise to the enormous altitude of 47,000 feet, or nearly nine statute miles, to see land. Everybody knows that at such an altitude no bird could live or fly.
The pure sight theory is therefore inadmissible; and further, to prove its fallacy, it is well known that pigeons, when liberated from balloons at high altitudes, invariably drop almost perpendicularly towards the earth, and only regain their equilibrium when reaching a more congenial atmosphere.
In this connection it may be interesting to note that M. Andree, who will attempt to reach the North Pole by means of a balloon, will take with him a number of homing pigeons, which will be liberated at certain intervals with messages giving an account of the progress of this novel arctic expedition.
Another point which I wish to discuss is the prevailing mode of calculating the distances flown by pigeons by the so-called "air-line" gauge. A pigeon never flies in a perfectly straight line, and is often carried far from its course by contrary winds and atmospheric currents. Experienced and strong pigeons, however, are able to fly against a heavy head-wind by what is commonly called "tacking." The straight air-line from point of liberation to point of arrival as a gauge of their actual speed is therefore fallacious, and the real distance covered cannot be exactly measured.
Leaving out all theoretical considerations, the Manoubia experiment with pigeons kept confined for over ten days, and mostly without previous training over water, shows that from a practical point of view the experiment was well worth its cost, and helped to dispel the preconceived idea that pigeons would never become the auxiliaries of the navy and of the sea-faring world, and greatly aided the efforts made on this side of the Atlantic to have this service officially recognized. (Endorsements and recommendations by Capt. R.L. Phythian, Capt, Wm. C. Wise, Capt. F.J. Higginson, and Commander C.M. Chester.)
After the war of 1870-71 other countries speedily followed the example set by France in organizing messenger-pigeon stations. Germany quickly recognized the importance of this new system of aerial communication, and has now one of the most complete and effective pigeon services in the world. The German Emperor has taken a personal interest in promoting this new service, and frequently uses pigeons to convey messages from his private yacht, the Hohenzollern. The German government, besides having its own system and personnel with a permanent director at its head, offers annually prizes, medals and subsidies to the various columbarian societies of the Empire, of which there are nearly 400. One of the features of the German service is the use of pigeons for communications from outlying light-houses and light-ships. Some years ago one of the lightships, 22 miles from Tornung, off the mouth of the Elbe, broke adrift from her moorings in heavy weather and would have been lost but for the quick intelligence of the accident conveyed to the mainland by the pigeons in 58 minutes. The whole of the German frontier is now connected by pigeon post with the interior and headquarters, and the northern coast is studded with pigeon stations under the control of the Minister of Marine.
Italy has an interior military service, and has been particularly active of late in establishing pigeon posts for naval purposes, to be used in connection with the maneuvers of her new fleet. For example, there is a military pigeon post at Rome and another at the island of Maddelena, and the birds fly from one loft to the other at the rate of about 20 miles an hour. The total distance is 170 miles, and of that, 150 miles is over water. Other naval lofts are situated at Piscaya and Cagliari, Sardinia, the latter constituting part of the Napoli-Cagliari line. The distance between the two places is 294 miles. Birds liberated at sea from Italian vessels have made a distance of as much as 287 miles over the sea at about 31 miles an hour. These pigeons, sent out with despatches during the recent maneuvers, arrived many hours, and often days, before the despatch boats sent out at the same time.
Italy has, moreover, connected Massowah and Assab, in Africa, by pigeon post, which rendered valuable service during the recent Abyssinian campaign, when the telegraphic communication had been interrupted. The twelve principal governmental lofts in Italy are controlled by the Engineer Corps; and Captain Malagoli, the chief of the service, has made a great advance by training the same pigeons to fly back and forth (there and return) between Rome and Civita Vecchia, the nearest port to the capital and an important strategical point. This remarkable result can only be obtained over short distances, not exceeding 60 miles, by long and careful training, feeding the birds at one end of the line and keeping their mates and young ones at the other. (Experiments from shore to ship and vice versa. See Lieut. Benson's article, Proceedings U. S. Naval Institute, pp. 592, 593, No. 64.)
The Spaniards, under the initiative of Dr. Diego de la Llave and Don Salvador Castello, have become one of the foremost columbarian powers of Europe. They have a pigeon service in full operation at the present day, their most important strategical lines being those across the straits of Gibraltar from San Fernando and Malaga to Ceuta and Melilla (Africa) and those connecting the Balearic islands with Valencia. These are fixed, regular services. Spain also has pigeon lofts at various coast guard stations for communication between the different posts, and between the shore and naval cruisers and revenue vessels. The service being used in time of peace to prevent smuggling.
Portugal has also a regular messenger-pigeon service, but mostly for strictly military purposes.
Both Austria and Russia have extensive military and naval pigeon services, and Denmark has of late made great progress in perfecting her lines of communication by pigeon post.
Belgium, especially, has brought pigeon-flying to the highest state of perfection, and in that country it has become the favorite national sport. The present type of the "pigeon voyageur" may be traced to that country, where by careful and judicious crossing and by the strict application of the principle of the survival of the fittest, an almost perfect type of "homer" has been produced.
It would be a wise and economical policy if the government would secure through some reliable agent some of the best Belgian homing pigeons for a naval breeding loft, which should be located at some central point, at Annapolis for instance, on account of its convenient location and mild climate, where birds could be raised from approved strains and shipped to the other stations.
England is the only European power that has no regular pigeon service. However, the Admiralty has been experimenting of late with pigeons belonging to various lofts which are indirectly under the control of the naval authorities. That on Whale Island, Portsmouth, is first in importance and contains about 300 birds. Pigeons from this loft are now regularly liberated from English men-of-war in all parts of the English Channel as far as Ushant. Devonport has also a messenger pigeon loft, and the system is being extended to Sheerness and Queenstown, and it will soon be possible to receive intelligence from ships at sea anywhere between Harwich on the east coast of England and Queenstown in the south of Ireland. Last year about 100 English pigeons were sent to the West Indies and liberated from the cruiser Blake on her return trip to England at regular intervals as to time and place of liberation, announcing her return to the home station. Thus, for example, a vessel returning to port for repairs, coaling, docking, etc., if announced a day or even a few hours beforehand by pigeon post, would enable the dockyard authorities to make the necessary preparations proportionately sooner, thus making a considerable saving on time and money, and the pigeon service would pay for itself in time of peace. The Dominion of Canada, which has a very complete system of communication by pigeon post leading from her sea-ports to the interior, possesses a naval loft of great strategical importance at Halifax, ensuring communication with Sable Island (a distance of about 150 miles), with a view to signal shipwrecks in the vicinity of that island and to receive rapid communication from vessels cruising between these stations.
The following is taken from an English newspaper recently received (W. M. News, 16, 6, '96, Pigeon training for the Navy):
"For the past two years a considerable amount of money, time and patience has been expended at the Royal Naval Barracks, Keyham, in the training of pigeons, with a view to their being used for the conveyance of despatches. Up to the present the Admiralty have failed to recognize the pigeon depot, and the expense of building and furnishing the lofts has been met by the contributions of the officers of the establishment. From inquiries which the Admiralty have been recently making, however, it is regarded as certain that the training of pigeons at Devonport will be taken over officially by the Admiralty. For many reasons this would be a most desirable step, as besides relieving the present voluntary contributors of their expense in maintaining the lofts in a state of efficiency, it will ensure greater facilities for the training of the birds. Under present arrangements, those interested in the care and training of the birds are dependent entirely upon the willingness of the officers of the instructional torpedo-boats to take the birds for exercise, and, as these vessels rarely go far from Plymouth, there is little chance for the birds having anything but a very limited area for practice. It is now proposed to appropriate a torpedo-boat or destroyer for the purpose of training the birds, and with this object in view satisfactory results are assured. At the Keyham Barracks there are two lofts, one for birds under training only and the other for breeding purposes. At the present time there are 60 birds in the training loft and 8 pairs of breeders with 12 youngsters in the breeding loft. The Devonport birds have been trained to cover the ground west of Plymouth, and the greatest distance of birds released off the Wolf Rock was about 75 miles from land."
In reading these lines one is forcibly reminded of the earlier efforts made in this country with a view to establish this service, which resulted in the establishment of an experimental station under my charge at the Naval Academy about six years ago; and of one at Newport under the late Lieut. F. W. Nichols, which unfortunately was soon discontinued. In 1891 about 20 birds belonging to the Signal Corps station at Key West, which had been discontinued on account of the transfer of the Weather Bureau to the Department of Agriculture, were sent to the Naval Academy for experimental purposes with a view to demonstrate their usefulness for the Navy. They were domesticated in the tower of the boat-house, where a model loft was fitted up, mostly by private enterprise. During these years the work was carried on without any regular appropriation for its maintenance, and each year during the summer cruise of the naval cadets many experiments were made, which fully demonstrated the value of homing pigeons for naval purposes, as shown by the reports made to the Superintendents of the Naval Academy by Lieut. W.S. Benson, Lieut. F.K. Hill, Commander C.M. Chester, Lieut. A.M. Knight, and Lieut. E.W. Eberle. [*]
In this connection I beg leave to quote an extract from a letter addressed to me by Gen. Greely, Chief Signal Officer of the Army (Nov. 8, 1895). Speaking of the Key West pigeons, he says:
"These pigeons were originally received as donations from owners of the lofts in the United States whose birds had made the best flights. They were sent to Key West Barracks, where a loft was established. From this stock young birds were bred which, at first, were trained for short distances and gradually extended until flights had been made from Havana to Key West. It seems, however, that you have been more successful, from the fact that birds under your training and liberated at sea at a distance of 102 miles off Cape Henry returned to Annapolis (total distance about 230 miles).[*] It is therefore to be regretted that for lack of funds the maintenance of the station at the Naval Academy has been discontinued, as well as the future establishment of lofts at the most suitable naval stations on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts."
Since then, through personal efforts aided by articles periodically published in the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, to which belongs the credit of having kept this work before the Navy, this service has been officially recognized this year by the Honorable Secretary of the Navy and lofts are to be established at several of the principal navy-yards by the Bureau of Equipment, viz., at Boston, Newport, New York, Norfolk, Key West, and Mare Island.
No breeding and experimental station has yet been designated, but it is to be hoped that one will be established, as this service would be incomplete without it, its main object being the creation and breeding of a strain or type of "naval" pigeon capable of performing fast and continuous long-distance flights over water.
With that addition and a suitable appropriation by Congress for its support, this new service, under competent and intelligent supervision, is destined to render at a trifling cost valuable assistance to the systems of naval signals and coast defense as advocated respectively by Lieutenant-Commander R. Wainwright and Lieutenant Niblack in their admirable articles in the Proceedings of the Naval Institute, and to become one of the best of its kind in the world, and we will then be able to say, as did the promoters of the experiment of the Manoubia, "We have got the pigeons, we have got the stations, we have got the ships, and we have got the sea."
[*] Lieutenant Eberle, who was to deliver a lecture at the War College on the strategical importance of a naval messenger pigeon service, illustrated by most carefully prepared charts, was unfortunately unable to do so on account of his being ordered to the Pacific Coast.
[*] This distance was increased during the summer cruise of 1896 by the flight of Naval Academy birds liberated from the Monongahela in lat. 37° 04' N., 73° 16' W., 132 miles off Cape Henry lighthouse, 191 miles air-line distance and 257 miles from Annapolis via Cape Henry. Since then the Naval Academy loft has been closed and the birds distributed among the Key West, New York, and Newport stations.