Signalman 1 & C - Historic Naval Ships Association

is used in beach flags and markers whenever possiblefor greater ease in identification.SIGNAL OR MARKER LIGHTSSignal or marker lights should be of sufficientintensity to be visible at a distance of at least 1,000yards. Beach and unloading marker lights should bedirectional with not over 10-point visibility to seawardonly. Should marker lights conflict, unloading-pointmarker lights may be one-half the intensity of beachcenter and flank markers.DISPLAY OF STANDARDFLAGS AND MARKERSBoats, craft, and amphibious vehicles inscheduled waves should remove from sight all specialdesignators, such as flags and boat team paddles, atthe time of crossing the LOD. Required designatorsshould again be displayed following the landing of thelast scheduled wave, or earlier if directed by thebeachmaster, as shown in figure 12-9.FLAG REQUIREMENTSAll wave guide officer, BWC, salvage, medical,safety, and ABGC boats should carry the ZERO, theWHISKEY, and the numeral flags for all waves inorder to facilitate substitution of one boat for another,if required.NIGHT AND LOW-VISIBILITY SIGNALSAt night and during conditions of low visibility,colored lights should be used instead of flags and otherdaylight markers. All-around lights, exceptoceanographic markers, should be displayed onlyafter H-hour. During darkness, screened wake lightsshould be used on the sterns of all assault boats andvehicles. Lights should be displayed as indicated infigure 12-10.BOAT TEAM PADDLESEach boat team should be provided with a boatteam paddle on which is prominently marked the boatteam number that is shown in the landing craft andamphibious vehicle assignment table. A member ofeach boat team should be designated to display thepaddle prominently at all times that the team is in thelanding craft or amphibious vehicle, until the LOD hasbeen crossed.1. Paddle Number—The number on the paddleindicates both the scheduled wave number and theposition of the boat or amphibious vehicle in that wave.The first digit(s) indicate(s) the wave; the last digit(s),the position within the wave. For example, boat teampaddle 2-3 (fig. 12-11) indicates the third boat oramphibious vehicle in the second wave; boat teampaddle 9-3 indicates the third boat or amphibiousvehicle in the ninth wave. Each coxswain should befurnished with a copy of the landing diagram showingwave composition and timing.2. Visibility—Boat team paddles are constructedfor good visibility at a considerable distance, yet areeasy to handle. They are three-sided, readable fromany direction, with black numerals on a whitebackground. Paddles are made to the followingspecifications:Three rectangularly shaped boards, 14 by10—inches, nailed together to form athree-sided figure, attached to a wooden staff6—feet by 2—inches by 2—inchesBlack numerals, 7— inches high, on a whitebackground3. Boats carrying serials and free boats-Theseboats should display paddles on which is clearly markedthe serial number of the embarked serial. Each ship isresponsible for ensuring that boats carrying serialsunloaded from that ship clearly display the correct serialnumbers. The numbers must be displayed constantlyuntil the landing craft has beached.Cargo IdentificationBoats carrying various types of cargo displaydistinctive flags or lights so control and beach partypersonnel may readily identify the type of cargoembarked. The colored and numeral flags or coloredlights used to identify various types of cargo are listedin figure 12-12. For example, a boat that is assignedto a floating dump and carries flame-thrower fuel fliesa 3 flag under a GREEN flag or, at night, shows a fixedRED light under a fixed GREEN light.Load Dispatching SignalsAll signals normally are paralleled by voice radiofrom the central control ship. All lights used areshielded and aimed at the approaching wave only.12-13