Routes to the 'Neptuno'
The flag (damage shown at right), which hangs in the church at Selling is certainly an 1787
pattern Austrian naval flag, but how could it have got aboard the Spanish
Neptuno by 21st October 1805?
The important point is that this flag was worn by merchantmen as well as the Imperial navy and the lack of an 'F II' on the Bindenschild suggests it is more likely to be a post-1804 flag. The lack of any accompanying Wimpel pennant with the Selling flag also supports the likelihood of it being a post- 1804 merchant flag. The discontinuance of the 'F II' would not have occurred overnight as flags continued in use beyond the 'regulation' change supporting a later date, albeit it is not clear whether merchant flags always carried the 'F II' prior to 1804.
Prior to 1797, Austria's merchant fleet was a small outfit moving mainly out of Ostend (Belgium being an Austrian possession from 1714 to 1795) and Trieste, but the military force was minute, being nothing more than a coastal force in the Adriatic. Thus, the military could neither protect its merchantmen or control use of its flag. The problem became much worse after Venice was acquired in 1797.
To a certain extent, the Austrian flag became a 'flag of convenience', the old style already being used by Neopolitan and Dutch merchantmen in the Far East during the brief existence of the 'Trieste-East India Company' from 1777 to 1786.
It is even said, but I have never seen any supporting evidence, that pirates used it, reversing the colours of the old Doppeladler flag to create the Jolly Roger. If the eagle's wings are bent round far enough, perhaps there could be something to it, but this story must be treated with scepticism.
More important were piratical tactics. One method of sneaking up on their victim was to pretend to be a merchantman, but once at close quarters, down would go the 'merchant flag' and the hapless victim would be attacked. An Austrian flag would probably have attracted little attention from the major navies operating in the Mediterranean and would be thought harmless by other merchantmen.
This flag could conceivably be a military one acquired on a campaign by a French or allied vessel. As far as Austria was concerned, Spain was essentially neutral from 1795 to Napoleon's invasion of 1808 and so, a direct clash between military vessels seems unlikely. However, in July 1799, a flotilla of 18 Austrian privateers were fitted out in Leghorn (Livorno) in north-west Italy for patrol and merchantmen defence duties, but quickly became involved in private enterprise of their own in this part of the western Mediterranean. Maybe one got tangled up with the Neptuno?
One other route may have been the close relationship between the Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons, notably through the wife of Leopold II (1790-92), Maria Louisa of Spain, a sister of King Charles IV of Spain and mother of Emperor Francis Il/l. It may have come to the Neptuno as some sort of gift from the Austrians or perhaps when the two brigs were off Cadiz in 1802.
However, to have reached Neptuno would make it most likely that this would be a merchant flag, taken by a pirate (or perhaps French privateer) vessel, which then used it to disguise attacks on other shipping. One day, perhaps, the Neptuno came to the aid of a Spanish merchantman under attack in the western Mediterranean?
At Trafalgar?
It is claimed that this flag was flying from the Neptuno at Trafalgar.
(11) While it was more likely to have been in a locker, modern navies run up every available flag in action to show they are still fighting and presumably this goes back many centuries. Just prior to Trafalgar, Nelson ordered British vessels to fly their jacks in the presence of the enemy, although normally they were only aloft in harbour.
(12)
When a vessel surrendered, it signalled this by 'striking its colours', ie: hauling its flags down, but a surplus of flags would prevent any misunderstandings in the event of a flag being shot away. It is possible, given its close resemblance to the red/broad yellow/red stripes of the Spanish flag, that the Austrian flag was in fact hoisted during Trafalgar or alternatively, was just a trophy on board in the flag locker, but its location was confused/amended in the telling of the tale.
That at least seems to cover the possible routes this flag could have
taken to Trafalgar, but great care must be taken with attribution of items to
famous episodes and from here, the trail points to other more plausible
explanations as to how the Austrian flag reached Selling: The initial possibility
seemed to be post-Trafalgar: Following the Berlin Decrees of November 1806
creating Napoleon's Continental System and the retaliatory British Orders in
Council of the following January, aimed mainly at neutral shipping, maritime
relations between Britain and Austria started to break down.
British Response
The British response to Napoleon's Milan Decrees at the end of the
following year made it open season on neutral shipping and by early 1808,
allegations were rife that British warships were deliberately preying on Austrian
merchantmen, which were then taken to Malta as prizes. Relations were broken
off in March, although some prizes were then allowed to leave Britain's
Mediterranean base.
In April 1809, however, Austria went to war against France. A British
squadron, including three ships of the line, operated from the small Adriatic
island of Lissa under Commodore Hargood, supporting Austrian operations in
Italy and among the Adriatic islands. After defeat at Wagram in July,
Austria made peace with France at Schonbrunn in October 1809, ceding her
remaining coastline.
On receiving word of this, Hargood handed over his patrol station to a
frigate squadron under Captain William Hoste, who became concerned that
the Austrians would give their small fleet to the French. So, he promptly seized
the largest Austrian warships, the brigs Oreste, Pilade, Delfino and Eolo, (13) and took them to Malta, where they were
auctioned off: two each to an American and a Prussian merchant.
The proceeds, some 150,000 florins were remitted to Vienna, (14)or more likely credited against British war
loans. Other smaller vessels of the Imperial navy were sold off in situ at
various ports around the northern Adriatic.
Were this to be the origin of the flag, its good condition and the lack
of 'Fll' in the centre of the Bindenschild would point to the Delfino or the
Eolo, as they joined the Imperial Navy after 1804.
The problem with the theory that the flag was acquired during the sale of
Austrian vessels by the British in 1809 is that neither Stephen nor George
ever went near the Adriatic. Aside from the Trafalgar campaign, George had
been involved in clashes with Spanish vessels off Cadiz, (southern Spain just
on the Atlantic side of the Straits of Gibraltar), in early 1797 and later was a
crew member of HMS Atlas supporting the defence of rebel-held Cadiz from July 1808 to May 1810, where he was proficient enough in Spanish to be translating intercepted Spanish government
correspondence.
Stephen served aboard HMS Pearl in the Toulon blockade of 1799 and the following Egypt expedition up to 1801 and returned to the Mediterranean in 1812 aboard HMS Leopard in support of Wellington's land force. (15)
A closer look at Imperial Austrian policy seems appropriate, which is
well documented in the series 'Geschichte der sterreichischen Kriegsmarine',
notably the 1802-14 section by von Kuhepach. As mentioned earlier, in 1805,
there were various proposals to change the Imperial Navy's red/white/red flag
with the Bindenschild, but the reasoning is a little surprising.
From the time Venice and its huge merchant marine were acquired in
1797, these vessels had been re-registered into Trieste to take advantage of
its free-port status. However, owing no particular loyalty than to their Venetian
owners, the crews of these vessels had been bringing their new flag into
disrepute, notably in 1799, when various merchantmen chartered-in to protect
Mediterranean shipping had engaged in a little free enterprise of their own.
New Flag
A new flag and certainly a clear distinction between the military and
merchant was viewed as one way of restoring the Imperial Navy's tarnished
reputation. Whilst the flag change didn't take place, from 1804, merchantmen
were no longer allowed to fly the Wimpel.
It may seem odd to a late 20th century enthusiast that the Austrian
and Spanish flags could be confused and so, it might be thought that there is
no real truth in any Spanish connection with the Hilton family's acquisition of
the flag. However, Kuhepach's book produces a clear possibility that this was
the case, and most helpfully, just prior to Trafalgar.
Spain had declared war on Britain in December 1804 in support of
Napoleon's France, and the second reason for Austrian plans to change their
flag in mid 1805 was that Austrian authorities were indeed concerned that the
close similarity between the Spanish and Austrian flags had already brought
some Austrian vessels into awkward situations with British vessels. (16) British vessels had been in action against
Spanish escorts of their American treasure fleets as early as September 1804.
Following the outbreak of the trouble with the Moroccans at the end
of 1802, two brigs, the Oreste and Pillade, went on station in the area in 1803
and based their convoy activities out of Cadiz in particular, where a dreadful
storm blew up during the night of 19th December 1804. 23 vessels were
driven aground, the Oreste being the only one to escape, but badly
damaged, she was put into a private Spanish yard at Los Pimtales, where
all her equipment which was saved was put into magazine stores until she
emerged from the yard on 18th May 1805.
By then, the Anglo-Spanish war was well underway and her Captain had
to negotiate a passage out through the British blockade of Cadiz on the basis of
previously good Austro-British relations, (the Third Coalition of that year not
having been formed yet). The Polluce moved on to the station to replace
Oreste and she was operating both out of Gibraltar and Cadiz in the
middle of 1805, presumably with British and Spanish co-operation.
Consult the Sultan
There were certainly great efforts being made to come to an
arrangement with the Sultan of Morocco in which the Austrians and Spanish
worked closely together. Although not officially a joint mission, a consul was
appointed to the Sultan in mid-1805 when a new treaty was concluded between
the Sultan and Austria.
While officially acting for Austria, Mr. Salmon also represented Spanish
interests. The original suggestion about a direct link with the Barbary pirates
seems unlikely, but one of the reasons for not changing the Imperial flag was
the fear that these pirates would resume their activities, claiming ignorance of
the changes for some time after.
Confusion over the flags and notably the Austrian and Spanish
ensigns may well have extended beyond the pirates into the Royal Navy,
especially as, except to someone as well educated as George Hilton, a
boatload of ex-Venetian Italian sailors would not seem that different from a
boatload of Spaniards. Should a British vessel have mistakenly taken an
Austrian merchantman, there would not have been any follow-up from Vienna,
as the Venetian territories were ceded to Napoleon's recently-created
Kingdom of Italy in December 1805 at which stage the ax-Venetian vessels
returned to their home registry and state.
This time, the position with the Hiltons is somewhat better: Stephen
Hilton, was aboard HMS Queen in 1804 to early 1805, before joining HMS
Minotaur in March 1805 (to June 1806), being promoted to Lieutenant on 22nd
January 1806. In the run-up to Trafalgar, HMS Minotaur left British waters
in May 1805 and joined the blockade of Cadiz. The squadron's remit included
the searching of neutral as well as enemy vessels, the first Adriatic vessel
boarded being a merchant brig from Ragusa, (now Dubrovoik) on 12th June.
(17)
Captain's Log
The Captain's log mentions numerous boardings of neutral vessels,
although no Austrian vessels are specified, albeit one vessel closely
examined by the squadron was an Algerian corsair. Tensions rose in early
October and the squadron went to war stations. After Trafalgar, Minotaur took
the Neptuno in tow as a prize vessel to Gibraltar and then moved up to
Carthagena, (on the Spanish Mediterranean south-east coast to continue the
blockade certainly as far as the end of 1805.
Many vessels coming from the eastern Mediterranean called at
Cartagena and it is possible that in early 1806, when Venetian merchantmen
were re-registering back to Venice, (taking the Kingdom of Italy flag, following
the Treaty of Pressburg), that one may have given its old flag to the Minotaur.
As for the Hiltons, already promoted to Lieutenant in 1801, George
Hilton was aboard the Ville de Paris from August 1804 to February 1807,
but was restricted the English Channel. Certainly, George left no issue, which
may explain how the Austrian flag came to join the Minotaur's Union Jack, if
George rather than Stephen acquired it originally. However, it has not yet been
possible to locate the details of Robert, who served aboard HMS Swiftsure at
Trafalgar.
Both the Austrian flag and the Union Jack are now in urgent need of
thorough cleaning and restoration, which will cost about œ 2000 each. In
addition will be the considerable costs of displaying them in new glass
cabinets. Unless it can be shown that the Austrian flag was taken at least
during the Trafalgar campaign, funding from the main nautical
institutions in this country is unlikely to be forthcoming. Whichever
route the Austrian flag may have taken, a connection with Trafalgar itself
depends on the activities of the Neptuno herself.
I would be very grateful to hear from our Spanish readers and other
enthusiasts about the Neptuno's career and whether Spanish vessels
adopted the practice of running up as many flags as possible in battle.
Unfortunately, the Trieste records probably do not exist anymore, so one
can never be absolutely certain about the origins of this flag. More research
needs to be done amongst Royal Navy vessel logs and a subsequent article
will hopefully take the search on.
The Nelson Society Chairman, Alan Pigon and his correspondence with the
National Maritime Museum, Mr C v Taylor, Church Warden of St. Mary the
virgin, Seiling, Kent, and flag restorers, my thanks to them; R von Kuhepach:
'Geschichte der sterreichischen Kriegsmarine 1802-14.' (1942)
Austrian Naval Flag at Trafalgar (part 1)
A Closer link to
Trafalgar
Restoration
Sources
L Sondhaus: The Habsburg Empire and the Sea Austrian Naval Policy, 1797-
1866 (1989) (Purdue Univ., Indiana, USA)
K. Gogg: 'Osterreichs Kriegsmarine' (1972) (Vienna)
Militana Austriaca No.1 (1977), the Journal of the Austrian 'Geseilschaft
f,Msterreichische Heereskunde' pp.2s4o:'Die Entwicklungen der
Osterreichischen Marineflagge'.
A Sokol 'The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarran Navy' (l968) IUSNI)
M von Angeli: 'Erzherzog Yarl ais Feldherr und Heeresorganisator' (1896)
O'Byrne:'Naval Biographical Dictionary'(undated)
Exhibits in the Army Museum, Vienna
Public Records Office, Kew, London: Captain's Logs for HMS Minotaur
1805 (ADM 51/1533)
Notes
(1) Letters from the Nelson Society,
based on documents provided by the Hilton family and information from the
National Maritime Museum
(2) Miiitaria Austriaca, p 31:
(3) Dolleczek p 163;
(4) dino p 164 and Militaria Austriaca p
31;
(5) Militaria Austriaca p 31;
(6) Gogg p.36;
(7) Angeli Vol.1b p 141;
(8) A brig was a two-masted, square
rigged vessel;
(9) Gogg p 38 and ship iists;
(10) Formerly Venetian cutters, salvaged
and rerigged in eady 1798; Sondhaus p 14.;
(11) Correspondence with the Nelson Society;
(12)10th Oct.1805 - information from the National
Maritime Museum;
(13) Delfino was purchased as the Assur, a
merchantman, in Julv 1806 and armed as a 4
gunner at the end of August; Eolo was a 20 gun brig, one of the few vessels built by the
Austrians in Venice. Built in 1804-5 as the Castore, but launched as the Eolo in August
1805.
(14) Sondhaus pp. 21-22, Gogg p. 43 44 and ship
lists.
(15) O'Byrne - entries for George and Stephen
Hilton.
(16) von Kubepach, pp.89-90 for the reasoning
behind changing the flag.
(17) HMS Minotaur: Captain's Log 1805
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