PIRATE FLAG.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 65, 17 March 1934, Page 9

PIRATE FLAG.

FLOWN BY WARSHIP. INCIDENT AT HOBART. NAVAL MAN'S REMINISCENCES A black flag carrying a white skull and crossbones was hoisted on a destroyer belonging to the Royal Australian Xavy during manoeuvres off Hobart a few years ago. The incident was never made public, but it is vouched for by Lieutenant-Commander F. G. Ince, R.A.X. (retired), of Melbourne, who is at present visiting Auckland. And Commander Ince ought to know, for it was from his ship that the pirate Hag was flown.

The flying of the skull and crossbones from the destroyer was intended as a joke, but it might easily have been the cause of an official inquiry. Actually, however, the perpetrator was never found, although it was .known that a member of the warship's stokehold crew was responsible. It had been arranged beforehand that at a certain stacre in the exercises the destroyer, H.M.A.s. Huon, should hoist a black flag to signify that she was an "enemy" vessel. At the appointed time the order was given for the flag to he run up. From his position on the bridge Commander Ince saw the flag flutter out. At first he coukl hardly believe his eyes, but tlie exclamations of amazement from his officers convinced him that he was not dreaming. The destroyer was boldly displaying the skull and'erossbones made notorious by Captain Kidd and other old-time freebooters of the Spanish Main. There was no other black flag on board the destroyer, and Commander Ince had no option but to "play pirate" for the remainder of the exercises.

"The Air Was Blue." "The air was blue for a few minutes after I first saw the flag, but the incident was kept quiet, and there was no official inquiry," said Commander Inee, in relating the incident this morning. "At the time of the exercises we passed a P. and O. liner crowded with passengers, who must have wondered what was going to happen next," he added. In his poeketbook Commander Ince carries a small photograph of the pirate flag taken during the exercises, a reminder of the one occasion in his career when he commanded a ship which, by her colours, proclaimed herself an enemy of all shipping. The photograph was taken bv a young lieutenant, who was subsequently politely but firmly ordered bv his senior to destroy the negative!

Commander Ince, who is at present on an extended holiday visit to Auckland as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. D. Mac«regor, of Park Road, is the second eon of the late Mr. F. G. Ince, A.M.1.C.E., formerly of the Lands and Survey Department. He came to Auckland from Scotland with his parents, and as a youth was a member of the long dead Ponsonby Naval Artillery. He joined the Royal Navy at Auckland on January 21, 1894, as a seaman on H.M.s. Wallaroo, which was attached to the Australian station. After a year on the Australian station lie-went to England, and served in all kinds of vessels from destroyers to battleships in various parts of the world. During the war he was for most of the time in the Berrima and in the Melbourne. At the conclusion of hostilities he transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, and at tha time of his retirement three years ago was in command of the Mallow, a sloop of tlic type of the Veronica and Laburnum.

Wounded in Samoa. On one of his knees Commander Ince carries a lafge sear which will ever remind him of the part he played in the suppression of the Samoan. rebellion in 1000. At that time he was leading seaman in H.M.s. Tauranga which, with H.M.S. Porpoise, was sent to Apia from Sydney. The wound was received when some of the British and American naval forces were ambushed by the natives when returning to Apia after burning a village. "We were taking a different route from the one we had followed on the way out, as we thought a clash was likely, but we were caught in a small valley," he said to-day. Lieutenant Freeman and seven men from the British ships were killed and the American warship Philadelphia lost two officers and seven men. "The ambush took place on April Fool's Day."'

An Island Memory. When on the Australian station, Commander Ince made several trips to the islands on the Royalist, a barque-rigged naval vessel equipped with auxiliary engines. On one occasion a party from tho ve?sel landed on an island near the Marquesas, erected a flagstaff, hoisted llio Union Jack, and fired a Royaf Salute of twenty-one guns. The chief of the island was presented with an old cocked hat and tail coat and the party rejoined their ship. Some montlm later the captain of the Royalist decided to pay another visit to the island "to see how things were going." It was found that the flagstaff still stood, but there was no sign of the Union Jack. While the ofliccps of the warship were speculating as to the fate of the flag a canoe put out from the island and was paddled to the visiting vessel. With much pomp the old chief came abroad. On his head was | the cocked hat, his body was hidden be- | neath tho tail coat, tho Union Jack was doing humble service as a lava-lava 011 the chief's loins!

' Commander Ince is revisiting Auckland after an absence of over thirty years, having last been here on H.M.s. Tauranga in 1900. He arrived at Wellington by the Monowai, and after spending a week there came to Auckland, where he expects to stay for at least two months.