In 1801, the Danish post office installed a semaphore line across the Great Belt strait, Storebæltstelegrafen, between islands Funen and Zealand with stations at Nyborg on Funen, on the small island Sprogø in the middle of the strait, and at Korsør on Zealand.

A semaphore line is an installation used to send optical signals. It is also known as optical telegraph. Common system include signal towers with special installations on them or hand-held flags. The meaning of the signal is determined by the position of the elements, for example the flags. The signal can be read when it is in a stable position.

The main line of beacons stretched over some 720 km (450 mi) with stations placed from 100 km (60 mi) to 60 km (35 mi). A message could be sent along the line in approximately one hour. A bonfire was set at the first beacon and transmitted down the line to Constantinople.

Semaphore flags are the system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. Information is encoded by the position of the flags, objects or …

semaphore, method of visual signaling, usually by means of flags or lights. Before the invention of the telegraph, semaphore signaling from high towers was used to transmit messages between distant points.

Jun 16, 2013 · Napoleonic semaphore was the world's first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before.

Semaphore lines were a precursor of the electrical telegraph, which would replace them half a century later, and would also be cheaper, faster, and more private.

Jan 11, 2017 · The semaphore was the first successful and large-scale communication network that allowed transmission of messages faster than horse-riding messengers could carry.

Dec 7, 2018 · Before the advent of the electric telegraph, there had been systems of optical telegraph in use. They had been called a variety of names including the semaphore line and semaphore visual telegraph. A particular system in France named le systeme Chappe was the first implemented system in Europe.

Nov 28, 2022 · A semaphore telegraph is an early system of conveying information by means of visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as blades or paddles. Information is encoded by the position of the mechanical elements; it is read when the shutter is in a …