An illustration appears at first to show Seeadler attacking a French ship, but reading the flags reverses the convenient identification of which vessel is German and which is French. Surviving photographs and reliable drawings show Seeadler fully rigged, while the artwork does not reproduce that appearance cleanly. The scene is therefore better treated as an artist's reconstruction than as straightforward visual evidence of the encounter. Flags, rigging, and comparison with better-attested images can test persuasive naval artwork before it is used as history.
Notable Point · 58:50-1:00:08
Flags and rigging expose a misleading Seeadler illustration
A correction to a wartime illustration shows how flags, sail plans, and better-attested images can overturn an easy identification.