MARITIME SIGNALS/TRAFFIC LIGHTS LAMPS (V.) 

In 1798 the marine engineer Laval and the person in charge of the port of Le Havre, Peytes-Moncabrié, proposed another type of telegraph that allowed at the same time of terrestrial communication, to send messages to ships. This telegraph of coasts its inventor called it “Vigigraphe” (which would mean “watchman who writes his observations”). 

The Vigigraphe proved difficult to operate and was replaced by a design by Charles Depillon (or Dupillon) (1768-1805) and put into practice by the captain Louis Leon Jacob calling it “semaphore”. Etymologically the word semaphore means “signal bearer” (from the Greek sema = signal and phoros = “carrying”).