A New Sea Camouflage Foils the Submarine 



A painted curtain is used to conceal the 

 guns and make the vessel appear unarmed 



The U-boat approached to within twenty yards of her intended victim believing her to be 

 unarmed. Then the false curtain was dropped from the after-poop deck, revealing the big 

 stern gun. The submarine was destroyed by the gun's first shot, the whole crew perishing 



AT least one German submarine has 

 AA already been sunk by the latest adap- 

 tation of camouflage to sea warfare in 

 the form of a painted curtain to hide the 

 stern gun of a merchantman. The purpose 

 of this new adaptation of the camouflage 

 idea which is now so commonly employed in 

 connection with armored cars and tanks is to 

 get the submarine to approach the vessel 

 under the impression that she is unarmed 

 and then to put the gun into play so quickly 

 that the U-boat cannot submerge in time to 

 escape being hit. 



While this kind of deception has been 



practiced in different forms, such as the 

 dummy funnels and fake topsides of the 

 German raiders Emden and Moewe and in 

 the many grotesque futurist daubs of paint 

 with which some of our own vessels are now 

 blessed, this is the first time the ruse has 

 been employed for the benefit of the sub- 

 marine. 



According to the officer of the British 

 vessel which had the encounter referred to, 

 the German submarine was first seen some 

 distance away with her periscope showing. 

 The ship's big gun was hidden behind a 

 collapsible curtain screen which covered the 



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