582 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



•— ^asfe^ 1 



Official Photograph, U. S. Navy 



THE MOTHER-SHIP OP THE PLYING BOAT PLOTILLA, THE "SHAWMUT" 



Once a lowly excursion boat plying Long Island Sound, the exigencies of war opened to 

 this vessel a more serious field of usefulness. When a seaplane is in distress the Shawmut 

 rushes to the rescue. Her new dignity and responsibilities, however, have not caused her to 

 change her abominable habit of rolling unpardonably even in the most tranquil sea. 



tleships. Instead of cutting knifelike 

 through the tumble of -water, the de- 

 stroyers rolled and jerked and rumbled 

 like drums to the tapping of the imper- 

 tinent waves. 



NO SLEEP ON A BOAT WHEN TPIERE'S A 

 BIT OP A SEA 



At such times, especially if there is a 

 bit of a sea on, no one thinks of sleep on 

 a destroyer. Old hands have an acro- 

 batic habit of wedging their heads and 

 necks in a corner of the berth and so 

 securing a certain amount of rest. The 

 cabin transom is really the best place to 



sleep, though. One can so pack pillows 

 and coats that there is at least a chance 

 of staying on. 



One night on the Black Hawk a vicious 

 rain squall wakened me. I had been 

 sleeping with my state-room ports open, 

 and as I drowsily raised myself to cut off 

 an incipient flood I was fascinated by 

 what I saw through the open ports. 



The line of destroyers had approached 

 our starboard more nearly than ever 

 before, so that I could see their drunken 

 lights reel over the sea. The waves 

 were piling high, as they have a habit of 

 doing when the Gulf Stream runs coun- 



