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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



© Committee on Public Information 



the; bulkhead of a fabricated ship separately assembled and ready to be 

 swung into place by a steel crane 



At the present rate of progress, it is predicted by officials of the Shipping Board that the 

 normal tonnage of the world will be restored in the fall of 1922. But the requirements of 

 the world after the war will be greater than ever before. 



Credit for the adaptation of this ancient 

 illusion method to modern needs is given 

 to Lieutenant Commander Norman Wil- 

 kinson, R. N. V. R., a famous British 

 marine artist. It is his "baffle" system 

 which is employed on practically all the 

 ships of the Allies, with modifications to 

 meet the requirements of each type of 

 vessel. 



The work of camouflaging has been 

 perfected to such nicety that a ship can 

 be decorated with its particular pattern 

 of streaks and stripes with astonishing 

 dispatch. It is a matter of record that 

 at one American port an 8,800-ton 

 freighter was completely camouflaged in 

 less than 24 hours. The district camou- 

 fleur was notified late Saturday afternoon 

 that the vessel in question would be ready 

 to sail Monday morning. By midnight 

 Saturday the design for the ship had 

 been selected and the pattern indicated on 



the hull and superstructure. With the 

 arrival of necessary supplies at that hour, 

 62 painters were set to work and by 5.30 

 Sunday afternoon the ship was ready to 

 defy the most keen-sighted commander 

 of a Prussian U-boat. 



THE RIVETER A POPULAR HERO 



Of all the groups of workers engaged 

 in shipbuilding none has succeeded in 

 focusing public interest upon his partic- 

 ular task so much as has the riveter. The 

 machine-gun staccato of his pneumatic 

 hammer has come to be recognized as the 

 magic song of the shipyards — a national 

 anthem of industry. 



The speed with which he sends his steel 

 pins, heated to an orange hue, into place 

 is taken as a criterion of the morale and 

 efficiency of the particular plant in which 

 he is engaged. The b-r-r-r-ratttt of the 

 rivet gun is the mechanical equivalent of 



