The Pulaskian., 1918-12-27
CamoufIage and Big Conveys Used to Make Our Ship
 ping Safe.
DETAILS ARE MADE PUBLIC
official of United States Shipping Board Describes Conveys Activity From Time It Left
 New York.

ing Ion land, on sea and in the air the methods used to baffie the Hun submarines have been revealed by of- ficers of the United States shipping board. They made public the details of convoy management and the proper camoufaging of grouped ships to make their destruction by undersea craft difficult.
 One of the officers begins his de scription of conveys activity from the time it left the port of New York.
 "Once we were out in the stream" he says, i've headed down the chan nel for the lightship, beyond which our convoy and escorts were waiting for us. All were slowly under way when we reached them. The ships of different columns took their places and after a few minutes confusion, and lively work on the signal halyards the other ships of the convoy got into place.
 Guarded above by dirigibles, hydro planes and anchored balloons, and on the surface by fleet of patrol boats as we'll as our ocean escort, we pro ceeded, and America soon dropped be- low the western horizon. At sunset we were well out to sea.
 Back to Primitive Methods.
 "As in the army we have turned back to medieval helmets and armor, so on the water we have turned to medieval naval tactics; but instead of conveys of Spanish galleons and fri gates of the seventeenth century from the new world to the old, our conveys were American transports and de stroyers.
 .Even the old sailmaker aboard our ship, who had been on the ocean ever since he shipped as cabin boy on board down East blue noser 50 years ago, admitted the convoy game was new one on him, and hung over the rail watching our many war-colored neigh bors.
 'It is not hard to see why the con- voy system was effective. Take the case of convoy of 25 ships (72 is the largest number I've heard of in one convoy; our mate told me of being caught in a 72-ship convoy in a sail ing ship in the Bay of Biscay). When these ships went In convoy instead of there being 25 different units scattered all over the zone for the U-boats to find, there was only one. That is, the Hun had only oIe chance of meeting a ship where he had 25 before. And !, e, it usually with naval escort, whose sole business was sinking submarines. He found, too, % lookouts on watch for him, 25 sets of guns ready for him. where there were but one each before. If the Hun showed himself to con voy and its escort, the odds were that he was due for quick trip to the bot tom.
 "The usual convoy formation was in columns in rough square. This was the most compact, and the inside ships were practically immune from attack. The escorts circled the convoy, if necessary, and the outside ships con centrated their fire on any submarine that appeared.
 "Convoys were made up at different speeds, and even the rustiest old tramps were provided for in six-knot class.
 "In spite of this, some captains inn agination always tackled a couple of knots to their ships speed. There seemed to be nautical version of Home, Sweet Home'-be it ever so humble, there's no ship like mine,' and vessels making nine knots on Broad way make bare seven off Fire island
 Tt was remarkable what snappy escort commander could do with his charges. After day or two together he had them maneuvering in position like second grand fleet; zigzagging dark through black night, not ray or light showing anywhere if they were in the danger zone or tin fish was reported near.
 Color Schemes Are Bizarre.
 "The war brought no stranger spec tacie than that of convoy of steam ships blowing along through the mid ale of the ocean streaked and bespot- ted indiscriminately with every color of the rainbow in a way more bizarre than the widest dreams of a sailors first night ashore.
 The effect of good camouflage was remarkable. have often looked at 2 fellow ship in the convoy on our quarter on exactly the same courses we were, but on account of her camou- fiage she appeared to be making right for us on course at least forty-five degrees different from the one she was actually steering.
 The deception was remarkable even under such conditions as these. and of course U-boat, with its hasty limited observation, was much more likely to be fooled. V
 Each nation seemed to have a char aeteristic type of camoufiage. and aft- CT 2 little practice you could usually spot ships nationality by her stvle