The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-01-22
HOW SUBS were !
Fooled ]. NOW ||' TOLD.
Can1ouf|age 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 49,,
.... New York,

. New York.
New YOrk.--With the need Of Sc
crecy ended by the cessation of fight
Ing ION land, on sea and in the air"
the methods used to battle 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
camouflaging 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, 1--WE headed down the chan
mel 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 few minutes confusion.
and lively work on the signal halyards
the other ships of the convoy got into
place. .. "I.r". '""n?t4- 20 ".,,>
"Guarded above by dirigibles, hydro
planes and anchored balloons, and on
the surface by a fleet of patrol boats
rs well as our ocean escort, we pro.
ceedcd, and America soon dropped be-
low the western horizon. At sunset
we were well out to sea. ,,.i}-
-. Back to Primitive Methods.
"As in the army we have turned
back to medieval helmets and armor,
so or 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
a down East blue noser so years ago.
admitted the convoy game was new
one on him. and hung over the rail
watching our many war,colored neigh
bOrs. ga.-,t,..,
f. 1T is not hard to see why the con.
voy system was effective. Take the
case of a convoy Of Is ships az Is the
largest number I've heard of in one
CONVOY; our mate told me Of being
caught IN a 72.sh:p convoy in a sail.
ing ship in the Bay Of Biscay). When
these ships went in convoy instead of
there being Is different units scattered
all over the zone for, the U-boats to
find, there was only one. That Is, the
Hun had only one chance of meeting
a ship where he had !25 before. And
If he did meet the convoy he found
it usually with naval escort, whose
sole business was sinking submarines.
I'd found, too, ~ lookouts on watch
tor him, IS sets q guns ready for him.
where there we're but one each before.
If. tie Hun showed himself to con-
v0y 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 a rough square. This was
the most compact, and the inside ships
were practically immune from attack.
The escorts circled the convoy, II
necessary, and the outside ships con-
centrated their fire on any submarine
that appeared.
Conveys were made up at different
speeds, and even the rustiest old
tramps were provided for in six.knot
class ,- SO So.
''1n. spite Of this, some captains i'm
agination always tackled couple Of
knots to- their ships speed. There
seemed to be a nautical version Of
Home, Sweet Home'-'be 1t ever so
humble. there's no ship like mine.' and
vessels making nine knots on Broad
way make bare seven of Fire island.
1T was remarkable what snappy
escort commander could do with his
charges. After a day or two together
he had them maneuvering In position
like second grand fleet; 1gzagging
dark through a black night, Aot ray
of light showing anywhere II they
were in the danger zone or q tin fish
was reported near.
Color Schemes Are Bizarre.
"The war brought. no stranger spec
tacle than that Of a convoy of steam
ships blowing along through the mid
die of the ocean streaked and bespot-
ted Unfortunately with every color
Of the rainbow in way more bizarre
than the widest dreams of sailors
first night ashore.
The effect Of good camouhage was
remarkable. ! have often looked at a
fellow ship ia the convoy on our
quarter on exactly the same courses
We were, but OH account Of her camou-
fage she appeared to be making right
for us on a course at least forty.Ave
degrees different from the one she was
actually steering.
"The deception was remarkable even
under sucl, conditions as these, and Of
course, U-boat, with its hnsty limited
observation. was much more likely to
be fooled.
Each nation seemed to have char.
acteristic type of camouflage, and aft
er little practice. you could usually
spot ships Nationality by her style
Of; camouflage long before you could
make out her ensign"