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134 columns on both sides of the convoy with the merchant ships in between. The destroyers kept approximately equal distances apart and stood off on either side from the outermost ves- sels in the convoy a distance of from half a mile to a mile. Every vessel in the fleet kept a sharp lookout and woe to the submarine which showed its periscope. Almost instantly he found himself in a maelstrom of exploding depth charges. These depth bombs, which were so effective, were also a British inven- tion, according to Admiral Sims, al- though improved upon and perfected by the American navy. The sailors called the depth bombs pills or ash- cans. The latter designation is the more descriptive. They are cylindrical, about three feet long and two feet diameter, made of galvanized steel. They are filled with TNT or other high explosives and the detonating device can be set so the depth charge will explode at any _ predetermined number of feet. When depth charges were first used, they were clumsy and dangerous. At the time the armistice was signed, they ‘were safe, reliable and effective. In the meantime, the firing apparatus had been perfected and the amount of contained plosives increased. ex- How Depth Bombs Were Used At first each ship carried only a few bombs, but toward the last every destroyer took out 40 or more. Most of them were mounted on skids at the stern, ready to be dropped over the taffrail. It was necessary for the boat from which they were. shoved off to get out of the way in a hurry. Some of the destroyers also were pro- HOW A SECTION OF A CONVOY WITH PATROL BOATS IN THE FOREGROUND THE MARINE REVIEW vided with double barrelled V-shaped guns. Depth charges were placed in both barrels and fired by an explosive located at the apex of the V. The charges were light and the bombs as they sailed out gracefully could easily be seen. The V-shaped guns made it possible to shoot one charge to port and another to starboard. Depth charge howitzers also were used on some ships. Sowing mines was a part of the regular job of all the German _ sub- marines. Conversely, sweeping them up was a task for the allied navies. Mines were a serious menace, espe- cially for the smaller cargo boats. The big liners with a large number of compartments were fairly immune even if hit. Toward the end of the war, practically every ship on the North Atlantic carried a mine-cutting device known as a paravene. The purpose of the paravene is to cut the mine loose and explode it at a dis- tance from the side of the ship, where it will do relatively no damage. This device is nothing more than a torpedo-shaped buoy about 15 feet long and 1% feet in diameter, fitted with a rudder at the sternanda towing shackle and cable-cutting knife at the forward end. The cutting knife is a heavy steel plate laid across the nose of the paravene so that it takes on the appearance of a huge flying fish. One paravene is towed from a boom on either side of the bow of the ship on a line like a log, its rudder being set so that it stands out from the side of the ship and keeps the towing line caught. They perform, therefore, the functions of a fender or pre-exploder and are said to be moderately effective is properly used. Photographs, Courtesy of the British Ministry of Information AND A DESTROYER IN THE DISTANCE LOOKS FROM AN AIRPLANE March, 1919 The difficulties of the satellites of Von Tirpitz in dealing with the con- voys were increased by the elaborate camouflage designs painted on every vessel. Camouflaging is an art rather than a science and, consequently, ap- parently no two designs were alike. Some of the earlier stunts, such as painting the outlines of small vessels on the sides of larger ships, were found to be ineffective early in the game. Also it soon became evident that it was unnecessary to use elaborate color combinations and to- ward the end of the war, blacks and whites predominated. What Camouflaging Does Ask a man on the street why ships were camouflaged during the war and he’ will say:. “To make them in- visible.” This was not the purpose of camouflage painting at all. In fact, the camouflaged ships were just as easily seen and just as readily picked out with a glass against the horizon as any ordinary vessel. As soon as any vessel shows her head above the edge of the sea she becomes etched against the sky with startling dis- tinctness, and all the camouflage paint in the world will not help matters much. The real purpose of camouflag- ing was much more subtle and scientific. It was done to conceal the identity of the ships and to confuse the submarine commander as to their size, speed and course. If the sub- marine commander was unable to de- termine whether the ship he was going after was the NARRAGANSETT or the JoHN Jones, his difficulties were appreciably increased, because in such cases he also lacked information regard- ing the speed of his prey, her maneuver-