--- title: 'Battleship "X": Story of the U.S.S. South Dakota' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/battleship-x-newsmap-south-dakota-1943/ description: 'Newsmap wall sheet for troops on the battleship U.S.S. South Dakota, then called Battleship ''X'': a painted scene of the ship shooting down an attacking' section: Collection --- 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Battleship "X": Story of the U.S.S. South Dakota [![Battleship "X": Story of the U.S.S. South Dakota, 1943 US poster: Newsmap wall sheet for troops on the battleship U.S.S.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/battleship-x-newsmap-south-dakota-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/battleship-x-newsmap-south-dakota-1943.jpg) # Battleship "X": Story of the U.S.S. South Dakota Newsmap wall sheet for troops on the battleship U.S.S. South Dakota, then called Battleship 'X': a painted scene of the ship shooting down an attacking aircraft, a text history, a photograph of the crew with the ship's tally painted on a conning tower, and diagrams of armament, armor, size and battle roles. It selects the ship's successes; the technique is faint, a one-sided record (card-stacking) in an informational sheet. ## Propaganda techniques used in this poster [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/) ## Text on the object Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` Battleship "X" STORY OF THE U.S.S. SOUTH DAKOTA ORDERED in December, 1938, as Battleship No. 57, the 680-foot SOUTH DAKOTA was launched on June 7, 1941, at the Camden, N. J., yard of the New York Ship Building Company. She was among the first capital ships to commission after Pearl Harbor. SOUTH DAKOTA and her sisters are the only fast, modern U. S. battleships fitted with a single funnel. [signature: illegible, lower right of painting] CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN BATTLESHIPS ARMAMENT: Main Battery: Caliber—12" to 16" No. Guns—8 to 12 Turrets—twin and triple (in U. S.) Secondary Battery: Caliber: 5" Mounts: casemate and twin enclosed mounts PROTECTION: Armor: Belt: 11" to 16" Decks: 3" to 6" Turrets: 12" to 18" Conning Towers: 12" to 16" The most elaborate system of underwater protection. MOBILITY: Speed: Maximum: 20 to 30 knots. Average endurance: 10,000 nautical miles at 10 to 14 knots. Average fuel capacity: 4,000 tons (oil). SIZE: Displacement: 26,100 to 45,000 tons (standard) Length: 562' to 880' (over all) Beam: 106' to 108' Draft: 26' to 36' (mean) DESTROYER COMPLEMENT: 100 to 200 Officers, 1,100 to 1,600 Men. Above figures are approximate. HER RECORD Manned by a comparatively green crew, the SOUTH DAKOTA has gained an enviable battle record in the Southwest Pacific Theatre. During the Battle of Santa Cruz (Oct. 26, 1942) she was credited with shooting down 32 attacking Japanese dive and torpedo bombers. Her commanding officer was wounded, but had recovered sufficiently to lead his ship again in her second engagement during the night of Nov. 14th to 15th, 1942. Here the SOUTH DAKOTA gained her greatest victory in sinking three major Japanese surface units by gunfire. These individual achievements of the warship at that time identified for security reasons as only the Battleship "X" contributed heavily towards thwarting the supreme effort made by the Japanese battle fleet to regain control of the Solomon Islands. The ship's artist has graphically depicted the battle record of the SOUTH DAKOTA on her conning tower. SOME BATTLESHIP JOBS STRATEGIC TACTICAL OUR FORCES ENEMY Containing heavy enemy surface forces. Engaging naval targets with main battery fire. Covering lanes of sea communications. Long-range bombardment of shore targets. Covering amphibious operations. Heavy anti-aircraft defence for a convoy. NEWSMAP Prepared and distributed by ARMY ORIENTATION COURSE, Morale Services Division, Army Service Forces, WAR DEPT., 38581 Pentagon Bldg., Washington, D. C. [imprint: ★ U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—559110] ``` [← "Back the Attack with Bonds!!"](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/back-the-attack-with-bonds-alston-1943/) [BCRA forged Vichy 30c Pétain-Laval stamp, sheet of twenty (London, 1942-44) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bcra-petain-laval-forged-30c-stamp-1943/) ## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques - [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account. - [Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Testimonial, Card stacking) - [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account. - [Persepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/persepolis-apadana-delegate-relief-500bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Manufactured consensus) - [Alabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/relief-sennacherib-storming-citadel-nineveh-704bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Card stacking). Content note: An Assyrian palace relief of troops storming a fortified city, with a file of figures below; Assyrian royal reliefs and texts record killing, mutilation and deportation, shown as carved, with the historical context and scholarly dispute on the regime page. - [Colour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lithograph-res-gestae-ancyra-heading-0014/) (Roman Empire · 0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities) - [Silver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning woman](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/denarius-vespasian-judaea-capta-0070/) (Roman Empire · 0070 · Card stacking). Content note: A Roman victory coin showing a mourning female figure as the personification of the conquered province of Judaea after the Roman suppression of the Jewish revolt; shown as struck, with the historical context on the regime page.