Mosquitoes, dashing through the seas at express train speed
Navy recruiting poster: a large P-T boat at speed, with three smaller photographs of P-T boats against a city skyline and open water. The text calls them 'Mosquitoes' that 'protect our shores and pack a sting' and says 'Enlist today'. The sheet sells the service through the speed and sting of one craft, a selective showing of the Navy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Science and technology
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-7 (NAID 513503).
Text on the object
"MOSQUITOES" . . . Dashing through the Seas at express train speed, The Navy's P-T Boats protect our shores and pack a sting . . . . Enlist today THE UNITED STATES NAVY [imprint: NRB-31165-12-23-41-15M, #433]
