---
title: '"Carry on!!" (S.S. Robert L. Vann rescue)'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-carry-on-robert-l-vann-1943/
description: A pencil cartoon shows a sinking ship at left, the bow of a ship marked 'Robert L. Vann' at centre, and survivors in a lifeboat climbing a ladder up
section: Collection
---

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2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. "Carry on!!" (S.S. Robert L. Vann rescue)

**Content note:** A ship sinking after a submarine attack and survivors being rescued, with the period term 'Negro' in the quoted headlines. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[!["Carry on!!", 1943 US cartoon: A pencil cartoon shows a sinking ship at left, the bow of a ship marked 'Robert L. Vann'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owi-alston-carry-on-robert-l-vann-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owi-alston-carry-on-robert-l-vann-1943.jpg)

# "Carry on!!" (S.S. Robert L. Vann rescue)

A pencil cartoon shows a sinking ship at left, the bow of a ship marked 'Robert L. Vann' at centre, and survivors in a lifeboat climbing a ladder up the side of a rescuing vessel at right. Two news headlines at upper left report a Liberty ship named for a Black American sunk by an Axis submarine with its crew rescued. The tell is a slogan, 'Carry on', a virtue-style exhortation attached to a reported event.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
News Headlines~
"ONE OF THE FOUR LIBERTY SHIPS NAMED FOR OUTSTANDING NEGRO AMERICANS SUNK BY AXIS SUBMARINE...CREW RESCUED."

"S.S. ROBERT L. VANN, FIFTH IN THE SERIES OF LIBERTY SHIPS NAMED FOR FAMOUS NEGRO AMERICANS, LAUNCHED AT SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE."

ROBERT L. VANN

"CARRY ON!!"

Alston OWI
```

[← Captain Adrian Richardson, Master of the Liberty Ship S.S. Frederick Douglass](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-captain-adrian-richardson-liberty-ship-frederick-douglass-1943/) [Col. Edward O. Gourdin, Commanding Officer 372nd Infantry →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-col-edward-gourdin-372nd-infantry-1943/)

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