Safety Rules for Use on Transports
Folded safety leaflet for troops boarding transports: a lifeboat's contents, a troop ship with boats and rafts in place, an eight-point emergency list and the line 'Your Safety Depends on You!'. The fear-appeal is mild: it states that boarding means entering a combat area subject to attack, then offers rules as the remedy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- [not named; U.S. Government Printing Office imprint GPO-524284]
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Security and surveillance
- 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. Government Printing Office (issuer not named on the sheet). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1663 (NAID 515331).
Text on the object
[upside down on cover panel:] SAFETY RULES FOR USE ON TRANSPORTS this may save your life KNOW THESE RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS! SOME OF THE CONTENTS OF A LIFE BOAT. [imprint:] GPO-524284 General: FIND YOUR "ABANDON SHIP" STATION IMMEDIATELY AFTER GOING ABOARD SHIP. LEARN THE POSITION OF YOUR STATION AND ALL POSSIBLE WAYS OF REACHING IT. PAY ATTENTION AT SHIP'S DRILLS. KNOW THE EMERGENCY SIGNAL. ALWAYS DRESS WARMLY. SLEEP IN YOUR CLOTHES. AT ALL TIMES, DAY OR NIGHT, KEEP YOUR LIFE PRESERVER AND A FULL CANTEEN OF WATER WITH YOU. In case of an emergency: 1. Keep your head. Keep quiet. Obey all orders at once. 2. Go quietly and quickly to your "abandon ship" station. Wait for orders. 3. Don't jump overboard. Death may result from the turning propellers. 4. Use ladders, nets and ropes when leaving the ship. 5. Wait for the order, "every man for himself", before acting on your own, even in an extreme emergency. 6. Swim clear of the ship's side immediately. 7. Sit still in a life boat or on a life raft. 8. Set a good example. Your actions influence others. Keep cool, no matter what is happening. A troop ship, with life boats and life rafts in place. YOUR SAFETY DEPENDS ON YOU! It will probably never be necessary for you to abandon ship. Nevertheless, when you board a transport, you enter a combat area subject to attack at any moment, day or night. The ship is provided with adequate facilities for an emergency, but you must know when, how, and under whose direction to make use of them. In case of a disaster at sea, your survival will depend to a great extent on you. Should you have to abandon ship, the fact that you know certain things about the vessel on which you are traveling, and are prepared to act in accordance with the following instructions will go far to insure your safety.
