us-005578-irn95221-irn12687
type: RecordSet
archival history: The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1998.
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Propaganda poster on off white, lightweight paper showing American naval fleet loses against Japan in the late fall of 1943. Across the top is the Rising Sun of Japan: a red semicircle centered at the bottom of a white field with 9 red rays extending outward. Below this in the center is a yellow square with a black outline. Imposed on top of the square is a white, narrow, rectangular banner with black text running the length of the poster. Inside the square at the top and bottom is black text. In the center is a chart with 7 columns and 5 rows. The top row bears the label of a different class of ship for each column. The second row shows black ships, representing how many of each class were lost, and the third row shows the quantity lost. The fourth and fifth rows label the number of ships damaged in each class and their quantity. The chart is depicted to be under water surrounded by sunken warships piled on top of each other. On top of each pile is an American Flag and there are schools of red and blue fish swimming above. The poster has several small vertical tears and small pinholes along the bottom edge. front, bottom right, pencil : 500
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: after 1943 December 05
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn12687
is or was included in: us-005578-irn95221
record resource extent: overall: Height: 23.750 inches (60.325 cm) | Width: 33.000 inches (83.82 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Propaganda poster in French with a chart showing the number of warships that the United States had lost between October 27 and December 5, 1943, in the war with Japan. The poster was meant to show that the Pacific War was going badly for the Americans. It references two battles specifically, Bougainville and Gilbert and Marshall Islands, which were two campaigns that resulted in American victories over Japan. The poster claims that 50% of the US war fleet had been destroyed in a period of 39 days. The chart shows that 56 ships had been sunk and a further 41 had been damaged. The poster uses the 1939 ship force levels to inflate the percentage of US losses. In reality, the US navy in 1943 was 9 times larger than in 1939. Additionally, the information provided on the chart is inaccurate when compared with US reported losses, showing the poster to be disingenuous.
title: Propaganda poster reporting United States Navy fleet losses to Japan