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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Diary of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels

1918                SATURDAY 2               MARCH

Went to lunch with Naval Consulting Board_ English officer had drawings and talked on the system of camouflage- An English officer in court martial was acquitted because he proved he would not have made a mistake in navigation but for successful camoflage- It made the ship appear to be going in one direction while it was in reality going in another- Is camofage camoflage? I told Taylor I was inclined to think so-1

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Clark, Com. on Public Buildings,2 thought by contract, we would erect new navy buildings better than on percentage contract which FDR & Parks recommended-3 Sent for Park.

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Martin & Swanson4 wanted us to build a road to Quantico where we have marine barracks- Road badly cut up & Army agreed to build part it had cut up-

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Hancock5 saved $360,000 on contract for depth bombs- They ascertained the cost & company came down in figures

Source Note: D, DLC-MSS, Josephus Daniels Papers, Diaries, Roll 1.

Footnote 1: RAdm. David W. Taylor, Chief of Bureau of Construction and Repair.

Footnote 2: Rep. Frank Clark, R-Florida, Chairman, Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

Footnote 3: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt and RAdm. Charles W. Parks, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. On 6 March, Daniels wrote in his diary that they had agreed to a contract “for 10% on 5 mil building not to exceed $250,000 fee.” Ibid.

Footnote 4: Sens. Thomas S. Martin, D-Virginia, and Claude A. Swanson, D-Virginia.

Footnote 5: Paymaster John M. Hancock, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts.