GROENHEIDE BOEKE

At noon the Alerte’s crew were roused. Preparations were immediately started to disguise the ship. The funnel was given a different coloured coat of paint; the masts, previously light brown with black above the hounds, were painted a uniform shade of dark grey. The bridge and funnel were bodily shifted twenty feet aft, and the position of the ventilating cowls altered. Finally, on both bows and astern the name Alerte was covered by strips of painted cloth bearing the name Cimeterre, and the French tricolour hoisted aft.