Volume 52, Number 3 (1999) Summer

"Interdiction and Confirmation," a 1991 painting by John Charles Roach for the Naval Historical Center's Combat Art Project in the Persian Gulf War. Here, the destroyer USS O'Brien (DD 975) maneuvers astern of the merchantman Star of South America. In the artist's words, "Only by a close look can O'Brien inspect the weld marks of the ship. Weld marks are unique as a fingerprint in identifying a ship. The O'Brien is looking to see if the name on the ship's transom [stem] matches its welds or if it has been altered recently in an attempt to disguise the ship." Courtesy Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C.