"First a heavy coat was applied all over the hull. Men stationed inside the hull mold began systematically vibrating the mold planking and checking the gaps between the planking for mortar penetration. Once the mortar had all been applied to the satisfaction of the men vibrating and checking, the excess mortar was then scraped back to the mesh. ...A new thin coat was troweled over the hull and allowed to start setting. When it started to set the hull was sponge troweled, the sponge trowel being used in a circular motion to smooth out surface irregularities. As soon as the sponge troweling was finished, the final steel troweling began. This was carried on until the hull surface had set up too hard to be worked on any further, and was as smooth and fair as the plasterers could make it."