 TEXT SIZE: small | normal | large | huge In cooperation with ShipCamouflage.com The following text is not complete and contains gaps that may make it confusing until finished. I wanted to at least get the information out in public for others to read and learn from. "Haze Gray and underway" is a phrase that most US Navy sailors in the last sixty years will remember. The slogan has its roots in the overall haze gray they spent a significant amount of time painting their ships in. It was not always this way, however, with many significant ships decked out in deep blues or so-called "dazzle" schemes not designed to hide the ship as much as its course and speed. The peacetime years between the first and second world wars was one where US Navy ships were predominately painted in #5 Standard Navy Gray, a light color that worked well for ship-to-ship engangements at long distances. But with the advent of the aircraft carrier these lightly colored ships stood out and became more vulnerable to the increasingly effective strike aircraft. As such, in 1938 the US Navy began to experiment with camouflage on some ships to determine good practices for the changing face of naval warfare. The results of the tests was first officially codified in a January, 1941 document titled "SHIPS-2." Released by the Bureau of Ships, SHIPS-2 was updated throughout 1941 and the early phase of the war with camouflage measures that were to be used on Navy ships from the smallest lighter to the mighty capital ships. The early schemes were mainly solid colors with one measure featuring graded colors. Later versions included "dazzle" schemes that were not meant to hide the ship, but to make it hard for other ships and submarines to determine course and speed. The Navy was also experimenting with paint colors, changing the prewar #5 Standard Navy Gray for a variety of colors. The first three to be officially sanctioned were based on the #5 formula, with different amounts of a tinting paste mixed in. These mixtures formed 5-D Dark Gray, 5-O Ocean Gray, and 5-L Light Gray. It was decided fairly quickly on the east coast that 5-D was unsuitable, and a new color, 5-S Sea Blue was created. 5-D was ordered discontinuted at the end of July, 1941, and the Navy paint manufacturing yards switched to 5-S in its place. But even 5-S was unacceptable, and a darker mixture, designated 5-N Navy Blue was created in the fall and tested on some ships of the East Coast fleet. 5-S continued in use in an inconsistant pattern through 1942, but for the most part ships began transitioning to 5-N in their camouflage starting in December of 1941. The standard monotone and graded schemes were not viewed as effective against submarines. Consequently, the Navy began experiments with irregular patterns, starting with Measure 12 Modified in 1941, and with official dazzle patterns in the Measure 31-32-33 series in 1943. These patterns were not meant to hide the ship as much as make it difficult to gauge speed and heading; both needed to accurately aim a submarine-fired torpedo. Later in the war, these dazzle schemes became a liability by making ships stand out in the ocean for attacking kamikazes. The Navy began a crash program to remove the dazzle schemes and return the ships to camouflage that was better suited for anti-aircraft and anti-ship concealment. In late 1944 memos circulated directing that Measures 21 and 22 were to be applied while new paint instructions were being developed. These instructions hit in late February, 1945 (see document S19-7 Serial 631) and were largely the same as before, however the paint formulas had now changed. Documents:
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