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This is not strictly camouflage related, but it is part of the pre-war ship marking system and is thus included here. This was a 1938 Memo originally issued on August 6th, 1938, revised for the addition of BatDiv Fice in October of 1939, and superseded in June of 1940.

Normal | Highlight & Comment Highlighted Text will be in Yellow

RESTRICTED Pearl Harbor, T. H. March 24, 1941   U. S. FLEET LETTER NO. 1 USL-41 From: Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet To  : FLEET Subject:      Turret Markings for Identification by Own Aircraft      1.      This letter replace U.S. Fleet Letter No. 13L-40, which letter is hereby cancelled, since colored tails for aircraft are being eliminated.      2.      Battleships and cruisers shall paint the tops of any or all their forward turrets or enclosed mounts with the following colors for identification by their own aircraft. When stripes are involved, they shall be painted parallel to the axis of the guns. BATTLESHIPS Battleship Division ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red (Solid) Battleship Division TWO . . . . . . . . . . . . . White (Solid) Battleship Division THREE . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue (Solid) Battleship Division FOUR  . . . . . . . . . . . . Black (Solid) Battleship Division FIVE  . . . . . . . . . . . . Yellow (Solid)   CRUISERS Cruiser Division TWO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue (Double Stripe) Cruiser Division THREE . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red (Double Stripe) Cruiser Division FOUR  . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue (Single Stripe) Cruiser Division FIVE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yellow (Single Stripe) Cruiser Division SIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black (Single Stripe) Cruiser Division SEVEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . Green (Single Stripe) Cruiser Division EIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black (Double Stripe) Cruiser Division NINE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . Green (Double Stripe) DETROIT and RALEIGH  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue (Double Stripe) RICHMOND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red (Double Stripe) AUGUSTA and OMAHA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red (Double Stripe)      3.      In addition, battleships and cruisers shall paint the top of their after turret or enclosed mount to correspond with the section their aircraft are in. The colors are red, white, blue, black, green and yellow for first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth sections respectively. H.E. KIMMEL DISTRIBUTION:    List II, Case 2, O, X.    List II, AI, AAH, EN1-EN11,    NA4-NA56, NB18, ND1-ND16, NY1-NY10.       P. C. Crossley,       Flag Secretary USS Penn.--154--3-25-41--1,650.

Transcribed by RESEARCHER @ LARGE. Formatting & Comments Copyright R@L.

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