[Cavtanker]

New USS Arizona model shows blue paint scheme

By Burl Burlingame

bburlingame@starbulletin.com

The name of the American war plan in 1941 was "Rainbow Five," but it's unlikely this referred to the battleships at Pearl Harbor. Or did it?

According to a discovery by historians, the ships of Battleship Row were a bright kaleidoscope of colors, not the dull gray camouflage they were thought to have been for the last 65 years.

The information was announced last evening at an unveiling of a new model of the USS Arizona in the battleship Visitor Center at Pearl Harbor. Security was tight for the last week as the model was placed in location, and it was covered in shrouds before being dramatically unveiled by a group of USS Arizona survivors.

"Every battleship sailor in the world wants a peek at this," remarked retired Adm. Thomas Fargo to the crowd of several hundred historians, veterans and news media.

The model replaces an older, inaccurate model built in the 1960s. Craftsman Don Preul, determined to create the world's most accurate representation of the warship, conferred with Park Service historian Dan Martinez on the proper colors. Research was difficult because most of the ship's records had been destroyed in 1944.

Preul hit the jackpot in the National Archives when he uncovered an order from Pearl Harbor commander Husband Kimmel directing that the ships under his command be painted a shade referred to as Mediterranean Blue.

"Suddenly, here was a link to something that had troubled us for years," said Martinez. "Then we had it confirmed by USS Arizona aviator Glenn Lane, who was keeper of the paint locker in the aviation section. Not only was the ship blue, but the tops of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 turrets were red."

Kimmel's orders specify a rainbow of five colors to represent the different battleship divisions, painted atop the two front turrets of battleships. The aftermost turret top was to be painted in a color representing which aircraft division the ship belonged to. In the case of the USS Arizona, both colors were a bright red.

Cruisers had their turret tops painted in similar colors, but in stripes instead of solid panels.

The idea, explained Preul, was so aircraft could identify their own ships, and also see which ships were firing their cannon: "These battleships could throw shells 18 miles. The planes couldn't get close enough to read their names, so the bright colors helped."

Preul, Martinez and associates including naval artist Tom Freeman met a few months ago to go over the orders and compare them to black and white pictures of the period. Their consensus was that the ships at Pearl Harbor were indeed painted in this manner.

"It certainly raised questions about coloration of all the ships at Pearl," said Preul. "This is a topic that has raised a lot of controversy among historians over the years. It also reveals what an interesting time of transition the Navy was in at the time."

"We had it wrong for 65 years," said Martinez. "Today, we have made it right."



Found this on another website. I thought it was interesting.

[MoMo]

You'd think someone would have commented earlier!

I guess that in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbour and the frantic repainting of surviving ships to render them fit for war service, everyone
forgot about the recent past quickly in order to focus on the imminent threat of invasion.

Interesting information. Was the idea to make it easy for aviators to identify capital ships and report on their positions?

MoMo

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by MoMo

You'd think someone would have commented earlier!

I guess that in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbour and the frantic repainting of surviving ships to render them fit for war service, everyone
forgot about the recent past quickly in order to focus on the imminent threat of invasion.

Interesting information. Was the idea to make it easy for aviators to identify capital ships and report on their positions?

MoMo

Gezz...the top of the gun turrets were painted red? Might as well say "Come bomb me right here".

[mikeb1958]

I simple like the idea of just painting the gun turrets in your favorite NFL teams colors better.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by mikeb1958

Gezz...the top of the gun turrets were painted red? Might as well say "Come bomb me right here".

I was thinking the same thing...
Seeing the red turrets on Dec 7, 1941 made that ship a easy target.
But i don't know about that blue....You think after 60yrs you would of
heard about it before now...
JP

[Cavtanker]

I agree. Why wasn't this noted before-hand and corrected?

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

I was thinking the same thing...
Seeing the red turrets on Dec 7, 1941 made that ship a easy target.
But i don't know about that blue....You think after 60yrs you would of
heard about it before now...
JP

Yeah, really! Maybe know one wanted to be the one that said we did something that stupid.

[SKUNKY]

.......I think the Japanese may have found them anyway....

[1250ships]

If you read ship modeling boards you would have heard about this a long time ago. If you ever want to see a major flame fest ask a ship color question on a ship modeling board!

There is still lots of disagreement though. Everyone agrees about the general scheme but not everyone accepts the shade of blue they are using. There is no contemporary reciepe for Mediterranean Blue. There is some strong evidence to suggest what the National Park Service has done is too bright and should be a darker blue.

The turret tops were painted a different color. It is clear looking at photos that the tops are a different color than the other surfaces. In the past people have put that down to glare from the sun. Now it is clear that the turret tops were different. This was pretty common at that time for recognition purposes. German navy did it and the Italians used very visible bow stripes for recognition purposes.

[skysurfer808]

This whole article brings to mind an earlier thread in MH-1 about Midway paint schemes. The color schemes of military equipment is subject to constant change, as anybody who knows the story of U.S. National Insignia can attest. What I'm curious about is the exact Measure color used. The USN had a standardized series of different paint schemes all identified with a Measure number. Medeteranean Blue is a very deep ocean like shade of blue, so this scheme makes sense in the deep ocean. In harbor with red turret tops, it makes an inviting target, especially since the most of waters of Pearl Harbor appear a dark shade of green from the air.

I can understand the Red Turret Top marking scheme in a peacetime Navy. Looking at aircraft schemes in the 1940 period, we see the famous bright Prewar Scheme, with Chrome Yellow Wings (which aided search efforts for downed aircraft) and tails painted to different colors for different ships (Yellow for the Lexington, White for Saratoga, Blue for the Enterprise, etc.). 1941 though saw the U.S. Navy go through a constant series of color changes. Airplanes went from the bright peacetime colors, to light gray, to Blue Gray over Light Gray. Ships went from peacetime light gray with bright decks, to varying shades of gray and blue. False bow waves were also a feature, Notably in this photo of the Lexington.http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/i...00/g416362.jpg

There were lots of experiments as well. But the thing that strikes me most is the fact that the bright colors for battleship divisions cancel out all thought of camoflauge. Admiral Kimmel seemed to assume he would be operating in conditions of air superiority.

Skysurfer808