I have a war bond poster showing a US four stack destroyer capturing a U-boat. I am sure all of you ship modelers have seen it.
What interests me is the vivid orange and blue paint job on the destroyer.
My question is, on destroyers was a completely different scheme carried the other side?
Anyone know of anyone who has modeled this ship or a four stack destroyer in WWI dazzle scheme?
Can you provide a URL that shows this particular poster? Could artistic license on its creator/artist have been a factor? For example, if the setting was during dawn or dusk hours; or if at nightime with a sea full of burning hulls....then illustrating a ship in orange tones would be "artistically correct".
The scheme is hardly fantastic and consistent with the dazzle schemes and colors in this period. However the scheme may or may not have been artistic license for this particular ship.
Most WWI ships carried different patterns port and starboard. The orange and blue is an artist's fiction. One of my current research projects is taking photos of all the WWI camo design sheets.
The scheme is grossly oversimplified for WWI DD's and the orange is incorrect. The blue may actually be close to some of the blues used.
I remember that it was also called 'Razzle Dazzle' and that it was also based on French fashion and art designs of that time as told on a British documentary some decades ago. I think the psychology went along the lines that the brain couldn't handle irregular objects at distance so discarded the object. They tried this with a large mock-up of a ship built on a targeting platform for the Navel officers to try to detect and it seemed to work.
Some great pictures on this Russian site.
Richard.
This is a very worthwhile endeavor...hopefully you might do a book?
A color book with these sheets would be outstanding.
There is in the smithsonian a magnificently painted 1/48th model of the USS St. Louis in a gorgeous black, medium blue, light blue, and white scheme. Not sure as to the accuracy of the model.
See it at:
It from the few references on the net, it appears that at least for merchant ships, the colors were quite varied, even to the point of be spectacular. Greens, yellows, purples, reds, etc.
The WWI us destroyers I have seen, at least in black and white pics see to have two colors...or is it three?
I am wondering if the Navy limited colors so as to make the ships better camo'd for various roles, not just submarine defense.
A strong possibility but it will take quite some time....
The scheme is accurate.
I can't access the NHC site for some reason unless i go through a proxy....but IIRC those are three color schemes. Mostly you see three and four color schemes through the WWI design sheets.
Don't believe anything on the net....so far I've found shades of grey, white, black, blue, greens (dark, olive, greyish, yellowish) and a few bilious snot greenish yellows....no reds but there may have been purplish mauves. There are 4458 items listed in the index and I've just scratched the surface.
Motly three color patterns.
Same set of reference color chips was supposedly used for USN, RN and merchants for both US and Brtain.....haven't yet found the chips but they are supposed to be there. From the notes all colors are based on artists' colors and not standardized camo colors.
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