by Rick E Davis » Thu May 19, 2011 6:46 pm
Alan,
I would "think" that RN paints (one paint the way it looks from the photo) would be likely. But, I wondered if a stockpile of USN paint was available ... a very large number of cargo ships headed to the Philippines were diverted to Australia in December 1941-January 1942 and more or less dropped off their cargo there. A supply of USN paint is a possibility in its basic elements prior to mixing. I know that the USAAF awaited a supply of paint to paint the B-17's based there and that it arrived shortly before the war started and only a few B-17's were painted before the attack (two were in the hangars being painted at the start of the attack). The older B-18's in the Philippines appear to have been painted "maybe" with US Army Vehicle paints in a two tone scheme a month or two before the B-17's from available photos. The Philippines went from being a backwater location that was at the tail end of hand-medowns to the head of the priority list in the summer of 1941.
I guess I'm looking for an "educated" guess from experts based on this "color" photo as to the "possibilities". The number of available photos of these Asiatic Fleet destroyers after the debacle and before they were refitted on the West Coast and mostly sent to the Atlantic are few. I'm not sure that the information on BARKER's repair and painting would be in BuShips records at NARA.
Alan,
I would "think" that RN paints (one paint the way it looks from the photo) would be likely. But, I wondered if a stockpile of USN paint was available ... a very large number of cargo ships headed to the Philippines were diverted to Australia in December 1941-January 1942 and more or less dropped off their cargo there. A supply of USN paint is a possibility in its basic elements prior to mixing. I know that the USAAF awaited a supply of paint to paint the B-17's based there and that it arrived shortly before the war started and only a few B-17's were painted before the attack (two were in the hangars being painted at the start of the attack). The older B-18's in the Philippines appear to have been painted "maybe" with US Army Vehicle paints in a two tone scheme a month or two before the B-17's from available photos. The Philippines went from being a backwater location that was at the tail end of hand-medowns to the head of the priority list in the summer of 1941.
I guess I'm looking for an "educated" guess from experts based on this "color" photo as to the "possibilities". The number of available photos of these Asiatic Fleet destroyers after the debacle and before they were refitted on the West Coast and mostly sent to the Atlantic are few. I'm not sure that the information on BARKER's repair and painting would be in BuShips records at NARA.