FW_Allen wrote:
Here is a photo from ‘37/38:
http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/models/tips/ap507c6.jpgThe left hand image is more applicable in this case. We’re not sure, however if this is before or after scraping/cleaning in preparation for re-coating. The right hand image, on the other hand, appears to shows the topside being coated with red lead and presumably the bottom having its protective undercoating applied (I labeled the photo to show where the final colours should go).
I agree that the left-hand photo could be interpreted as after cleaning in preparation for painting; in the right-hand picture we could be looking at the second (slate) protective coat of paint (rather than the anti-fouling coat as the photo itself is labelled). We need to be sure that we are looking at the third/final anti-fouling coat of paint. For this we need photos of Hood’s bottom with the draught marks painted up. These would have been painted last of all, over the boot topping and lower hull anti-fouling paint layer. Being welded-on steel Roman numerals these were fairly permanent fixtures on a ship. These are Hood’s in 1918:
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zd Hood 1918 draught marks forward set.jpg [ 53.84 KiB | Viewed 1574 times ]
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zd Hood 1918 draught marks aft set.jpg [ 114.36 KiB | Viewed 1574 times ]
It was custom and practice to take the painting of these well below the waterline and this continued in wartime:
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Draught marks various.jpg [ 396.85 KiB | Viewed 1574 times ]
FW_Allen wrote:
Just curious, but are there similar codes associated with other P&B colors? They made more than grey right? We also need to see if we can determine Hood’s pre 1936 antifouling colours.
Not sure I understand what you mean by "codes"? The only colours mentioned for the P&B paints under the "Ships' Bottom Compositions" Rate Book heading (Sub Head E. 7) were Black, Slate, Grey and Black (flat or gloss). There were no codes. I guess if someone could turn up a P&B paint catalogue from the era that might show their grey. They were a specialist manufacturer of marine preservative and anti-fouling paints and I would say that it is quite possible that they did only have one "grey".
What you saw was the Peacock & Buchan's protective and anti-fouling paint listing from the 1940/41 Rate Book:
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P&B 1940-41.JPG [ 123.67 KiB | Viewed 1574 times ]
The previous Rate Book I copied pages from is the 1937/38 edition. It says exactly the same. The numbers to the right are the price the Admiralty was willing to pay per cwt in £ s d:
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P&B 1937-38.jpg [ 158.94 KiB | Viewed 1574 times ]
Sadly I did not copy the "Ships' Bottom Compositions" pages from any earlier Rate Books but few seem to survive in any case. The only two relevant to Hood that I have come across are the 1919 and 1931 Editions but I do not know what they might have said about the authorised P&B colours then.