USS Nebraska of 1918

[bgire]

Looking for the colours used in USS Nebraska dazzle camo of 1918:



This set of colours belongs to one of these three types, but which one?
1- Either all neutral from white to black,
2- or black, white, blue and blue grey
3- or red, green, grey, black and white

Could someone help me in finding the right combination?

[Guest]

Are you still looking for this.
The answer is black, white & red
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/14b.htm

[bgire]

Thanks for the link.
No red is listed as WW1 camo color, so I wonder what is the REAL source for this "red" interpretation by today's artist Wayne Scarpaci...
Is that N�1 Mauve, N�3 Yellow or N�4 Pink?
Not fully convincing.

[Russ2146]

According to Alan Raven's "The Development of Naval Camouflage 1914 � 1945"
Part II: United States Navy � World War I
"a series of designs were drawn up by Mr. Watson, the master painter at Norfolk Navy Yard. The initial design was painted onto the U.S.S. MARGARET, a patrol vessel, in late September 1917....Called the �Watson Norfolk System�, further designs were prepared and tried out on battleships with a small degree of success.
The range of colors used by the American Navy in 1917-1918 was extensive, ranging from black to white and just about everything in-between. Because of the lack of knowledge as to what ranges of colors were suitable for use on ships at sea, there were colors used that were eschewed in World War II, such as reds, violets, and yellows."

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/2_5.htm

[Tracy White]

If you can wait 5-10 years the definitive book on WWI camouflage will probably be out.

[bgire]

If you can wait 5-10 years the definitive book on WWI camouflage will probably be out.

Yes
That's what Ron Smith told me years ago...
I can wait

[Guest]

Thanks for the link.
No red is listed as WW1 camo color, so I wonder what is the REAL source for this "red" interpretation by today's artist Wayne Scarpaci...
Is that N�1 Mauve, N�3 Yellow or N�4 Pink?
Not fully convincing.

There was an official set of reds, the chips just have not been found yet. The red in question is called out as Red No.4 on the design.

[Russ2146]

Raven wrote "Called the �Watson Norfolk System�, further designs were prepared and tried out on battleships with a small degree of success." The scientific way to put this would be "experimenting." Are experimental colors ever listed as camouflage colors while they're experimental, other than in documents concerning the experiments? The records to obtain would be those of Mr. Watson at the Norfolk Navy Yard

[Tracy White]

In WWII yes. I haven't read any of the WWI documents, but I would imagine they'd be somewhat similar in that they would use a standard paint... be it commercial or military. For example, there were something like 40 different formulas tested for Sea Blue, but once it was chosen, all of the experiments used the same formula.

[John Olsen]

Any thoughts as to the colors of this Watson-Norfolk design applied to USS Anniston, c.1918? Port side appears similar to Nebraska, but starboard side is a different pattern with a scale of 5 different values represented. Black and white seem the obvious colors for the darkest and lightest tones, but the intermediates... grays? blues? greens? Grays are the safest guess, but in light of the discussion on the possible use of red as the intermediate tone on Nebraska, I'm not so sure...