World War II US Navy dazzle camouflage measures 31, 32 and 33: battleships

Dazzle camouflage of warships was adopted by the U.S. Navy during World War II, following research at the Naval Research Laboratory. Dazzle consists in painting obtrusive patterns on vertical surfaces. Unlike some other forms of camouflage, dazzle works not by offering concealment but by making it difficult to estimate a target's identity, range, speed and heading. Each ship's dazzle pattern was unique to make it more difficult for the enemy to recognize different classes of ships. The result was that a profusion of dazzle schemes were tried, and the evidence for their success was at best mixed.

Dazzle camouflage patterns used on battleships are presented here.

Colors

Typical color combinations
MS-31 MS-31a MS-32 MS-33 MS-33a Horizontals
Haze Gray 5-H Haze Gray 5-H Light Gray 5-L Light Gray 5-L Pale Gray 5-P Pale Gray 5-P Light Gray 5-L Ocean Gray 5-O
Ocean Gray 5-O Ocean Gray 5-O Dull Black 82 Ocean Gray 5-O Haze Gray 5-H Haze Gray 5-H Ocean Gray 5-O Deck Blue 20-B
Dull Black 82 Navy Blue 5-N Dull Black 82 Navy Blue 5-N Ocean Gray 5-O

Patterns

Battleship designs
Name Description Pattern sheet Photo Known examples
MS-31[lower-alpha 1] For Colorado-class battleships [lower-alpha 1] Maryland
MS-32/1B For Iowa-class battleships Iowa
MS-31a/6B For USS Nevada (BB-36) Nevada
MS-31a/7B For USS Arkansas (BB-33) Arkansas
MS-31a/8B For New York-class battleships New York, Texas
Adapted designs
MS-32/7A
(aircraft carrier) 		Adapted to Iowa-class battleships Not used
MS-32/1D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to Tennessee-class battleships Tennessee
Adapted to USS Massachusetts (BB-59) Not used
MS-32/3D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) Not used
Adapted to New Mexico-class battleships Not used
Adapted to Colorado-class battleships Colorado
MS-32/6D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to New Mexico-class battleships New Mexico, Mississippi
MS-32/7D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to USS West Virginia (BB-48)[lower-alpha 2] West Virginia
MS-32v6/10D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to North Carolina-class battleships Not used
MS-32/11D
(destroyer)		 Adapted to South Dakota-class battleships Indiana
MS-32/16D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to Tennessee-class battleships California
MS-32v11/18D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to North Carolina-class battleships North Carolina[lower-alpha 3]
MS-32/22D
(destroyer) 		Adapted to Iowa-class battleships Missouri

Notes

  1. 1 2 Maryland received a unique and presumably experimental dazzle pattern in late 1942 or early 1943, before the issuance of the SHIPS-2 Supplement; no designation or pattern sheet for it is known. The lightest color appears to be Haze Gray 5-H, making it a Measure 31 scheme.
  2. ↑ The sheet is marked "BB-45 [i.e. Colorado] class;" however the drawing is clearly specific to West Virginia, whose post-Pearl Harbor reconstruction rendered her decidedly different from her sisters.
  3. ↑ North Carolina's actual paint job only corresponded loosely to the pattern sheet

See also

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