River Plate Camo?

[SeaHarrier2006]

Hi Guys,

i have just got a hold of some GHQ models, of Graf Spee, Leander, Exeter and Suffflok. I have been look on the net to see if the Royal Navy Ships had any Camo Schemes on them at the time of the River Plate Battle, but can't find anything concrete on them.

I don't usually do WW2 models, sticking mainly to the Modern warships which don't usually have camo schemes on them. Any help on Camo Schemes for the Ajax, Achillies, Exeter and Cumberland, at the time of the Battle of the River Plate wold be appreciated.

Cheers for now,

SeaHarrier2006

[Donald M. Scheef]

According to Warship Profile 13, HMS Exeter carried no camouflage pattern at the time of the Battle of the River Plate. I have a photo of Ajax taken immediately after the battle, but in this view she is profiled against the sky so that no surface detail is visible. I have nothing definite for Achilles or Cumberland at this time. My first guess is that, like most ships on foreign station this early in the war, they also had no patterned camouflage.

This is beyond your original question, but at the same time, Admiral Graf Spee had a false bow wave and body wave painted on her hull to give a false impression of speed. The vertical surfaces of the superstructure (not the hull itself) and both vertical and horizontal surfaces of the gun mounts (11-inch and 6-inch) had a light green mottling pattern.

Don Scheef

[cbovill]

I just love questions like this. I'll check my sources tonight and see what I can find, but I'm pretty sure Don is correct. I believe Commodore Harwood's Force G was in overall 507C (light grey) with unpainted wooden decks and 507A (dark grey) for metal decks. Decks covered with corizene would be a chocolate brown, and turret roofs should be in 507C, but I will verify tonight. Graf Spee had a rather difficult to paint four color scheme designed by Captain Langsdorff, the greens he chose were just not that common on Kriegsmarine warships.

Chris

[cbovill]

Here's what I can find. On the South Atlantic station, ships of the Royal Navy were to be painted in overall 507C (light grey). I can find no reference to any of the four ships of Harwood's force showing them or describing them in any sort of camouflage pattern. I have plenty of reference to each of these ships (except Exeter) receiving camo in 1940 and 1941. I found the most definitive answer for HMS Ajax. I quote Alan Raven in volume I of his Royal Navy Camo series:

"(Ajax) had entered the war in Mediterranean Light Grey (507c). After completion of repairs in July 1940 which were sustained in the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939, she was painted in overall Light Mountbatten Pink, which she had up to October/November 1940. From then on to around December 1940, her camouflage was (of the Aexandria type disruptive scheme). The colors are black, 507b and 507c."

So Ajax was definitely in the foreign station 507C color overall. Since before the war, wood decks were left natural and steel decks were painted dark grey, you should have a pretty good idea of what this ship and most likely all of Harwood's force were painted like, especially since she was his flagship.

Something very non-standard I found was a picture of a completed model of HMS Exeter with big black letters "EX" painted across the tops of all three main gun turrets for aerial identification. I have not seen this depicted anywhere else so not sure about the source.

Chris

[SeaHarrier2006]

hi guy's,

Many thanks for you quick information about the ships in Force G. I too have see pictures of the model of Exeter, but don't know if they were on the ship when she was in action against Graf Spee.

I wanted to make sure they didn't have a camo scheme before I started painting, so now armed with you help, I can get them in my yards, and get painting them.

Thanks again for you help gent's. I'll post some pics of them when i'm finished, but until then i'll say thank's, and happy painting,

SeaHarrier2006