WWII AHIPS CAMOUFLAGE

[TAMMY]

I'm looking for books on ship camouflage.

I have books on Italian and Brtish Navies but I have not yet found detailed books on the US Navy and the Kriegsmarine. I am interested in camouflage of both warships and merchants.

Any suggestion?

[Mikee]

there's a "ton" of stuff out there regarding U.S. Navy Camouflage, although I don't know of a single book that shows it all. "The Floating Drydock," for example (I think they're still around) has a book on general camouflage, and a second book on aircraft camouflage. They also have a 'bunch' of camouflage sheets for individual ships. You might look them up on the internet. Another source is "Snyder & Short," in California, an outfit that sells books, paints, etc. I forget their e-mail address, but you can look 'it up on the 'net. Those would be a good place to start. As for german camo, I don't know a single site, but Snyder & Short might be ab le to help. Randy Short is very interested in all kinds of warship camouflage.

Those two would be a good start

Mikee

[TAMMY]

I probably had to be more specific in my request for help.

I have a lot of books on single ships or classes of ships with their own campuflage, including "USN Camouflage of WW2 era" by Floating Drydick and I know all the sources you have quoted.

What I am looking for are books with detailed info on the different types of camouflage and, possibly, the concepts behind them.

[battlewagon]

Here is a very good reference that covers both world wars and how and why the different schemes were developed:

Naval Camouflage 1914 - 1945 A Complete Visual Reference
by David Williams
Naval Institute Press

I have found it quite useful when painting my "fleets". If you have more specific questions about the book, post them in this thread and I can give you more detailed feedback. I hope this helps.

[TAMMY]

Thanks battlewagon. This morning I have found the book in a big bookshop in Milan and after a look I bought it.

I bought also another naval book, more technical about the evolution of fire control on battleships:
NAVAL FIREPOWER - battleship guns and gunnery in the dreadnought era
by Norman Friedman - Seaforth Publishing

The only problem will be that to recover the expenses I will have to postpone the purchase of some GHQ model.

[Carl67]

Just remember to paint the red and white strips at the bow of the Italian ships. We wouldn't want any mistakes in bombing the wrong navy. I believe that was the rationale behind the unique Italian striping design on the decks of their ships-they were attacked by their own airforce, hey it happens. Unfortunately, it made them easier to be spotted and attacked by the british and american navies in the long run. Gotta love Italian ships, they were pretty cool lookin.

Carl

[TAMMY]

It is difficult to forget it. It was introduced in July 1940 a few days after the battle of Punta Stilo (Battle of Calabria) on 9/07/1940, that is about one month after the start of the war for Italy. The reason was to avoid the bombardment of our Air Force badly trained in ship identification and in operation at sea,in general. In any case on the bow of GHQ models there are traces for these linea.

By the way it was the first measure of "camouflage" (?) on Italian ships.

I have no problem on Itaiian ships as I use a really complete book on this subject.
LA MIMETIZZAZIONE DELLE NAVI ITALIANE 1940-45 by Bagnasco and Brescia, Ermanno Albertelli Editore. In the book there are side views (often of both sides) of every Italian warship, from battleships to torpedo boats. In some cases a ship is shown in different camouflage in different year.

If you want to have an idea of the quality of images I suggest the site of the Italian company MARINEART. They sell large size colour prints of ships taken from the a.m. book and on the site you will find a complete catalogue of their production. It may be a good and cheap source for Italian naval camouflage.

[Carl67]

Tammy

In your quest for USN camo measures. Have you looked into Squadron Signals US Navy ships Camouflage WW2: Destroyers and Escorts by Al Adcock and The Painters Guide to WW2 Naval Camouflage by Patrick Hreachmack of Clash of Arms Publishers ( I think you can still order that throught GHQ). They provide useful information about the crazy USN camo schemes and their rationale for using them. Why couldn't they just be like the Japanese and keep it simple - medium grey anyone ( or whatever you have stockpiled in your manufacturing plant would suffice.)

Carl

[TAMMY]

I have both the books but the first is very specific and the second is limited by its size.

I am looking for a general book USN details on camouflage with as much infor possible on the criteria and application methods. On a more specific subject I am looking for camouflage of military transports (the various AKA. APA etc.).