Ship Camouflage Instructions
United States Navy
Ships - 2
Bureau of Ships
January 1941

Table of Contents

Chapter 1.        Introduction

Scope of these Instructions
Revision
Definition of Ship Camouflage
Camouflage Colors
Light Reflection
Gloss

Chapter 2.        Camouflage Measures for Surface Ships

Measure 1.    Dark Gray System
Measure 2.    Graded System
Measure 3.    Light Gray System
Measure 4.    Black System
Measure 5.    Painted Bow Wave

Chapter 3.        Detailed Camouflage Directions

Camouflage Paint
General Directions Common to All Systems
Dark Gray System
Graded System
Light Gray System
Black System
Painted Bow Wave
Wood Decks
Aircraft Carrier Decks
White Uniforms

Chapter 4.        Experimental Background

Results of Surface Ship Camouflage Experiments
Visibility of Wakes
Discussion of Measure 1
Discussion of Measures 2, 3, and 4
Discussion of Measure 5
Table 1. Color for Low Visibility
Notes for Table 1

Chapter 5.        Painting a Ship to Look Like Another Ship

Measure 6.    Six Inch Cruiser to Simulate Eight Inch Cruiser
Measure 7.    Light Cruiser, 7500 ton, to Simulate Four Stack Destroyer
Measure 8.    Light Cruiser, 10,000 ton, to Simulate Two Stack Destroyer
Discussion of Measures 6, 7, and 8

Chapter 6.        Camouflage of  Submarines

Measure 9.    Black System for Submarines
Discussion of Measure 9