The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-03-31
WAR PAINT OF BATTI,EsH1ps
hno1t to Approximate Invisibilitv in
Navy Graft.

me eolor Of warships, like those
OF soldiers uniforms, are now seloct-
Ell with a view to invisibility in actual.
service rather than for beauty or bril-
llancy. Only the United States ad-
heres to a brilliant "dress uniformu
Tor Its ships, and even this is quick
~ exchanged for the somber service
color IN war time. ~ writer in Co.'S
mos describes the present usage Of the
principal nations in this regard. Hc
ADMITS THAT the sight presented by a
french squadron is truly agreeable
TO the eye. Armorclads and cruisers
noth have their hulls painted a bril-
liant black on which the white line Of
llotatlons stands out; the superstruc-
lures or a pale gray, do not appear
100 heavy, despite their exaggerated
development; the sparkle of burn;sh-
CT copper lights up The whole, and all
seems happily contnivcd to please the
eye. But. he adds. aesthetic consid-
eratlons should not have waioht IN
snrh eases and the colors of the French
warShlpS have the serious fault tho,
lhey are visible ut n great distance
and thai their Silhouette stands ont
with precision against The horizon or
the coast; this is a defect whose inn.
portance, from Il military standpoint.
should not be mdcrrated. He continu.
eS:
"England, since 1908. has adoptcd
Tor her vessels a neutral tint. q mix
tnre OF zinc white and lampblack
whose effect is not pretty, but whose
dull cloudiness blends most perfectly
with a sombcr coast or with the gray
sky and water that We sec 50 fve-
quently in the channel and the North
sea. The change was a sudden one, for
we remember the bright colors in
which the English vessels once wcr,
decked-hulls of shining black, vel
low tunnels, white supcrstructurcs,
all IS now covered, from the tips Of
the masts to the waters edge, with
the same dirty gray color, ugly per-
haps, but invisible.
.'FThis is the shade THAT is generally
approMimatcd in other navies: the
Japanese and Russian ships are a
little lighter (the Russians kept their
white paint through the whole far
Eastern war, while their adversarics
scnsibly assumed the gray at the
opening of hostilities); the Italian
vessels are a little darker: Germany
has chosen Il slightly BLUSH tint. with
which she clothes her ships down TO IL
YARD below the waier-line; only the
United States keeps the white in
time of 'peacc--a brilliant. shining
white, a real paint de luxe, but in
case of mobilization they are ready to
paint their ships an ashcn gray, as
WAS done during the Spanish-Ameri-
can war.
'"Thc differences. Of slight import
ance, that are found between these
different colors come doubtless from
the different conditions under which
they have been tried. On the blue
waters of the Mediterranean the
most favorable tint is not the same
as in The mists Of the north. Thus,
formerly, a little before The visit to
Cronstadt the armored division Of
Admiral Gervais was painted the
'soiled-lincn' color-a mixture of
black, yellow and white-which w5
aftcrward abandoned and which gave
excellent results. Bernay, in lie
Yacht, expresses the wish that We
once led others and from which we
have unfortunately strayed, and that
our fighting ships may give up their
varied colors to take or a coat less
brilliant and more safe.
"For torpedo boats and destroyers
the conditions are no longer The
same. These small craft are intended
to operate by night, and the most
neutral gray is visible at a very
great distance in darkness; in the
beam of a search-light it produces
the effect of a brilliant white. Opin-
ions differ about the proper shade to
be selected. England, Germany,
Italy and Japan paint these vessels a
dead black, while the United States
and Russia prefer a very ugly bot
tie green, which, it would appear, is
still less easily seen than black, es-
pccially when the night is not per-
fectly dark. '-Translated from Par
is Cosmos in Literary Digest.