World War II ship camouflage measures of the United States Navy In 1935 , the United States Navy Naval Research Laboratory began studies and tests on low visibility ship camouflage . Research continued through World War II to ( 1 ) reduce visibility by painting vertical surfaces to harmonize with the horizon and horizontal surfaces to blend with the sea , or ( 2 ) confuse identity and course by painting obtrusive patterns on vertical surfaces . Some camouflage methods served both purposes . Commonwealth captains executed Admiralty camouflage schemes with greater variation than was customary with these American measures . Early measures . With the likelihood of the United States entering the war , and after experiments with various paint schemes conducted in association with the 1940 Fleet Problem ( exercise ) , the Bureau of Ships ( BuShips ) directed in January 1941 that the peacetime color of overall # 5 Standard Navy Gray , a light gloss shade with a linseed - oil base , be replaced with matte Dark Gray , # 5 - D , a new paint formulation with a synthetic alkyd resin base . Rather than waste the large quantities of Standard Gray already in inventory and aboard ships , BuShips directed the issuance of a black tinting paste ( 5 - BP ) which when mixed in stated proportions with Standard Gray would yield a close approximation of 5 - D , with issue of the new paint in pre - mixed form to follow . BuShips also issued " Ship Camouflage Instructions " ( SHIPS - 2 ) , laying out 9 painting schemes to be used throughout the Navy . Rather than issue premixed quantities of the less - used new shades , Light Gray ( 5 - L ) and Ocean Gray ( 5 - O ) , yards and supply depots were directed to issue an untinted base paint ( 5 - U ) together with a blue - black tinting material ( 5 - TM ) which when mixed according to instructions would turn 5 - U into either Light or Ocean Gray . The adoption of the new measures was very slow , however : as of late May the Navy ' s paint factories had yet to receive the ingredients needed for the new alkyd - based paints and only in late April had they received even the lampblack required for conversion paste 5 - BP . By the summer of 1941 it had become apparent that Dark Gray ( 5 - D ) was unacceptably visible under all conditions , and the " conversion " 5 - D made from prewar # 5 was also too glossy and prone to chipping and peeling ; meanwhile Pacific Fleet experiments with new colors Sea Blue and Sapphire Blue were deemed successful . Accordingly in July – August Dark Gray was discontinued and new paint formulas Sea Blue ( 5 - S ) and Haze Gray ( 5 - H ) were implemented , together with Deck Blue ( 20 - B ) for all horizontals , steel and wood alike . The tinting paste was altered to contain somewhat less black and more blue than before ; this meant that Ocean Gray also became somewhat more bluish in cast at this time and all the 5 - series paint colors now were categorized as Munsell 5 Purple - Blue . Until 1945 all USN " gray " and almost all " blue " shades were produced using this same blue - black tint ( 5 - TMa ) , so that the paints represented different tones of what was effectively a single blue - gray hue . In September , Measures 1 through 8 were abolished and four new schemes promulgated in a revised edition of SHIPS - 2 . On 19 July Measure 12 had been prescribed for the entire Atlantic Fleet , and on 13 September Measure 11 for the Pacific . However , there was considerable time lag between the issuance of new instructions , and paint being manufactured and distributed and ships actually being repainted ; at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7 most of the Pacific Fleet was still wearing dark gray Measure 1 . In November aircraft carriers began applying a dark blue - gray flight deck stain ( # 250 ) approximately the same color as Deck Blue , together with a stain approximately Ocean Gray for flight deck markings ( # 251 ) . Asiatic Fleet : The Asiatic Fleet , based in distant Manila , was unable to obtain the new paint colors and so in November painted its ships overall in a color procured from local sources midway between Sea Blue and Ocean Gray , dubbed " Cavite Blue . " Improved measures from combat experience . Within the first six months of combat , the United States Navy modified Measures 11 and 12 to meet the needs of Pacific Ocean operations . Sea Blue was found to be too light , and it was ordered replaced by new color Navy Blue ( 5 - N ) , which used 50 % more of the same tinting paste as Sea Blue and was correspondingly darker . Tropic Green system : Through 1942 the Camouflage Section had issued no instructions for landing craft , PT boat s , Tank Landing Ships ( LSTs ) and other vessels expected to operate close inshore in Pacific jungle conditions , so individual commands resorted to overall green , or ad - hoc camouflage patterns in whatever green or brown paints could be obtained . In early 1943 BuShips began the development a green series parallel to the blue - gray series , but the process was slow and therefore the South Pacific Command as an expedient ordered its amphibious vessels to be repainted in Dark Tropic Green with " tiger stripes " in Light Tropic Green , both of which could be created by mixing standard 5 - TMa tinting medium with yellow zinc chromate primer . According to a contemporary report , " The color of the foliage [ in the vicinity of Bougainville ] was surprisingly high in key , a brilliance that would have been unbelievable except for the very same observations made on first arrival in the Solomons group . " Late wartime measures . The Royal Navy established an Admiralty camouflage section in October 1940 . Initial Admiralty disruptive camouflage schemes employed polygons of multiple shades of gray , blue and green so at least two of the colors would blend with background sea or sky under different light conditions . Experience showed the polygons were too small to be differentiated at effective camouflage ranges . Simplified Admiralty light and dark disruptive schemes were promulgated in 1942 to use larger and simpler polygons with no more than four colors . Thanks largely to the work of Everett Warner , who had headed up the design section of Navy Camouflage during the First World War , in March 1943 BuShips issued a supplement to SHIPS - 2 laying out multiple dazzle patterns under Measures 31 ( dark ) , 32 ( medium ) and 33 ( light ) to conceal identity and confuse submarine torpedo fire control . Each measure included multiple pattern designs for ship classes so the pattern would not identify the class of ship . These measures represent the final evolution of dazzle camouflage . Warner ' s office issued over 300 pattern sheets for Measures 31 - 33 . Specific patterns in the dazzle measures were designated as , e . g . , MS - 32 / 3D , meaning the 3rd Destroyer pattern under Measure 32 ; an A indicated an aircraft carrier pattern , B for battleships , C for cruisers and so on . Often a pattern designed for one ship type would be adapted to another , so that , for example , the battleship " North Carolina " wore an adaptation of Measure 32 / 18D , originally a destroyer pattern . Some patterns could be used as Measure 31 , 32 or 33 depending on the paints chosen ; these were listed as , e . g . , MS - 3 _ / 6D . On 15 September 1943 the South Pacific command adopted the dazzle measures for all ships ; in October the Pacific Fleet officially adopted the dazzle measures for most of its remaining ships . In January 1945 BuShips revised its paint formulations due to a shortage of blue pigment , and the realization that tone was far more important than hue in camouflage effect , eliminating the blue - purple shades which had characterized nearly all Navy ship colors whether called " blue " or " gray . " The new paints were neutral grays , Navy Gray replacing Navy Blue ( but confusingly receiving the designation " 5 - N " while Navy Blue became " 5 - NB " ) , and Deck Gray replacing Deck Blue . Ocean Gray and Haze Gray retained their names but lost their bluish cast . However , the new paints ( which were shipped pre - mixed , not as tinting paste ) were generally only available in stateside yards , while ships repainted at forward bases continued to use the older bluish colors . Moreover for Measure 22 ( but not 12 or 21 ) , Navy Blue was still prescribed until existing stocks were exhausted . In February the Pacific Fleet , deciding that the primary threat to its ships was now kamikaze , directed that all ships be repainted in Measure 12 , 21 or 22 , and dazzle schemes began to disappear again . All auxiliaries , " odd " - numbered cruiser divisions , destroyer squadrons and destroyer - escort divisions were to be painted in Measure 21 , and all " even " - numbered CA / CL divisions , DD squadrons and DE divisions in Measure 22 . Ironically , the Atlantic Fleet did not get the memo , and during 1945 ships scheduled for Pacific transfer were repainted in dazzle , only to be painted again in Measure 21 or 22 on arrival at the West Coast or Hawaii . US Navy ship camouflage paints . < nowiki > * Not a specification ; measured by the US Bureau of Standards in October 1941 < / nowiki > < br > < nowiki > * * Not a specification ; estimated < / nowiki > < br > < nowiki > * * * In other words , paint issued by BY & D for shore facilities and their equipment , procured by Amphibious Force crews during mid to late 1942 < / nowiki >