So, to start again from the beginning :
Quote:
Originally Posted by gap
* Grey paint was the general rule for Allied merchant vessels. Some ships had funnel tops and top half of masts painted white so to blend with the sky.
* Ships built during the war were delivered in grey paint.
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An important detail is missing :
what shade of grey was it ? Since it appears than certain shades of grey would give position to the u-boats at full moon nights :
Quote:
Originally Posted by iambecomelife
the destroyers escorting the tankers were painted an inappropriate shade of grey, which the U-Boats used to locate the convoy in the moonlight.
Apparently, certain shades of grey paint made a ship highly visible on a clear night when the moon was out....thus the highly specific regulations about what shade of grey you were supposed to use.
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You partially answered the question by publishing the "official" colors, but we don't know what exact grey color used the merchants...
Quote:
Originally Posted by iambecomelife
"Janus" practically glowed in the moonlight because of grey and white paint.
Out of curiosity I looked up Janus's shipping company in a WW2 ID book - sure enough the paint scheme for that line was grey and white.
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Janus' peace paint sheme was probably the same as Mercier's one which was light grey :
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/986.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by gap
* As a consequence of the previous point, there was not a sudden transition from peacetime colours to wartime grey. Some ships - probably the ones whose trading routes were closer to the main war theatres - were repainted at the earliest opportunity after the war broke out, whereas a few others are reported to have switched colours as late as January 1941.
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And probably many changed much more later... or never.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gap
* The implementation of safety rules was somehow more strict for ships sailing in convoys. These rules included: - no dark funnel smokes (this would have ruled out old coal-burning steamers from convoys).
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There were "fast" and "slow" convoys. The latters probably were for old coal steamers (which produced dark smoke)... So this "rule" was only for fast convoys...
Quote:
Originally Posted by gap
* neutral ships retained their company colours for most of the war even when sailing in convoys. If I can add a personal note, this might have been sort of a nonsense. According to German engagement rules any ship sailing within Allied convoys, even though belonging to a neutral nation, would have been a valid target, and retaining peacetime colours would only have made her an easier prey. In other words, convoy protection would have nullified "neutrality privileges" or, even worse, it could have rendered them counterproductive, but this is probably something which was not so clear at that time.
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Answer :
Quote:
Originally Posted by kapuhy
Possibly because you do not intend to stay in the convoy for entire cruise and don't want to have to paint them back on when you separate from it. Plus, there's a small chance that given two equally juicy targets in the periscope, U-Boat will select one that belongs to the enemy nation.
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