Steel horizontal surfaces were Dark Gray wooden decks were left bare, except for aircraft carriers which continued to use Mahogany Red stain on flight decks.
Early Measures (SHIPS-2, Ship Camouflage Instructions, Jan 1941)ĭark Gray (5-D) overall except for Light Gray (5-L) structures above the stack tops. 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. 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. BuShips also issued Ship Camouflage Instructions (SHIPS-2), laying out 9 painting schemes to be used throughout the Navy. 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. 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.
2 Improved measures from combat experience.