3/3-4/44: Lessons Learned, "Dazzle", USS Canberra

3 & 4 MAR 44

March 3rd and 4th "continued ship's maintenance and repairs" as well as unloading of ordnance to replace that expended on the Japanese at Eniwetok. "At 1420 completed catapulting 2 VF and 2 VT for exchange at Majuro airfield."

Rear Admiral Ginder's flag had been successfully transferred and at 0930 on the 4th "a conference of Unit Commanders and Commanding Officers of Task Group 58.4 was held aboard the USS YORKTOWN. Information was received that the prospective date of departure for this Task Group would be 7 March 1944."

At this conference I suspect there was at least brief discussion of "lessons learned" from recent operations as well. There is a long history in professional military organizations of trying to record, codify and disseminate successful tactics, techniques and procedures. In fact, as we have been on our journey I have on several occasions referred to or directly quoted from Air Group 23's "Action Reports" compiled after each operation.

The Action Report contained both mundanely objective information such as number of flight hours flown, amount of supplies used (gas, ammunition, etc.) but it also allowed for the Squadron Commanders and CAG to provide subjective commentary and recommendations regarding almost anything they thought merited consideration up the chain of command.

It may seem insignificant to most of you, but the ability of a lower-ranking officer to get a point of view or concern heard by superiors up the chain is one of things that provides a significant advantage to "western democracies" in our ability to fight and win. Totalitarian/Authoritarian-directed military forces whose soldiers face bullets from in front and behind are at a disadvantage before the first shot is fired. But I digress...back to 1944.

The Eniwetok Atoll Action Report (information for which was provided from CAG Miller) which Captain Buracker submitted directly to Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Nimitz, contained the following observation:

"IX. USS CANBERRA'S (CA70) CAMOUFLAGE:

Although it is realized that the purpose of the camouflage design of the CANBERRA is to make difficult accurate estimation of target angle, range, and identification, it may be of value to note that the CANBERRA, under conditions of 1500' altitude and bright sunlight is easily visible a minimum of five miles greater distance than ships of the same formation painted the conventional gray. Pilots report that the white surfaces of the CANBERRA were visible even before the wakes of the ships in the formation. In overcast weather or at dawn and dusk the CANBERRA was visible also at a greater distance, though relatively less than in bright sunlight."

USS CANBERRA (CA-70), as part of Task Force 38 in late 1944.

Above is a photo that seems to me a perfect illustration of the point that Air Wing pilots were making. Of particular interest, note the gray-painted destroyer in the background. At first blush the destroyer paint job seems obviously superior, but this picture accounts for only a few of the thousand words it is allotted. Canberra on the other hand is shown in her Measure 33 Design 18D paint scheme a few months after the Action Report in question.

Naval camouflage first became a thing with the outbreak of WWI. Designed not to hide a ship but rather to break up the outline or profile in order to frustrate the ability to calculate size, range, speed, course and angles critical to the accurate firing of guns and torpedoes.

Two years into WWI, the British Royal Navy began painting its ship in bright colors and stripes which became known as "Dazzle."

The American Navy quickly followed suit, and in my estimation, upped the ante:

The French also entered the competition:

The zebra-striped French light cruiser Gloire

To my knowledge there is no definitive study of the actual effectiveness of ship camouflage, no matter how drab or how dazzling. That said, it stands to reason that using optical illusions or the color spectrum to disrupt the ability of an enemy to target your ship seems a beneficial idea. As long as it actually accomplished that goal.

And of course there is a camouflage nerd community, which is actually pretty awesome. Anything you want to know about the specifics of ship camouflage, to paint to the Bureau of Ships Measure Schemes to the multiple versions of the Navy's detailed Instructions regarding how to "Paint a Ship to look like another Ship" to a list of specific ships and how they were painted and when can be found with a little web searching.

It is unfortunate that most of our photos of these ships are of the black and white variety, because I would love to see a ship painted "Mountbatten Pink."

As for the focus of (most of) our attention on this blog, "The Peerless P" in 1944 was painted in Measure 32, Design 7A, similar to the standard for the CVL class of carriers...

...which called for her vertical surfaces to be painted in a combination of Light Gray 5-L and Ocean Gray 5-O and her horizontal surfaces to be Deck Blue 20-B and Ocean Gray 5-O:

It seems to me that artist Sam Massette, who created the wonderful artwork that is the homepage for this blog, reversed the pattern relative to the bow and stern. But as a person whose artistic ability amounts to stick figures, I'm prepared to cut him some slack.

Oh, one last thing. USS Canberra?

On 13 October 1944, USS Canberra was operating 85 miles from Formosa as part of Task Group 38.1...

"...at approximately 1833 that evening, when eight Japanese torpedo planes executed a surprise attack on the task group. Three of the planes were splashed upon approach but four others managed to make a run on Canberra, coming in low off her starboard quarter. Anti-aircraft fire from Canberra’s gunners brought down three of the planes before they could reach her. The remaining plane also went down in flames, about 1,500 yards astern, but not before the pilot managed to fire an aerial torpedo which punched into Canberra’s starboard side and exploded just below her armor belt, between the no. 3 and no. 4 firerooms."

One has to wonder why she seems to have been singled out.

A heroic 14 day battle to save the ship was successful and Canberra, assisted by tugs, limped into Ulithi lagoon on 27 October.

Decommissioned in 1947, she was recommissioned in 1956 and served until being stricken from the rolls in 1978.

NNNN