"RN Deck Colours" Topic

Forgive my nautical ignorance as I'm only just starting to dabble in naval wargaming.

From some pictures/plans I've found on the web it seems that the RN started painting the decks of warships sometime about 1941/2?? Was it a uniform colour across the navy eg grey or green or did each ship do its own thing? Also did any leave their decks in the original wood colour?

Did other navies also start darkening deck colours and if so when?

Finally can anyone recommend Vallejo colours that would match the painted decks.

Thanks guys.

Semtex came in 3-4 different colors, grey being more prevalent early in the war, green being so by mid war. I can't say for Vallejo, but White Ensign makes the exact shades of grey and green Semtex. I know that for destroyers, all units of a flotilla used the same color

I thought Semtex was an explosive:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semtex

Semtex otherwise known as corticene, a non slip material

Semtex and corticene were not the same thing. Corticene was a rough surfaced linoleum that was held to the decks by brass strips. Semtex was a paste that was painted directly onto the decks. Semtex was the name of the company that produced the paste. I've heard of it being made in grey, green, brown, and blue.

Dutch ships that had wooden decks and were in the NEI were ordered to darken the wood in late 1941. Finding no suitable wood stain, the handiest dark material was used; the decks were scrubbed with raw crude oil. Talk about a flammability hazard!!

I stumbled across this on the Internet a few years ago. I forget the website:

Seaman Gunner George Mack
Personal recollection
HMS INTREPID 1937

As soon as we arrived in Chatham our chums began to arrive aboard to see what the new ship looked like, and to renew old acquaintances.
From the jetty we looked very smart in our gleaming light grey Med Fleet colours, against the dark grey of the Home Fleet ships that were in the yard with us, but when they stepped aboard things were not so smart. We had managed to sweep up, but the decks looked filthy as they were covered in a new paste-like surface, instead of the brown corticene, held down with shiny brass strips, as on other ships.
By Sunday the POs and leading seaman had gone round other ships to borrow a supply of cleaning materials and we set to with a will to clean the upper deck. To our disgust, nothing had the slightest effect, in spite of all the skills that years of hard-won experience lavished on it! When we eventually met the rest of the flotilla we found they had been equally unsuccessful; the only real difference between the ships was that three had dirty brown decks, three dirty blue decks and three had dirty grey decks!

This curse held over us for about six months, until suddenly we noticed that the IMPULSIVE had cleaner decks than the rest of us. In spite of her trying to keep the secret formula to herself, we soon noticed that she was washing her decks with a salt water hose, and the problem was solved. Salt water and nothing else. We now had the problem of a dirty ship's side! In all fairness however this was one of the best things that happened to destroyers. For it meant there was a really safe foothold in all weathers. Before this the decks were very slippery, and to give extra grip at sea, coconut matting was laid round the guns and along the iron deck, but the first seas coming aboard would rip the lashings, and it was a constant battle to keep it securely lashed down. Another snag about 'Semtex' was that it wore through the soles of shoes at an alarming rate, as it was like walking on sandpaper.

Very interesting. I have a 1/72 MTB in painting limbo as I was unsure how to paint the decks. So, my question is, were MTB decks finished with Semtex? Any info would be appreciated.

Bretwalda,

This is a complicated topic, and there was a lot of variety even within a single navy, with paint schemes on a single ship changing as often as once a year. If you search the TMP Boards you will find threads covering French, Dutch, and British WWII ship colors (with info on decks, sometimes with images), and probably other countries as well.

MH

For example, here's one on the French:

TMP link

and on the Dutch:

TMP link

If you search for my handle "hindsTMP" under "authors" in these boards, you will find a lot of other threads on WWII paint schemes. You will need to click on "search more" at the bottom of the first page of results, as most relevant threads will be on the second and third pages.

MH

Thanks everyone for your posts – much appreciated!

Follow this link for an in-depth discussion of both USN and RN camouflage, including deck-painting instructions for all the various types of RN camouflage: link

For an understanding of USN camouflage, including deck painting and staining: link

And for the development of USN aircraft carrier flight deck stains: link

At least some RN BB's (and possibly cruisers) used black fuel oil to stain their wooden decks. It didn't turn the deck black, but merely darkened the wood to make them less visible to aircraft.

A minor point: The corticene/linoleum deck covering was glued to the steel decks with a mastic compound. The seams between the corticene sheets were caulked to prevent water seeping underneath and rusting the steel. The brass strips covered the caulking to keep it in in place.

What's your source on the RN using fuel oil to darken decks?

SteelNavy message board.