Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Camoflage Message-ID: <1990Jun28.025856.19345@cbnews.att.com> Date: 28 Jun 90 02:58:56 GMT References: <1990Jun13.064616.23844@cbnews.att.com> <1990Jun18.005828.28545@cbnews.att.com> <1990Jun22.043318.28231@cbnews.att.com> <1990Jun26.024856.15103@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Computer Services, Australian National University Lines: 55 Approved: military@att.att.com From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz In article <1990Jun26.024856.15103@cbnews.att.com>, whh@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes: > > > From: whh@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) > > In article <1990Jun22.043318.28231@cbnews.att.com> adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes: >>There was one unusual camouflage experiment I saw on a TV programme (a factual >>one from a scientific series; this one was about camouflage). The camouflage >>system in question was for use on tanks; it involved covering the side of the >>tank in lights. > > This same sort of idea was developed in WW2 for ships. To hide a ship at > night it should be painted *white*. You want as bright a white as you can > get. The way ships were spotted was by silhouette against the sky--that > being lighter than the sea. Unfortunately--it's hell to keep clean. A > compromise was developed in the form of a good off-white color named after > the man that spurred the development--Montbatten Pink. Apparently Lord > Louis Montbatten was revered in the Royal Navy in part for this development > in saving the labor of sailors. That is Mountbatten, not Montbatten (in fact his original family name is Battenberg, however they decided to change it at the start of WWI to prevent charges of German sympathies being made against them, for the name was in fact German.) And while I am at it the title is Loise, Lord Mountbatten, not Lord Loise Mountbatten. The title belongs to the family, not the individual who currently holds it, that is how it is passed on, from father to son. I should also mention that the reason why Mountbatten Pink was adopted as a colour was that research showed that pink is actually the least visible colour in the spectrum. The reason why the colour was called Mountbatten Pink was not because he invented it, but rather because he was the first commander brave enough to actually have ships painted in the colour when he took over SEAC (South East Asia Command) in 1944. Before this the Royal Navy had been using white in the far-East on their ships to reflect the tropical sun (an important consideration before the ready avialability of air-conditioners). While the Royal Navy had known about the properties of pink as a camouflage colour no commander, other than Mountbatten, had been willing to take up and make use of the results from trials that had been conducted earlier in the war due to the unfortunate conitations of the colour with regards to homosexaulty. The use of Mountbatten pink was discontinued soon after the war due more than likely to this fear of the commanders (as well as a need for a more heat reflective colour in far-East waters as well). However the British SAS have used the colour now for about 25 years on their desert patrol Landrover 4WD. They discovered its properties during their campiagn in South Yemen in the early 1960's. Apparently the story goes ;-) that they had the wreck of a Mosquito Fighter-Bomber near one of their bases. The sun had bleached the dope on the wooden plane to a faded pink colour and had rendered it nearly invisible from any but the closest range. The result was that they adopted the colour as standard on their desert vehicles. Obviously the moral of the story is either the big butch SAS are not worried by such conitations or, "the times they are changing!" :-) Brian