U.S. Navy Ships in WWII Dazzle Camouflage 1944-1945

Destroyers

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Gridley & Benham Classes

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for DD-380

Design 3D

for DD-380

Design Number Silhouette Ships Wearing Design
for DD-380
Measure 32
Trippe (DD-403)
Drawing

The drawing for Measure 32 Design 3D for the Gridley class destroyers attached to the Supplement to SHIPS-2 in March 1943. This drawing could also be used by other single-stack destroyer classes. The vertical colors were specified to be navy blue (5-N), haze gray (5-H) and pale gray (5-P) and the horizontal colors was deck blue (20-B).

A Design 3D drawing was also attached to the July 15, 1943, memo to PacFleet for the DD-380 Gridley class of destroyers. Design 3D was later drawn for every other class of destroyers and destroyer escorts and for most other classes of major warships including the Independence class light carriers, the Casablanca class escort carriers, Omaha class light cruisers and Cleveland class light cruisers. The battleship USS Colorado (BB-45) also used Design 3D beginning in October 1943. A handful of ships of the Livermore class of destroyers and some destroyer escorts used a mirrored version in which the port pattern appeared on the starboard and the starboard pattern was painted on the port side. I have identified this as 3D rev (reversed) even though there seem to be no USN drawings that would depict this.

Original drawing source: March 1943 Supplement to SHIPS-2 Plate XXVI.

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