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

Aircraft Carriers

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Fleet Carriers

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for CVL-22

Design 3D

for CVL-22

Design Number Silhouette Ships Wearing Design
for CVL-22
Measure 33
Belleau Wood (CVL-24)Monterey (CVL-26)
Drawing

This is the drawing for Measure 33 Design 3D for the Independence class light carriers dated January 26, 1944. The vertical colors were identified to be navy blue (5-N), haze gray (5-H) and pale gray (5-P) and the horizontal color was deck blue (20-B). Shown along the top are the ends of the stacks which extend out to starboard along with the ends of the flight deck.

A Design 3D drawing was attached to the July 15, 1943, memo to PacFleet for the DD-380 Gridley class of destroyers. Design 3D was also 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: NARA 80-G-165767 and 80-G-165768.

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