NEWS ITEMS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 721, 7 April 1922, Page 6

NEWS ITEMS.

THE COLOUR OF WARSHIPS

The history of the colouring of British warships is a romance in itself. To-day the colour, giving invisibility, is a matter of life and death; but in the old days, before the invention of long range gunfire, colouring was more a matter of fancy. Accordingly, in the Tudor days, a blazing red, signifying death without quarter, was the accepted colour for all British warships, and . men, stripped to the waist, climbed over crimson bulwarks when they boarded the

enemy’s vessel. In Elizabethan days, crimson was abandoned for more variegated colours;—as we can discover from old documents. The bill delivered for painting the Revenge, the renowned, ship of Sir Richard Grenville, has,, fortunately, been preserved, and from it we learn that the Revenge had a black hull with upper works painted in the Tudor colours—green and -white. But the Elizabethan age of pageantry and colour passed away, and Cromwell’s strict rule took its place. Just as the men of that period wore dark cloaks and black hats, so the Puritans treated sternly such delights of the eye as colours, and gliding on their worships. Accordingly, most of the men-of war in' commission under the Commonwealth were painted black all over. But with the restoration of the: Stuarts were also restored to our; Navy the gorgeous decorations of the gay Cavaliers. These lasted until the time of Nelson. Our great naval hero had, however, the practical mind, and realised that ships were not made to he pretty, but for the stern needs of war. His colours were characteristic of the man. VJishing to magnify his: little fleet, he had all the hulls of the ships painted dead black from bow. to stern, with yellow bands running! \ along each row of gunports—this! giving a most waspish, wicked ap-; pearance, well worthy of their ex- , ploits. The black hull continued until a few years ago. In the year 1886,; a neutral tint —a reddish grey—was! aimed - at, but not attained in view of j possible hostilities with Russia. The authorities, after abandoning this tint, experimented with various colours; but it was the Coronation) review of King Edward VII., and the: subsequent cruise of the German; sQuaur-o--. r.w’id our western coasts, that led to the British ships donning their present sombre war paint. The change reminds us of the methods! of protective mimicry adopted in the insect world, and shows how much we owe, even in our modern civilisation, to Mother Nature. Wherever the Naval Ensign flies from a ship, in any one of the Seven Seas that we patrol, that ship is now! pointed a dull leaden grey. Those' who have had the good fortune on a misty day, while cruising on the seas, to meet with one of his Majesty’s! battleships, will know how well-nigh invisible is the smoke-grey colour With which they are painted.