By: Roger Litwiller -Canadian Naval Author and Historian
Recently the Royal Canadian Navy unveiled two of Canada’s warships painted in a multi-coloured camouflage scheme. Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship REGINA (2nd), a Halifax class frigate and HMCS MONCTON (2nd), Kingston class maritime defence vessel, have been given the “new” paint scheme.
The purpose of this remarkable tribute is to honour the service and sacrifice of Canadian sailors during the Battle of Atlantic in the Second World War. Next year, 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the War and the fierce Battle that was fought every single day of the war from 3 September 1939 until the German surrender on 8 May 1945.
Dazzling the Enemy
The art of camouflaging a ship has gone on for centuries. Attempting to hide a ship on the open ocean is no small task. There are many examples of ships changing their appearance to make them look like a different ship, adding false sails or funnels, extra masts, different names, etc. Changing the appearance of a warship to confuse the enemy and either allowing the ship to escape unharmed or provide time to improve her position to attack.
The media has reported this new paint scheme as “Dazzle Paint,” this is incorrect. The art of naval camouflage took on a new level during the First World War. Warships and Merchant Ships were painted in distinctive, brightly coloured geometric schemes. Considerable research was performed in how to confuse the enemy and the designs of British artist Norman Wilkinson were adopted. Wilkinson’s approach was not to hide the ship, but to “dazzle” the enemy in thinking the ship was moving at a different speed or direction.
The practice of Dazzling warships ended with WWI and warships returned to their usual ship-side grey. This was cheaper and easier to maintain than the multi-coloured wartime paint schemes.
Camouflaging a Ship on the Ocean
At the outbreak of the Second World War and the immediate threat of the German U-Boats on merchant ships and warships alike, the practice of camouflage was revisited. The British Navy designed a new form of paint scheme referred to as the Admiralty Disruptive Scheme. This involved a sweeping pattern of light and dark grey, white, blue, green and black waves. A variation to the camouflage was the Western Approaches Scheme that was made of the same colours in straight geometric designs. The disruptive scheme was adopted by the RCN and most of our ships received several variations of this camouflage during the war.
The effect of the camouflage scheme was it had the capability of obscuring the enemy’s sight of the ships in various degrees of light, fog, haze and clear weather. Distinctive shades and colours worked better in various types of weather and visibility.
With improved radar, line of sight became less important and following WWII most navy’s once again reverted to ship-side grey. The Royal Canadian Navy conducted extensive trials in the 1950’s to determine the best shade of grey for our ships which has evolved into the current fog-grey that Canada’s warships use today.
The Battle Of Atlantic
The single most important battle in the Second World War was fought at sea. Continental Europe fell to the onslaught of the Nazi’s and England was alone. Without supplies she would have to surrender too. Canada was her only hope, material, food, fuel and supplies had to come from Canadian factories, farms, forests and mines. Standing in the way were the U-Boats, ready to attack without warning. They were good at their job, sinking as many as two merchant ships a day. At the darkest point of the war, England was weeks from starvation. To get the merchant ships safely across the Atlantic the RCN grew from six destroyers at the beginning of the war to over 400 warships of all types. Over 100,000 men and women joined the Navy. By the end of the war Canada had the 3rd largest Navy and 4th largest merchant fleet in the world. The Battle of Atlantic is as important to the formation of our nation as a world leader as the Battle of Vimy was in the First World War.
Winning the Battle Of Atlantic was costly, over 4,600 Canadians lost their lives at sea. The Canadian Navy lost thirty-three warships, for the Merchant Navy over 100 Canadian and Newfoundland ships were sunk.
A Legacy of Two Ships
REGINA and MONCTON have been given a modern variation of the Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage scheme, taking into account the size and shape of a warship today compared to the ships of WWII. It is very fitting that the RCN chose these two ships for the Commemoration of the Battle of Atlantic. Both ships are the second RCN ships to bare their respective names, with both predecessors having actively fought in the Battle of Atlantic.
HMCS MONCTON (1st) K139 was a Flower class corvette built in Montreal, Quebec and commissioned into the RCN on 24 April 1942. During her wartime service MONCTON escorted over fifty ocean and local convoys on the Atlantic as part of Escort Group W5 (EG5) and Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) based out of Halifax. In January 1944, Moncton was transferred to the RCN’s Pacific Fleet working with the Esquimalt Force. At the end of the war, MONCTON was paid-off and later sold into mercantile service as the Netherland’s whaling ship Willem Vinke. Today’s HMCS MONCTON (708) carries on the name of her predecessor and her Battle Honors (ATLANTIC, 1942-43).
HMCS REGINA (1st) K234 was also a Flower class corvette, built in Sorel, Quebec and commissioned into the RCN on 22 January 1942. She was assigned to the WLEF escorting ocean and local convoys on the Atlantic. In September 1942 REGINA was assigned to Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa. During this time she attacked and sank the Italian submarine AVORIO in the western Mediterranean, north of Philipville, Algeria. REGINA returned to Canada and the WLEF in March 1943 and commenced an extensive refit. On completion of the work, REGINA joined the Canadian Escort Group C-1 in February 1944. During this time she escorted the damaged convoy rescue ship Dundee, under tow towards Horta with HMCS VALLEYFIELD. She left Horta on 14 March 1944 escorting HMCS MULGRAVE, under tow for the Clyde for repairs after grounding at Horta. REGINA was assigned to Western Approaches Command in the UK in March 1944 for invasion duties. As part of the invasion of Normandy she escorted convoys to the beachhead and Coastal Convoy around the UK. On 8 August while escorting a local convoy she was torpedoed and sunk off Trevose Head near Cornwall by U 667. Thirty sailors from REGINA’s ships company were killed in the attack. The current HMCS REGINA carries on the ships name and Battle Honours (Atlantic 1942-1944, Mediterranean 1943, Normandy 1944, English Channel 1944, Arabian Sea).
Additionally, HMCS REGINA has also adopted the gumshield art of her predecessor. A common practice among the wartime navy was to decorate the main gun of the ship with a painting relevant to the ship’s name, the community she was named for, or the actions she performed. Needless to say this provided for some incredible and ingenious designs. REGINA (1st) bore a cowboy riding a seahorse, lassoing a German U-Boat with a swastika painted on the submarines side. The current REGINA has updated the gunshield art to have a RCMP officer riding a seahorse, ready to spear a submarine. At the writing of this article, it is rumoured that REGINA may adopt the pennant number of her predecessor.
Honouring Our Sailors Everyday
Honouring the service and sacrifice of Canada’s past sailors is the focus of this project, but is something the RCN and todays sailors have done every day. Canadian Navy and Coast Guard ships have a red maple leaf on their funnel or superstructure to identify them. The practice of placing a Maple leaf on Canadian ships began in WWI when several RCN ships were posted overseas and wanted to distinguish themselves. The practice returned during WWII and became very common with each ship adopting their own design. The RCN standardized the practice, directing a single green maple leaf was to be used on all RCN ship in September 1944. On 9 September 1949 the RCN made it policy for all ships to have a single red maple leaf as a unique national identifier.
BRAVO ZULU to an Incredible Team
This current commemoration of Canada’s Sailors has been undertaken with sincerity and deep respect. Considerable research was done on the design of the paint schemes for MONCTON and REGINA, with research through the RCN’s Directorate of History and Heritage, Naval Museum of Halifax and Library and Archives Canada. The execution of painting the ships were performed by the respective ship’s companies and Shelburne Ship Repair Yard on the East Coast for MONCTON and Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton on the West Coast. It has taken an entire team of dedicated, inspired individuals to create this incredible tribute.
Both ships will wear their colours for 2020. MONCTON will be undertaking the Great Lakes Deployment and REGINA will attend the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) with other international naval forces.
It is hoped that the media and public will realize the difference between the the Dazzle paint of the First World War and the Admiralty Disruptive camouflage of WWII used in this wonderful tribute. But I have to admit, the word dazzling is one of many words that work very well in describing how MONCTON and REGINA appear in their new look.
Social Media has sparked numerous discussions on this commemoration with two comments being most prevalent, first from the civilian side, “what a wonderful tribute, the entire RCN should have this.” Secondly from sailors currently serving, “Wish my ship could be painted too.”
The camouflage schemes painted on these two ships have gained widespread attention, in Canada and abroad. The RCN can be commended for showcasing our past sailors and a hearty BRAVO ZULU to everyone involved for creating a renewed discussion of the importance of Canada’s Navy in winning the Battle of Atlantic. This tribute has also developed a new and positive public dialogue on the service and sacrifices that continues to be faced by Canada’s current sailors.
Related Articles:
- Canada and the Battle Of Atlantic
- Royal Canadian Navy -Victory’s/Losses WWII
- Royal Canadian Air Force -Victory’s/Losses WWII
- Canadian and Newfoundland Merchant Navy Losses WWII
- The Canadian Maple Leaf -A RCN Tradition Honouring Our Sailors Past
- HMCS TRENTONIAN -Five Different Camouflage Schemes in 15 Months
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