How was HMS Exeter painted at the Battle of the Java Sea?

[AdmiralHawke]

This is a bit of a long shot, but does anyone here know how HMS Exeter was painted at the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942?

It’s well documented that she was in light grey (507C) at the Battle of the River Plate in 1939. That was standard for British warships on overseas stations in 1939 and there’s plenty of clear photographic evidence.

I would have assumed that she was again in overall light grey in 1942, but for a photo on page 125 of Robert C. Stern’s Big Gun Battles that shows Exeter in a dark overall grey (presumably 507A) with bright awnings, apparently at Calcutta in October 1941.

There are some photographs of her in 1942, including the famous one of her sinking, but the quality of the copies I have seen isn’t great and it’s difficult to judge the shade of colours in photographs taken in bright sunlight.

I’m wondering whether anyone can confirm her paintwork, or has the Warship Profile 13 or the Profile Morskie of Exeter. The profile of Exeter on Profile Morskie’s web home page suggests that she retained the dark grey: http://www.profilemorskie.com/.

Thank you for any guidance. 🙂

[Simon Butler]

Mal Wright in his book British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII, vol. 3, states that when the Exeter re entered service it was painted mid grey, probably 507b. The metal decks were the same colour and the wooden decks unpainted. I recommend getting a copy of this book.

Just to confuse this, there is an old Altmark Publishing book by I think Peter Hodges, published in 1973. This shows a the Exeter in a complex three tone pattern camouflage scheme. The note accompanying the drawing states that the pattern is taken from a contemporary model in possession of Lt. Commander Gordon McLaren. The colours used were MS51, B5 and 507C. Wooden decks were unpainted. The note also states that the model was built in Devonport dockyard at the time of her refit and that the ship had been repainted to a much lighter pattern when deployed to the Far East. It’s possible that the model is a proposed camouflage scheme that was never implemented.

[AdmiralHawke]

Thank you for such an interesting reply. I am so sorry I failed to reply sooner. I typed out a reply twice, only for my iPad to eat both answers. Time then passed. Sorry.

Simon Butler wrote:

Just to confuse this, there is an old Altmark Publishing book by I think Peter Hodges, published in 1973. This shows Exeter in a complex three tone pattern camouflage scheme. The note accompanying the drawing states that the pattern is taken from a contemporary model in possession of Lt. Commander Gordon McLaren. The colours used were MS51, B5 and 507C. Wooden decks were unpainted. The note also states that the model was built in Devonport dockyard at the time of her refit and that the ship had been repainted to a much lighter pattern when deployed to the Far East. It’s possible that the model is a proposed camouflage scheme that was never implemented.

That’s fascinating about the proposed three-tone camouflage. Exeter was one of a relatively small number of British cruisers than does not seem to have worn camouflage at any point. It seems logical that a scheme was drawn up for her but, for some reason, never applied as you say.

There’s clear photographic evidence that Exeter was painted in an overall grey at the end of her refit at Devonport in March 1941, most obviously in the Admiralty photographs now at the Imperial War Museum (e.g. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205137940). The question is what shade of grey that was, which is always difficult to judge from black-and-white photographs.

Simon Butler wrote:

Mal Wright in his book British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII, vol. 3, states that when the Exeter re entered service it was painted mid grey, probably 507b.

I’m a little sceptical that Exeter was in mid grey 507B because it’s now clear that, by the Second World War (and unlike in the First World War), 507B was Home Fleet dark grey and the same shade as 507A, differing only in the amount of enamel in the mix. There’s an excellent article about the shades of grey here: https://navyhistory.org.au/royal-navy-colours-of-world-war-two-the-pattern-507s-g10-and/

My hunch is now that she was painted in Home Fleet dark grey (i.e. 507A/B) at the end of her refit at Devonport. I have now traced Exeter’s movements in 1941. According to uboat.net (https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/1186.html), Exeter visited Calcutta twice, arriving on 19th November and leaving again on the 26th to escort two troop ships, returning on December 3rd and leaving again on the 6th, just hours before the outbreak of war with Japan. So the photo in Robert C. Stern’s Big Gun Battles must have been taken in late November or early December 1941. I suspect Exeter wore Home Fleet dark grey from the completion of her refit and throughout 1941 because I don’t see why she would have been repainted in dark grey after she left home waters.

Given that Exeter was immediately assigned to a succession of convoys after leaving Calcutta, I wonder whether she would have been repainted before she was sunk.

I don’t have Malcolm Wright’s books; I do have most of Alan Raven’s. But, of course, they focus on the ships that were camouflaged, not those that were not! 😉

[AdmiralHawke]

Here is my painted model of HMS Exeter for the Battle of the Java Sea. I went with overall dark grey, 507A, as that seemed the most likely scheme based on the photographic evidence I have seen.

The model is from Tiny Thingamajigs (on Shapeways) and the mat is from Tiny Wargames.

[kyoteblue]

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