Submarine Camouflage Schemes

Submarine Camouflage Schemes

In the summer of 1999 Trafalgar Class submarine HMS Trenchant (S91) was spotted leaving Devonport sporting a blue camouflage scheme. A Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesman revealed :

"We are conducting ‘visual signature’ trails in the water...we are basically challenging the view that submarines should always be black...we always think of submarines as black, but there are historical precedents."

During the Cold War British nuclear submarines operated mainly in the deep, dark water of the North Atlantic. But since the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of communism they have found themselves working in different environments, such as the Arabian Gulf or Mediterranean. Camouflage is more of an issue in these shallower and clearer waters.

Modern nuclear submarines are built to be undetectable: to counter radar and sonar they are designed for silent running and are equipped with ultra-quiet propulsion, while their casings are covered with anehoic (noise reducing) trials which absorb, rather than reflect, radar. As a result they have little fear of being detected electronically and in the few cases in which they are spotted, it is usually physically- by satellites, aircraft or from other ships. The Ministry of Defence hope that a colour scheme of blue patches will help to break up the outline of the submarine when it is near the surface or operating in shallow seas.

Above: HMS Trenchant (S91) leaves Devonport sporting her new paint scheme, escorted by the tug Faithful. © Crown Copyright.

Trenchant had two shades of blue paint applied directly to her acoustic tiles, despite fears that this would effect their absorption properties. Embarking on a deployment in August 1999, she underwent a series of recognition trials. On completion of the evaluation, Trenchant entered a refit at Rosyth which saw her restored to her standard appearance. The results of the study were passed on to DERA- the Defence Research Evaluation Agency. If successful further trials involving a range of different colour schemes could be carried out in different waters. It is understood that DERA are also considering coating submarines with a "shimmering" substance in order to reduce the chances of them being spotted by the naked eye.

But submarine camouflage is not a new phenomenon. During the Second World War (1939-1945) the standard camouflage scheme for British submarines operating in the Mediterranean was light and dark green and some were even painted pink. Also, submarines operating in Gulf waters have displayed a brown "khaki" paint scheme

In 1979 the patrol submarine HMS Porpoise (S01) assumed the role of underwater weapons target. Her casing, ballast tanks and vents were strengthened so that unarmed torpedoes could be fired at her without fatal effect. However after decommissioning in 1982, it was decided Porpoise would be used for trials of the Spearfish torpedo and for this role she was painted bright red.

Above: HMS Porpoise (S01) in her orange/red paint shceme. Thanks to Andrew Cashmore for allowing me to use this photograph.

Of course camouflage is most important in wartime. In April 1991 two Oberon Class Patrol submarines- HMS Opossum (S19) and HMS Otus (S18) - were seen returning to HMS Dolphin, Gosport painted shades of black and duck egg blue. This, together with the flying of the Jolly Roger flag, implied they had seen action in the Persian Gulf War. Although no official statement was ever given it was likely that they were involved in the landing of special forces in the war zone.

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