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    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945
    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945
    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945
    Ebook176 pages40 minutes

    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945

    By Eric Leon and John Asmussen

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    About this ebook

    Second in “the most complete and authoritative set of books ever written on the color schemes used by the Kriegsmarine throughout World War II” (Great Models).

    This book completes a highly original and superbly illustrated two-volume survey of German naval camouflage and markings in the Nazi era. On first publication in 2012, the 1939-1941 volume was quickly recognized by warship enthusiasts and modelmakers as a major step forward in the understanding of a complex and much debated topic. It is already considered the standard reference, and this second volume is keenly awaited.

    Although a few crucial documents have recently come to light, this study is largely based on close scrutiny of all available photos, including many newly discovered, collated with the first-hand testimony of Kriegsmarine survivors. After decades of study, the authors are probably the world’s leading experts, and their work challenges many accepted views, while greatly expanding the general understanding of the subject. The fruits of their labors are presented in the form of exquisite color illustrations of every scheme and variation for which evidence is available. This volume covers all major surviving ships down to destroyers from 1942 to the end of the war, and adds a new section on torpedo boats.

    While there can never be a last word on such an elusive and poorly documented subject, these two volumes will remain the most authoritative work in the field for many years to come.

    “Impressive, wonderful and indispensable for both historians and modelers or naval wargamers.” —Miniaturas JM
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateSep 30, 2016
    ISBN9781526709844
    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945

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    • 5/5
      a fantastic book - just what the modelers needed. Goes through every photograph, year by year.

    Book preview

    German Naval Camouflage, 1942–1945 - Eric Leon

    Preface

    The origins of this book and its predecessor date back to 2007 when John and I met to discuss what I naively thought to be a fairly straightforward research and illustration project. John is the most thorough and methodical naval researcher I’ve met, and I should have paid more attention to his warning to me when he said in his thick Danish accent: ‘Don’t be frustrated, my friend. Remember that these ships are never done relinquishing their secrets.’ It seemed hard to believe. The Second World War ended just decades ago – the blink of an eye as history goes. By the time we started researching Volume 1, John’s sound advice resonated as we realized how severely misinformed the subject area was.

    It was our impression that as official interest waned and the years elapsed, authors relied more and more on speculation and secondary sources with no positive verification. The result was an undisciplined and variously sourced salad of degenerative misinformation.

    And so a decision was made to start from scratch and, save for very few exceptions (mentioned below), the state of affairs demanded that primary sources be sought and employed as much as possible.

    As the project progressed we were fortunate enough to recruit Randy Short as part of the support team. He then also made a remark that was initially rebuffed but eventually proved vital. He advised: ‘Gents, at some point, you have to go with it.’ The comment referred to something we later dubbed ‘paralysis by analysis’. The process of primary research, with new findings bubbling up every week over the net, archives and other sources, made us realize that even Volume 2 would be a ‘work in progress’ document in our ongoing search for information. But milestones must be set and books must be published, so that they may serve future authors, and encourage others to improve historical understanding for generations to come.

    Eric Leon

    June 2014

    Scharnhorst in Langfjord, summer 1943. See page 46 for colour scheme.

    Introduction

    A member of the German Propagandakompanie films history in the making on the forecastle of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst during Operation Cerberus. The Channel Dash is copiously documented, but even this footage must be studied carefully, as German war correspondents cut and censored freely. The famous Wochenschau newsreel footage of the operation, for example, contains film shot previously onboard ships that were not even present during the operation. In fact, the authors have learnt to doubly scrutinize captioned photos by the Propagandakompanie, who were, after all, notorious ‘editors’ of the facts.

    That said, when properly analyzed and catalogued, the footage they produced was very useful to our research. In this photo, for example, there is a wealth of data regarding just how sloppy the upperworks paint job on Scharnhorst was: one can see that light grey was covered by slapdash layers of dark grey, only to then get an even sloppier mottling of light grey. Note the different (light blue) colour outlines of the secondary 150mm turret top and how the inboard face of this turret has no mottling over the original light grey.

    Sources

    Sources for this work are of two main types: primary and secondary. Most of what is shown in the illustrations derives from the former, while secondary information was used for more ‘tangential’ data, such as ship’s configurations, modifications and so on.

    Primary data

    This breaks down as follows:

    1: Photographic data

    The backbone of this research is in the form of a thorough, methodical collection of photographs provided by John. This was supplemented by additional rare photos provided by others involved in the project, including dozens of enthusiasts around the globe. These files had to be patiently catalogued, and to do this properly a decision was made to challenge other authors’ work and not just to accept published data. To understand the scope of the project, our photo collection for Scharnhorst alone included no less than 743 items. The labour of diligently cataloguing logs and credible secondary data shed light on just how inaccurately many photos are often captioned.

    2: Documents

    After the general disorder created in the aftermath of the Second World War, much of the documentary record was dispersed between the Allies, hastily buried by the new German government, or simply lost. Yet data regarding shipments of paint from a factory to a port, or orders to paint turret tops in one colour or another, still exists, and John has done a monumental job of doggedly hunting, collecting and filing such documents, even at great personal expense.

    Then there is much publicly available information in the form of intelligence reports from prisoners of war (for example, Scharnhorst’s survivors), debriefs and the experiences of participants and eyewitnesses.

    On the official level, Korvettenkapitän Walther Dechend was tasked with cataloguing and researching naval camouflage. His reports on his study of the effectiveness of camouflage and his recommendations proved most useful.

    Whenever possible, ship’s plans were sourced from original blueprints. This proved challenging, so some secondary sources were employed, as stipulated below.

    3: Anecdotal

    One of the blessings of the timing of this book is the priceless contribution made by old hands. These men proved for the most part very willing to contribute in the interest of historical truth, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have lived in a time when so many of them are still with us to share their knowledge and experiences, some of which contrasts starkly with more formal sources! Also in pen and ink are contemporary notes jotted directly onto photos. These proved a good source of primary data, even when these writers were often anonymous.

    4: Physical

    Little is left

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