Mountbatten pink
Encyclopedia
Mountbatten Pink, also called Plymouth Pink, is a naval
camouflage
colour
, a shade of grayish mauve
, invented by Louis Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy
in autumn 1940 during World War II
.
Mountbatten was escorting a convoy
and noted that one ship in the group vanished from view much earlier than the remainder, a Union Castle liner that was still painted in its pre-war medium lavender
mauve
grey
hull colour. Mountbatten became so convinced of this pigment's efficacy as a camouflage during the dawn and dusk periods, before the sun was visible but was near enough to the horizon to tint the sky this shade of pink, that he had all of the destroyer
s of his flotilla (the 5th flotilla) painted with a similar pigment, a medium grey (507B) with a small amount of Venetian Red
mixed in. By early 1941 several other ship captains began using the same camouflage, though no formal testing was done to determine how well it worked.
One of the anecdotal and possibly apocryphal tales told in support of Mountbatten Pink was the story of the cruiser HMS Kenya (nicknamed "The Pink Lady" at the time due to her Mountbatten Pink paint), which during Operation Archery
covered a commando raid against installations on Vågsøy Island
off the Norwegian
coast. The Germans fired on the Kenya for several minutes with coastal guns but she sustained only minor damage from near misses. This was attributed to her Mountbatten Pink camouflage blending in with the pink marker dye the Germans were using in their shells, preventing German spotters from distinguishing between shell splashes and the ship.
A later refinement of the basic Mountbatten Pink camouflage was the use of a slightly lighter tone of the same colour for the upper structures of the ship. By the end of 1942, however, all vessels of destroyer size and larger had dispensed with Mountbatten Pink, although it is believed that smaller vessels retained this colour until well into 1944. The primary problem with Mountbatten pink was that it stood out around midday, when the sky was no longer pink, and the traditional battleship grey was much less visible.
This colour was also used by the British Special Air Service
on their long wheel base Land Rover
s during desert operations and nicknamed 'pinkies'.
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
colour
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
, a shade of grayish mauve
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
, invented by Louis Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in autumn 1940 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Mountbatten was escorting a convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
and noted that one ship in the group vanished from view much earlier than the remainder, a Union Castle liner that was still painted in its pre-war medium lavender
Lavender
The lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
mauve
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
grey
Grey
Grey or gray is an achromatic or neutral color.Complementary colors are defined to mix to grey, either additively or subtractively, and many color models place complements opposite each other in a color wheel. To produce grey in RGB displays, the R, G, and B primary light sources are combined in...
hull colour. Mountbatten became so convinced of this pigment's efficacy as a camouflage during the dawn and dusk periods, before the sun was visible but was near enough to the horizon to tint the sky this shade of pink, that he had all of the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s of his flotilla (the 5th flotilla) painted with a similar pigment, a medium grey (507B) with a small amount of Venetian Red
Venetian red
Venetian red is a light and warm pigment that is a darker shade of scarlet, derived from nearly pure ferric oxide of the hematite type. Modern versions are frequently made with synthetic red iron oxide.-Venetian red:...
mixed in. By early 1941 several other ship captains began using the same camouflage, though no formal testing was done to determine how well it worked.
One of the anecdotal and possibly apocryphal tales told in support of Mountbatten Pink was the story of the cruiser HMS Kenya (nicknamed "The Pink Lady" at the time due to her Mountbatten Pink paint), which during Operation Archery
Operation Archery
Operation Archery, also known as the Vaagso Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on Vaagso Island , Norway, on 27 December 1941....
covered a commando raid against installations on Vågsøy Island
Vågsøy
Vågsøy is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality's administrative center is the town Måløy. Vågsøy is also the name of the main island in the municipality with an area of...
off the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
coast. The Germans fired on the Kenya for several minutes with coastal guns but she sustained only minor damage from near misses. This was attributed to her Mountbatten Pink camouflage blending in with the pink marker dye the Germans were using in their shells, preventing German spotters from distinguishing between shell splashes and the ship.
A later refinement of the basic Mountbatten Pink camouflage was the use of a slightly lighter tone of the same colour for the upper structures of the ship. By the end of 1942, however, all vessels of destroyer size and larger had dispensed with Mountbatten Pink, although it is believed that smaller vessels retained this colour until well into 1944. The primary problem with Mountbatten pink was that it stood out around midday, when the sky was no longer pink, and the traditional battleship grey was much less visible.
This colour was also used by the British Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
on their long wheel base Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
s during desert operations and nicknamed 'pinkies'.