HMS Dorsetshire camouflage

[Vlad]

Yes, another County class camo thread, sorry not sorry 😜 I'm not expecting much with this one but may as well ask.

 

I have several times come across this picture of HMS Dorsetshire. I am led to believe it was taken on the 4th of April 1942, which would mean she was wearing this rather striking camouflage scheme as sunk.

 

I have however been unable to find any further information on this scheme, so I leave the floor open to other contributions. Does anyone know more or have other photos/profiles they can share?

 

Edited February 5 by Vlad

[Ships doc]

Not sure about this one! I can't find any other similar photos. Was she being refitted in March? The scheme may only have been on for a few days? I need to do some more reading....

[Vlad]

I have found one more thing on this, a painting incorrectly labelled as HMS Cornwall:

 

"Sinking of HMS Cornwall at The Battle of the Indian Ocean” by Hishiro Kobayakawa 1942

 

 

Who is this Hishiro Kobayakawa and was this really painted in 1942? Could he have been one of the Japanese pilots involved in the attack?

In any case, with nothing else to go on, this would imply hull in 507C with MS1 blocks, B5 patch at the bow, and MS3 superstructure. This is not implausible, in the photo B turret is clearly darker than A turret, the bridge seems to match B turret, and the tip of the bow could be same or another (similar) colour. With B5 having 15% RF and MS3 having 20% this may be close enough.

[dickrd]

I would not take the Kobayakawa painting seriously. He has given Dorsetshire the pre-war full height masts and I suspect the idea of a battle ensign is fanciful. The bridge and the starboard side of B turret was dark-toned.

 

In the original photo you can see that painting is actually in progress on the hull. The aft funnel has been patterned but the the central one not yet. Dark tone has yet to be painted onto the bridge and B turret and the deckhouse below both.

 

The original photo cannot have been taken on 4th April 1942. Dorsetshire was at Colombo that day at that certainly is not Colombo.  If the location of the photo can be confirmed that would help to date it. The photo is normally held to have been taken at Trincomalee. Dorsetshire was there 5th March until probably 22nd March and certainly no later that 25th March. 

 

(And yes she was wearing this scheme as sunk. Japanese photos show enough to confirm this.)

 

 

    

Edited February 9 by dickrd
To remove mention of the port side.

[iang]

I believe that photo was taken at Trincomalee.  I've quite a few photos of Illustrious class carriers in the anchorage that match the topography seen in the Dorsetshire photo.

 

 

[Vlad]

3 hours ago, dickrd said:

I would not take the Kobayakawa painting seriously. He has given Dorsetshire the pre-war full height masts and I suspect the idea of a battle ensign is fanciful. The port side pattern was not a simple mirror image of the starboard side or even similar to it as Kobayakawa has it. The angles/sizes/positions of the camouflage panels was radically different. Also (both sides) the bridge, superstructure and centre and aft funnels carried pattern.

 

In the original photo you can see that painting is actually in progress on the hull. The aft funnel has been patterned but the the central one not yet. Dark tone has yet to be painted onto the bridge and B turret and the deckhouse below both.

 

The original photo cannot have been taken on 4th April 1942. Dorsetshire was at Colombo that day at that certainly is not Colombo.  If the location of the photo can be confirmed that would help to date it. The photo is normally held to have been taken at Trincomalee. Dorsetshire was there 5th March until probably 22nd March and certainly no later that 25th March. 

 

(And yes she was wearing this scheme as sunk. Japanese photos show enough to confirm this.)

 

 

    

 

Thank you! So based on your first paragraph, you own or at least have seen other photos showing the port side and bridge patterns? Or are those assertions based on text research i.e. painting orders?

 

Is there anything you are at liberty to share, at least in sketch form?

[dickrd]

All based on photos.

 

Here is a fairly clear photo of the starboard side. You can see the pattern on the central funnel, the bridge, B turret and the deckhouse below dark. It is interesting how different the tones appear to the original photo: 

 

 

On close examination I have decided that the photo I had which was claimed to show the port side of Dorsetshire in this scheme was misidentified. So this is the best image I have of it:

 

 

From what very little can be seen it hints at the possibility that the port side's pattern could have been a mirror image of the starboard side after all! 

 

 

(To avoid future visitors to this thread being mislead I have edited my previous post to reflect this.)   

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by dickrd

[Vlad]

Fantastic, much appreciated. It also answers another question, whether she still had her catapult and Walrus in this final paint scheme.

 

However, it also raises more questions, since the apparent contrast between the colours and overall tones look completely different to the first picture I posted. This now makes it look like a 2-tone scheme in mid-tones.

[robgizlu]

Vlad - I've followed this with interest.  FWIW Berwick sported a very similar scheme.  I'm sure you are aware of it but if not - https://www.world-war.co.uk/Kent/berwick.php is well worth checking out

 

Is there a build coming?

Rob

[Vlad]

Ah, forgot about Berwick's scheme! There are some mistakes on that site so I'd take it with a grain of salt, but perhaps 507A and 507C are the safest and most generic colour choices for this kind of pattern.

 

And yes, a build is coming. I have been stalking Dorsetshire kits since they are generally out of stock in the UK but I managed to bag one recently. I'm actually in the middle of building Cornwall at the moment so I'll turn it into a side by side build and also comparison of the Trumpeter and Aoshima kits of this class.

[Andy H]

Interesting stuff. I've just bagged a Dorsetshire myself and was set on doing it in a muted Aoshima boxtop scheme, having seen it in a Pathe newsreel 'After the Bismarck' on YouTube.