Shipbucket

In 1943-44 all cruisers were using the measure 32 in one form, or another, usually class specific.

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/usn_ca.htm

It all depended on the area of operations. Measure 31/32/33 were primarily anti-submarine measures, intended to disguise speed/range/course from a periscope observer. Measure 21 (all Navy Blue) was designed to conceal against aerial observation. Measure 22 (graded system) was to confuse surface observation of range and was applied primarily to shore bombardment ships in 1945.

The disruptive patterns disappear almost entirely by 1945, given the almost complete eradication of the U-boat threat in the Atlantic as well as the near-complete destruction of the Jap submarine fleet in the Pacific. The emphasis changed to avoiding aerial visual detection by kamikazes and throwing off the aim of shore battery gunners during NGFS off Iwo Jima, Okinawa, etc - as such nearly the entire fleet was repainted into Measure 21 or 22 depending on expected threat.

_________________
USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

About the Pensacola class itself... I wonder why US navy did not armed it with 4 triple-gunned turrets. Theoretically it would give more firepower among with only slight increase of displacement.

_________________
«A sea is not a barrier, a sea is a road, and those who try to use the sea as an instrument of isolation soon realize their foe has already put the sea into his own service.». - Alfred Thayer Mahan.

Probably treaty weight limits, but I don't know the exact answer. I'll check Friedman's Cruisers when I get home from the office.

edit: Also, destroyers were named for people. Cruisers were named for American cities, so "USS Taylor" would likely be a DD and not a CA. Call it the USS Springfield or something.

_________________
USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

The cruiser was given ten guns to give her potent firepower, whilst still conforming to the treaty. She also had destroyer level armor, to lessen weight, and increase speed. Her unusual arrangement, triple superfiring over the twins were to give the hull finer lines to increase speed. This, however, made her quiet top heavy, which is why the rest of the cruisers had a raised forecastle deck, and three triple turrets, on larger hulls.

Measure 21 was most common in 1942, on all types of ships. Almost all cruisers and battleships recieved the measures 31-33 in 43 and 44.

From reading the cruiser pages on the ShipCamouflage website, it looks like a pretty even split between the disruptive measures and measure 21/22 in 1943/1944. But this isn't the place for that discussion. Doesn't matter anyway.

_________________
USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

I changed the name to USS Springfield. I'll be doing some more paint schemes in the near future.

_________________