Haze gray and underway

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Haze gray and underway is a United States Navy saying that refers to surface ships in arduous duty at sea, in contrast to aircraft carriers or submarines, or naval units in ceremonial roles or in port. It is a term of tribal pride and identification, e.g. surface ship crew use it to distinguish themselves from submarine crew or aircraft carrier crew[1]. It is also the name of a web site with facts about and pictures of naval vessels, founded by Andrew Toppan in 1994.

[edit] United States Navy saying

The United States Navy saying "haze gray and underway" refers firstly to the color "haze gray". Haze gray is a paint color scheme used by some naval vessels to make the ships harder to see[2]. The gray color reduces the contrast of the ships with the horizon, and reduces the vertical patterns in the ship's appearance. It is the color of working Navy ships, as opposed to ceremonial vessels and aircraft, which tend to be in bright colors, or submarines, which are a dark gray or black color. Secondly, "underway" refers to the ship moving through the open ocean, as opposed to being docked.

Thus, "haze gray and underway" is shorthand for naval surface vessels, as opposed to submarines or perhaps aircraft carriers[1], and working vessels as opposed to ceremonial vessels. It is also used to refer to working Navy life in a vessel at sea, as opposed to shore postings[3], [4].

[edit] Naval information web site

Haze Gray & Underway (www.hazegray.org) is the name of a web site which preserves and presents information about naval vessels and naval topics. It was founded by Andrew Toppan in 1994. It "[offers] a wide array of resources related to naval history, current naval affairs, shipbuilding, maritime history, and naval and maritime photography." As of 2006 it claims to have "over 14,000 files, among them over 3,000 images"[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b McKellar, Bob (1996). Re: Haze gray and underway. sci.military.naval. Retrieved on 2006-04-29. '"Haze gray and underway" is a [sic] expression to denote the "REAL" Navy, related to "Sailors belong on ships, and ships belong at sea". Real ships are long and pointy, stay on top of the water, and don't allow airplanes to play on the roof!'
  2. ^ Pike, John (2005). Paint. GlobalSecurity.org :: Military :: Systems :: Ships :: Equipment ::. Retrieved on 2006-04-29.
  3. ^ prwam (2005). Re: Kolja's Prowler. FineScale.com Forums. finescale.com. Retrieved on 2006-04-29. "...it sure beat being haze gray and underway."
  4. ^ Phillip "Ed", Fix (2005). Ed's Enlistment into the Navy. Student Writing. University of Maryland University College Asia. Retrieved on 2006-04-29. '...it’s easier to do four to six haze gray and underway than five to ten [in prison] with a roommate that introduces you to the guys as my “bitch”.'
  5. ^ Toppan, Andrew (2003). "About Our Site". hazegray.org web site. Retrieved on 2006-04-29.
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