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 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. 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 USN warships to make the ships harder to see clearly.[1][2][3] The gray color reduces the contrast of the ships with the horizon, and reduces the vertical patterns in the ship's appearance.[4] It is the color of USN combatant ships, as opposed to the dark gray or black color submarines, the bright colors of ceremonial vessels and aircraft, or the white of hospital ships.[5][6][7] Secondly, "underway" (etym: from "under weigh") as opposed to being anchored, docked, alongside, moored or otherwise attached to a fixed place.

Thus, "haze gray and underway" is shorthand for naval surface warships at sea. It is also used to refer to life in a vessel at sea with the working Navy, as opposed to shore postings.[8]

[edit] Naval information web site

Haze Gray & Underway (www.hazegray.org) is also 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 well as hosting the master FAQ for the busy newsgroup sci.mil.naval. As of 2006 it claims to have "over 14,000 files, among them over 3,000 images"[9] It is seen as one of the best non-official online sources of naval history available. [10][11][12][13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Naval Sea Systems Command, MIL-DTL-24441/21A(SH) Paint, Epoxy-Polyamide, Haze Gray, Formula 151, Type III 19 May 1999
  2. ^ FED-STD-595 Color Chip 26270
  3. ^ Pike, John (2005). Paint. GlobalSecurity.org :: Military :: Systems :: Ships :: Equipment ::. Retrieved on 2006-04-29.
  4. ^ Williams, David L. Naval Camouflage 1914-1945 2001 ISBN 1-86176-154-6
  5. ^ Grunawalt, Richard J. Hospital Ships in the War On Terror: Sanctuaries or Targets? Naval War College Review page 108. Winter 2005
  6. ^ Military Sealift Command press release
  7. ^ Blue Angels history
  8. ^ Naval Helicopter Association
  9. ^ Toppan, Andrew (2003). "About Our Site". hazegray.org web site. Retrieved on 2006-04-29.
  10. ^ National Geographic Magazine 2002-01-01
  11. ^ The History Highway 3.0: A Guide to Internet Resources By Dennis A. Trinkle, Scott A. Merriman, Published 2002, M.E. Sharpe, page 413, ISBN 0765609037
  12. ^ US Navy Freedom of Information Act website
  13. ^ Library of Congress Research guide