Why are all ships painted........

[Kmot]

......primer red on the bottom of the hull up to the water line? Okay, I can figure it is "anti-fouling" or something for barnacles. But after 100 years or so, why only primer red? Has no one figured out a different pigment?

[CG Bob]

A major producer of anti-fouling paint, Devoe (http://www.cgedwards.com/ameron/abc3.html) lists black, blue, and red anti-fouling paint. Some WWII U.S. fleet subs were painted in an overall dull black paint scheme, including the hull below the surfaced water line. German u-boats (http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/index.html) of WWII rarely had primer red anti fouling paint; they were painted dark gray below the waterline. The classic Chris Crafts and Lymans had a copper-bronze anti fouling paint on the bottom; it had that copper penny look. A lot of cruise ships use blue anti fouling. The red anti fouling tends to blend in with (HIDE) the rust spots.

[RGinCanada]

Blue anti fouling on the Canadian post-TRUMP Tribal class destroyers...

[MikDee]

Hey Tom, Are you referring to big ships, or just boats in general?,,, Nowadays there's a few colors available for personal pleasure craft. I have a funny personal story from years ago about this. Let me know if you want to hear it.

[Kmot]

Well, I'll be darned!! :eek:

I was looking at photos of ships on that ship spotters site and every one of them it seemed had the red anti-fouling paint and it occured to me that was all there was. I am happy to learn otherwise!

RG, blue is one of my favorite colors and I love that blue anti-fouling on the Canadian ship.

Bob, as always thanks for your expertise and I was hoping you would respond.

Mike, come on now man! Don't tease us like that! Give up the story. ;)

[Kmot]

Upon doing a little googling, I found this:

http://www.eboatworks.com/pettit_vivid_bottom_paint.htm

Sure is good to know!

[Ghost 2501]

at the end of the day, its below the waterline, so i think the therory is, if it aint gonna be seen then why bother with fancy colours

[Ledbetter]

If your ship goes belly-up, wouldn't you rather have a color that didn't blend in with the ocean so you could be seen and rescued?

[Ghost 2501]

If your ship goes belly-up, wouldn't you rather have a color that didn't blend in with the ocean so you could be seen and rescued?

very, VERY probably, in that case, why have the RCN gone for a blue anti foul?

[CG Bob]

It is extremely rare for a ship to go belly up like the SS POSEIDEN - unless it is a self righting lifeboat. Almost all of thhe lifesaving equipment is International Orange in color. Liferaft cannisters are designed to float off a sinking ship, or be shoved overboard by the crew or passengers.

In the case of the RCN Frigate with blue anti fouling, it may have been suggested (to the elected officials) as a means of camoflage - to confuse enemy divers trying to attach Limpet mines.

[Ghost 2501]

GC, to capsize an ocean liner, like you say is rare, no. its practically impossible to flip one over, the Oriana was hit broadside by a massive wave, and she stayed right way up, just had a few windows put through

[Kmot]

at the end of the day, its below the waterline, so i think the therory is, if it aint gonna be seen then why bother with fancy colours
Ah yes, this may be very true for your full size 1:1 scale ships. But for your boat models, you now have an option! ;)

And besides, looking at pics of ships in rough seas well you sure do see the anti-fouling paint well enough as it plunges up and down in those massive seas. :D

[MikDee]

Ok Tom, This is the second time I wrote this, my server went down earlier today, and I lost it all,,, I was really ticked, it took the wind outta my sails!,,, Anyway, When I was about 14 My Father bought a clean used 16' Thompson with a 30hp Evinrude, we proceeded to clean it up, and paint the bottom red, not sure if it was "red lead"? But, it was that color, we moored it in a slip off the Great South Bay on Long Island, and after about 1 month of ocassional use, it became slower, & slower?,,, finally it almost wouldn't plane off? expecting it was engine problems, until I accidently noticed some barnacles on a spot on the bottom, we took the boat out noticed the bottom was covered with barnacles, & weed, so we turned it over & scraped it all off, and inquired & learned about "copperbottom paint", only found one place that had it, and it was expensive at the time, the late 50's at $7.50 a quart. It was a copper color with bits of copper in it, so we put it on, and dropped the boat back in the slip, in 2 weeks the bottom of the boat turned light green (copper patina) and the boat ran great, never had a problem again! So, now whenever I see a pic of an old mahogany runabout, with a light green bottom, I get excited, & nostalgic. Back then there wasn't much color selection on the bottom paints, like there is with today's antifouling products. I really wonder if it is "red lead" that was used as antifouling bottom paint on the big ships in the past? I've had a few boats over the years, usually I trailer them so don't bother to paint the bottom.

[Ghost 2501]

Ah yes, this may be very true for your full size 1:1 scale ships. But for your boat models, you now have an option! ;)

And besides, looking at pics of ships in rough seas well you sure do see the anti-fouling paint well enough as it plunges up and down in those massive seas. :D

Kmot, even gemini and southampton are red below the waterline, (looks scale), however, the Najade is a planing hull, so the underside is the same silver as the main body. Redcloud is black, though she may become matt grey with cammo pattern to really break up her lines,

[Kmot]

Mike, thanks for the story. Boy you really explained something! I have seen pics of pleasure boats that looked like they had a greenish bottom and I now know why!