NAVAL COLOUR SCHEMES?
For its Books, Boxes and Lists + civilian use of similar titles
Nothing to do with this story [really!] but do you know what the most used word in the navy is/was?
List, is the answer, and not just paper lists, but the proverbial list of ship just prior to it plunging into the merky depths!
The vast majority of these lists are not colour coded, or associated with colour unless on the Sick Bay List one considers being "off colour" or "yellow fever jabs". On the Punishment List one might consider a "green rub"; on the clacker-basher's list [the Menu List] things like "yellow peril" = smoked haddock, and I am sure that you can think of other examples as a play-on-words.
At all times in the Service, colours per se, have hindered peoples aspirations and ambitions. Many an excellent candidate was denied access to certain branches because of colour blindness [a man thing not occurring in women] or impaired vision requiring the use of spectacles, who subsequently went on to choose a non-Service career. Some disappointed recruits, hell bent on becoming a Royal Sailor, chose one of the many branches open to them which did not require 20-20 vision or colour awareness. Colour awareness and 20-20 vision were prerequisites for the executive branches [seamen; radar; communications; sonar and gunnery] and for air crew, but few others, although the seaman branches [the executive navy] formed the bulk of the navy in personnel terms.
This subject would have had no influence on the criteria used to assess a persons eyesight requirements, for not only colours proper were used, but also the names of the colours were shown in print. Anybody qualified in the handling of these documents used them as intended, and never an incident occurred due to eyesight problems.
So, what colours were used?
One of the earliest colours used was BLACK, but not the proverbial 'black box' of modern times, which incidentally was always called the 'red box' liberally fitted in flying machines in the 1950's**, but a BLACK BOOK! Note the date...way back in the 15th century! Really, all to do with Admiralty [naval] courts. The references [in this case HCA 12] are National Archives @ Kew references.
**
The BLACK BOOK OF THE ADMIRALTY
...Admiralty: Black Book of the Admiralty. The
Liber Niger Admiralitatis , or Black Book of the Admiralty, is an illuminated
manual of instruction for the Lord High Admiral. It contains details on the
appointment and ...
In court terms, BLACK was always associated with death
Perhaps the best known BLACK is a Black List which is universally accepted as a list of baddies.
The Admiralty Black List:-
ADMIRALTY
...Black List': printed copy of list corrected to
31 May 1916 and additional lists of names added to the list from 19 June to 6
July 1916. Original Correspondence From: War Trade Department. Folio(s): 92-199.
...
started at the time of the WW1 Battle of Jutland, was a list of merchant ships known to be supplying our enemies, [in WW1 known as the "Central Powers" and in WW2 known as the "Axis Forces"] in WW1 Germany, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria, and in WW2 Germany, Italy and Japan. Here is another Black List entry:-
BLACK LISTS
...Black List: war trade reporting: trading with
the enemy: patents held in enemy-occupied territory: war trade lists: debts to
and from Norway: Black List policy in South America. Code 49 file 3 (papers 5616
- 6607). ...
After 'black list' in terms of common use, comes the proverbial BLACK BOX now in the 21st century, fitted in military and commercial aircraft as well as into trains and buses etc. When fitted in aircraft it is called a 'flight recorder'. Everybody knows what it is used for and fears an event which would necessitate its analysis when taken from the air vehicle in which they had been either crew or paying passenger.
BLACK it is the only colour which had a BOOK, LIST and BOX application.
There is a civilian BLACK BOX Company, well known in the computing world http://www.blackbox.com/ and in this context, worth a mention!
The accepted opposite of black is WHITE, but in this case, the Admiralty managed a LIST only, but two of them, extant at different time periods.
The first Admiralty WHITE LIST juxtaposed with their Black List, and was a list of international shipping companies who were used and trusted to be on our side in WW1.
This is a typical entry:-
Colonies, General: Original Correspondence.
Correspondence, Original - Secretary of State. Trading with the enemy in China
and Siam: copies of 'white lists' of approved firms. Original Correspondence
From: Foreign Office. Folio(s): 87-116.
At the bottom of this page, I will quickly return to the colour BLACK?
Still in WW1, in the middle, the merchant ships who were double-dealing with both our enemies and ourselves, were placed on a GREY LIST. Grey is an intermediate color between black and white. Grey is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is a color "without color." However, come WW2, the GREY LISTS were all to do with post war Economic Warfare [i.e., what to do with a defeated Germany]. They cover food, oil and many other subjects, and here are just two examples:-
...Grey List [intelligence targets prepared by CIPC], dated 1944 - 1945. Control Commission correspondence about the inclusion of libraries on the CIOS [Combined Intelligence Objective Sub-Committee] Grey List and post-defeat planning for Germany, dated March 1945. ...
Ministry of Economic Warfare, and Foreign Office, Economic Warfare Department: Files concerning Intelligence Objectives Sub-committee. Oil Working Party: Grey List.
The second use of the Admiralty's WHITE LIST was of a more interesting and fulfilling venture. It was [and may still be - it was extant when I left the navy in 1983] extant throughout my naval career and it covered the whole topic of victuals [including rum] and their wholesale costs, with a suggested retail value on sale to ships pursers/victuallers/caterers. The Admiralty had worked out the cost of a typical meal served to the lower deck, which was multiplied by the number of crew victualled and the times the meal was to be served. This gave an indication as to the cost allocated to the ship to be spent on victuals, some of which were paper-purchased from naval victualling yards world wide, or from ships chandlers* as cash-purchases or contract-purchases, giving to the victualler [in the case of a submarine for example, to the first lieutenant and the coxswain] a freedom to spend on feeding the crew from non-Service providers as and when available. However, woe betide a victualler who over-spent to give the crew a 'treat', for his spending would need to be reigned in at a subsequent acquisition. The white list feeds [fed] the navy, and it serves [served] as a gigantic shopping-list with costs known and fixed.
* 1972 - You may well remember the case of corrupt naval caterers and their dealing with Portsmouth suppliers [chandlers].
Obviously, the navy did not cater for all victualling requirements [taken as a whole, things that would appear on a family shopping list, like nutty and toothpaste for example] and the NAAFI filled in the gaps to supply the fleet. They were subjected to the constraints of the WHITE LIST, and what follows is the text of an AFO [AFO 5080/1943] updated by a Victualling Regulation, namely V.2/4684/45 - 9 Aug 1945. Note the reference to the "Naval Canteen Service" which predated the appointment of a NAAFI Manager [cruelly nick named the 'Damager'] to a ship or establishment. Naval personnel ran the Naval Canteen Service who were directly responsible to the Executive Officer/First Lieutenant, processing the profits made through the ship's welfare fund. When the fund-coffer was bursting at the seams, treats from the White List could be purchased, often referred to as "steak night" and this led to the introduction of 9-o'clockers, a supper treat for the lower deck, who pro rata spent more in the Canteen than did the Wardroom.
4411.—N.A.A.F.I. Price Lists (V.2/4684/45.—9
Aug. 1945.)
The following
explanation of the application of Naval Canteen Service prices and price lists
in H.M. ships and establishments abroad is promulgated for information.
2. The
quarterly “ White List ” of the Naval Canteen Service is the standard price list for
provisions, groceries and sundries of the normal kinds provided by N.A.A.F.I. for
sale in H.M. ships and naval establishments at home and abroad, except as
indicated in paragraph 7 for shore establishments abroad. The prices in this list are
based on retail prices in the U.K., but duty-free prices are quoted for use where
applicable.
3. Under war
conditions it is not practicable to replenish stocks in all canteens in H.M. ships
and overseas establishments from the U.K., and it has been necessary to obtain
supplies direct from other sources, e.g. North America, Australia and South Africa.
Practically all these supplies differ in brand, quality and pack from those
normally obtained in the U.K., and the prices quoted in the “ White List ” cannot
therefore be applied. Local price lists have accordingly been introduced
showing the prices of articles obtained from overseas’ markets which are not
identical with those quoted in the “ White List ” Different price lists for these articles
are at present in use on different stations, owing to local variations in the cost of
supplies, and this has been found to cause inconvenience and misunderstanding. In order to
overcome these drawbacks, a universal supplementary “ White List ”
is being introduced which will show prices for the main items obtained from
sources other than the U.K. which are stocked by N.A.A.F.I. in naval canteens
afloat and ashore abroad and which are not identical with the articles shown
in the ordinary “ White List ” .
4. The range
and origin of stocks held by N.A.A.F.I. on stations abroad of articles
obtained from sources other than the U.K. generally varies according to the producing
country handiest for the particular station. Thus, in certain areas stocks will be
largely of North American origin, whilst in other areas they will be mainly of
Australian origin. The full range of articles shown in the new supplementary “ White List ”
is therefore unlikely to be available in any one area, but wherever the
articles are stocked the prices shown in the list will apply.
5. Except as
indicated in paragraph 7 commodities obtained from overseas sources which
are identical with items in the ordinary “ White List ” are sold at the prices shown in that list. A large number of items will, therefore, continue to be available at
ordinary “ White List ” prices.
6. The prices
in the supplementary list will in some instances be higher and in others lower than the prices of corresponding items in the main “ White List ”, but, taken
overall, and having regard to differences in packs and quality, this will not result in
any appreciable variation in either messing costs or individual expenditure.
7. The prices
charged for supplies to individuals in canteens conducted by N.A.A.F.I. in
shore establishments abroad which are outside the physical limits of the dockyard
or Customs area of the port are normally those applying locally for supplies
made by N.A.A.F.I. to the Army and Air Force. In certain of these canteens it has
been the practice for a considerable period to make sales at “ White List ” prices.
Nothing in this A.F.O. is to be regarded as affecting the practice of charging “
White List ” (including supplementary “ White List ” ) prices at the particular
canteens concerned. All general mess supplies, however, are charged for at “ White
List ” prices or “ Supplementary White List ” prices as appropriate
8. The prices
for local fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables, are fixed locally by the
responsible Area or District Manager of the Naval Canteen Service.
(A.F.O. 5080/43, Section I.)
Although in no particular order , next comes PINK.
Pink list
...Lists showing stations and movements of Allied
and Royal Naval Ships (Pink Lists). The pink lists were printed at regular
intervals, usually 3 or 4 days, showing the locations and movements of Royal
Navy ...
and
...list of names and addresses of air stations for inclusion in "pink" list: difficulty of finding "name" ships for naval air stations. ...
and
...Pink List, recommendations of sub committee on manning, various proposals, arrangements, etc. ...
Naval pink was also used for the abuse of alcohol [see my page
http://www.godfreydykes.info/ALCOHOL_WAS_A_SERIOUS_PROBLEM_IN_THE_NAVY_OF_THE_1970s.htm and also, though
not truly navy, pink gin. Pink was also associated with some aspects or morale
and discipline which were extremely sensitive and promulgated to very senior
officers and commanding officers [notwithstanding rank] of all vessels and
establishments. They were not seen or distributed like AFOs/DCIs for example,
but the purport of the communiqué was made known at clear lower deck assemblies
and also at divisional meetings.
See also this page for more definitions of pink
http://www.godfreydykes.info/COLOURS%20Sir%20-%20%20Not%20the%20Ceremony%20but%20the%20Spectrum.htm.
The Independent on Sunday's Pink List 2013
Sunday 13 October
2013
When the first
Pink List was published in 2000, it was essentially a list of 50 influential
people who were brave enough to be “out”. This year we received more than 1,300
nominations and had to reduce thousands of potential contenders to just 101. The
judges decided that a Pink List contender can no longer simply be lesbian, gay,
bisexual or transgender and famous. They need to make a difference. This year,
some Pink List regulars have graduated into a “we’ll always love you” list of their own, and we’ve
given
politicos
their own space, too. That leaves room for more new
faces, more change and more debate. This has been the year of equal marriage,
but also the year when trans people finally began to glimpse the sort of respect
and equality that gay people can, at last, expect. We hope the list
reflects that. Let us know what you think on Twitter at
#PinkList2013, or write to
sundayletters@independent.co.uk
BLUE LISTS
...Lists of Ships Built (Blue Lists). The blue
lists were printed at intervals varying from one to three months. They listed
the ships being built for the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies including ...
RED LISTS
ADMIRALTY
...Lists of Minor War Vessels (Red Lists). The
red lists were printed at regular intervals, usually weekly They listed all the
minor war vessels in home waters under commands and included the vessels of ...
RED INK REPORT [knows as a Red-Inker]
For outstanding ratings.
A routine report written on a
S264A in Red Ink and signed by the DO and the CO. Having a red-inker had several
advantages where lists could be circumvented to accelerate the recipient to the
top, like professional advancement course, roster adjustments for favourable
drafting, accelerated promotions to higher rate, acceptance for prestige jobs
like royal yacht service, shortening of provisional time before confirmation in
a rate and several other advantages. It stayed on record for the ratings entire
service thereafter. In many cases, subject to all other whole-man criteria being
acceptable, it often led to CW1A papers being started on the man leading to a
commission or a warrant rank [prior to 1949]. Note, CW stands for Commissioned and Warrant.
Associated with the CW1A was form S264C which was a report called forward
by the Admiralty/MOD[N] when promotion boards were promulgated.
RED INK ADVERSE REPORT [A stain
on a man’s record which stayed on his record but which could be rendered null
and void if the man rectified his ‘problem’ subsequently by the time of his next
routine report].
Written
by the DO on an S264A and signed by the CO. It was written in blue ink
and then underlined in red ink. It told of the man’s severe and unacceptable
short coming, which in the considered opinion of the CO and DO could be
corrected if the man could work hard at resolving his ‘problems’.
It had an adverse affect in that in the short to medium term thereafter,
any mitigation for defaulting acts contrary to QR and AI’s could be discounted
resulting in the man being punished more harshly than otherwise might have been.
It also made the man vulnerable to punishments like second class for leave or
even to disrating if the man held a substantive rate.
Above all else, it was quite natural for
certain members of the ship’s company to see him as a ‘bad egg' or
'a rotten
apple’
GREEN LISTS
...Lists of Landing Ships, Crafts and Barges
(Green List). The green lists were printed weekly listing landing ships, craft
and barges in home waters and foreign stations under commands. They also showed
the present ...
Although there is a mention of GREEN CHITS [associated with Pink Chits]
it is not the case, and for Green Chits one should always refer to the
GREEN
BOOK. The Green Book was a guide to practices which could lead a man to be
committed to RVH Netley to “dry out” for either alcoholic abuse or drug abuse.
In short, by the time a man’s personal abuse of himself had become of
extreme concern to discipline {CO} and to the medical world {MO}, the Green Book
was a catalyst for him being discharged ‘medically unfit’ or an ‘Administrative
Discharge’ or a ‘Discharge Shore’ but rarely discharged ‘SNLR’ [Services No
Longer Required] unless the person is unruly or undisciplined. In the 21st
century RN, there is an
Alcohol and Substance Misuse Education Policy
which is laid down in BR3 Naval Personnel
Management.
GREEN Armed Forces. These are either Friendly or even neutral,
but not an enemy Forces.
ORANGE LIST
Government Code and Cypher School: German Police
Section: Decrypts of German Police Communications during Second World War.
Translations of GP Orange messages with Orange callsign list.
Remember BLUE and ORANGE
Forces in a major exercise?
BLUE Forces were the 'goodies'
and ORANGE Forces were the 'baddies'. In the on-going and long lasting Cold War,
'baddies' were of course 'goodies' masquerading as Soviet Block units.
Whilst live firings took place
during these exercises, there was little chance or a real blue-on-blue tragedy
as sadly occurs in a real hot war situation.
Blue and Orange Forces in exercises is a product of the 1960's, when colours
were looked upon as complementary. Complementary colors are pairs of
colors which, when combined in the right proportions, produce white or black.
When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast and reinforce
each other. Complementary colours are used on our roads [motorways mainly] where
the police/ambulance/fire services have blue and the supporting vehicle have
orange flashing lights. It is said that "yellow 'demands'
violet; orange blue; purple green; and vice
versa". Before the modern thinking of the 1960's, BLACK and WHITE, signified
'baddies' and 'goodies' although today, one has to be careful and aware of the
sensitivities of such a statement. Although not written down as a fact, it is
obvious why the authorities wanted to change from black/white to two different
colours. In this cutting from the Times newspaper of 1951 in less fraught times,
we can see an exercise where opposing forces are considered to be either black
or white. A little later on in 1952, the opposing exercise Forces were known as
RED and BLUE. See article below "Attacks on NATO Convoys.
Though indirectly for the navy
Ministry of Home Security: Air Raid Precautions (ARP GEN) Registered files. AIR RAIDS, "Purple" air raid warning list: revision; inclusion of fire force establishments.
The colours used on this page for Lists have been
BLACK - WHITE - RED - GREEN - BLUE - ORANGE - PURPLE - PINK, which are either primary colours or complementary colours. Others exist but are derivatives from these colours. The colour Purple does affect the royal navy when applied to PURPLE AIRSPACE. Purple Airspace restricts the movements of aircraft when aircraft carrying members of the royal family are airborne and flying from point to point within the UK.
Before I leave you, two more things. There is no department which transcended the Visual Signalling Branch [the Buntings] for colours, for they of course have many different flags and pennants of varying shapes and colours. These are listed and each has a stores items number assigned to it. These date back to well before the Napoleonic Wars, and these beautifully drawn coloured images are kept for posterity at the National Archives. The one Nelson would have known well and used, dates from 1795, ten years before the Battle of Trafalgar. If appears in my search envelope as:-
Admiralty: Miscellanea. Manuscript list of
numerical signals, with coloured drawings of flags.
Colonies, General: Original Correspondence.
Correspondence, Original - Secretary of State. Remittances sent by 'coloured'
ratings on HM ships to their relatives; includes a list of addresses of colonial
paying officers. Original Correspondence From: Admiralty. Folio(s): 174-181.
'Coloured' men in the navy [those mentioned above, as well as those domiciled in the UK on joining] in the early years of the 20th century were largely treated well and encouraged to study and to seek promotion. Other non-coloured personnel who had joined the R.N., from more sophisticated counties and usually of caucation origin, with suitable backgrounds and qualifications, had infinitely better opportunities and chances of getting ahead in the R.N., than did a coloured person, even with comparable qualifications. Very much in my time in the Service, a coloured person could [and did] climb the ladder of the lower deck to the non-commissioned warrant officer level, some being commissioned on merit into the wardroom [officers mess] as Warrant Officers, which became Branch Officers, which became Special Duties Officers [SD's], with the Supplementary List [SL] Officers open for coloureds for rotary wing helicopter pilots/helicopter air crew short service commissions. However, the top echelon of the wardroom belonged to a List called the General List [GL] and any very bright non-coloured officer could migrate from the SD and SL to the GL, but relatively few made the grade, such was the elitism of the Dartmouth trained officer on entering the navy. Young ratings, called Upper Yardsmen, could also gain direct access to Dartmouth from the lower deck qualifying as GL officers. To a rating on the lower deck an officer was an officer, but in the wardroom, the GL's were the high achievers, top guns, and superior. They went on to command at every level, with just a few vessels of the smallest size and highly specialised roles [diving support vessels for example] which could be commanded by senior SD officers. It wasn't until 1964 that coloured men could get to be GL Officers:-
Admiralty, and Ministry of Defence, Navy
Department: Correspondence and Papers. FINAL SERIES: 1952-1964 (plus strays
1903-1951). Papers registered in 1964 (excluding honours and awards papers).
Entry of coloured candidates to General List.
I left the navy in 1983 and I can honestly tell you that I can remember just one officer, who was an SD [Communicator] and a Cape Coloured! The current First Sea Lord, Admiral George Michael (Sir George) Zambellas, a one time Fleet Air Arm helicopter pilot, was just a young lieutenant when I left the navy after a 30 year career, and joined the R.N., in the same month/year as I was leading the coffin bearers in Westminster Abbey for the murdered Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten during his London Ceremonial Royal Funeral i.e., in September 1979.
There are quite a few other stories on the issue of 'colour' but I will leave them all aside and bid you
Farewell.