Camouflage Painting of USS Fort Worth Completed

The camouflage painting of USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) was completed at Naval Base San Diego graving dock June 28.

Workers applied a paint scheme that differs from that used on Fort Worth’s sister ship USS Freedom (LCS 1).

Freedom was painted earlier this year using a pattern based on a World War II-era design prior to her current deployment to Singapore.

“For a commanding officer of the Navy’s newest class ship, seeing Fort Worth with her new paint scheme is gratifying and exciting,” said Cmdr. Hank Kim, commanding officer of Fort Worth. “Fort Worth is proud to be part of those evolutionary – and revolutionary – concepts that bring LCS closer to full fleet integration. The crew is ready to return to sea and put the paint design to the test.”

The paints used are currently within the Navy’s supply system. Fort Worth’s paint job cost an estimated $1.41 million, compared to the cost for painting Freedom, which was $1.64 million.

The paint design for Fort Worth includes dark shaded paints nearer the waterline of the ship to contrast against the sea surface, and gets progressively lighter further up the ship and above the water’s surface to contrast against the area of sky just above horizon. The camouflage paint also uses contrasting angles and slopes to make the ship more difficult to detect visually. Additionally, this paint scheme is designed to be simpler in construct than the paint scheme used on Freedom, easier to apply, and visually appealing.

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Press Release, July 1, 2013; Image: US Navy