I have not been here for awhile, but I couldn’t find any info on this. What color were Essex class aircraft carrier hangar decks? I’m not talking about surrounding bulkheads, I’m talking about the deck itself. I’m thinking possibly a medium gray with a dark gray interior surface (to simulate non-skid). Am I close?
Thanks.
General agreement is just that, a medium gray.
Now, there are those who will suggest Deck Gray, and many contemporary photos certainly are that dark. Now, those photos are also coping with the contrast of the flat white interior bulkhead and overhead paint, too. So your mileage may vary.
Deck Blue is supposed to be on the decks to the outboard faces of the bulkheads and hangar doors. Supposed to be. Not a lot of photographs to point either way (and the Deck Gray is going to be as dark as Deck Blue in b/w photographs).
Mind, per the painting regulations, places in “permament shadow” like the undersides of overhanging deck elements, were meant to be painted white, to “countershade” them. About zero photographs depicting that, though. (Which is still odd for ships in Measures 11 or 21 the two Overall Blue schemes.)
They were Standard Navy Deck Gray, #20. The same as the pre-war color.
The OP didn’t specify era. I would think that would matter.
Bill