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U 47 Modifications & Colours

The upper hull colour (used upon the conning tower and the upper hull, above the waterline) at the start of U 47’s career was the medium blue-grey Dunkelgrau 51 (RAL7000, nearest FS match FS35237), the most common colour used in the U-boat fleet in early 1939. The division between the Dunkelgrau 51 on the upper hull and conning tower, and the dark grey anti-fouling paint Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau on the lower hull, was slightly lower down during the earliest part of U 47’s career than was the case throughout the rest of the boat’s career.

The upper colour, Dunkelgrau 51 (RAL7000), which was used upon U 47 from its launch on the 29th October 1938 until the summer or autumn of 1940. The dark grey anti-fouling colour, Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau (RAL7016), was used upon the lower hull of U 47 throughout the boat’s career.

Before October 1939

The following modifications were made at some point prior to October 1939:

- a spray deflector was added midway up the front of the conning tower (A1).

- breakwaters were added on each side of the hull casing, outboard of the 88mm deck gun (A2).

- the two red and white emergency rescue buoys were moved inside deck hatches so as to be less obstructive to the crews working on the deck (A3).

- the black patches over the diesel exhaust outlets were painted over with the upper colour, Dunkelgrau 51 (A4).



Pre-war features removed on the 19th August 1939

On the afternoon of the 19th August 1939, just prior to departure on the first war patrol, the pre-war features were all removed:

- the large white 47 was painted over with Dunkelgrau 51 paint (B1).

- the oval bow plates were removed (B2).

- the bronze eagle plaque was removed (B3).

- the identification markings on the lifebelts (B4) and lifebuoys (B5) were painted over.

Late September 1939

U 47 spent the period between the 16th September 1939 and the 2nd October 1939 being overhauled at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft A.G. (hereafter referred to as Germaniawerft) shipyards. The boat was dry-docked between the 26th September and the 28th September.

Before U 47’s departure on the Scapa Flow mission, a temporary drawing mocking the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeared on the tower.

Triumphant return on the 17th October 1939

When U 47 returned from the Scapa Flow on the 17th October 1939, the tower was adorned with the original Bull Of Scapa Flow insignia. See the future “snorting bull” Feature for more details of this famous insignia

When U 47 returned from the Scapa Flow on the 17th October 1939, the tower was adorned with the original Bull Of Scapa Flow insignia. See the future article “snorting bull” for more details of this famous insignia.

Upper hull colours during October 1939

The many photos taken of U 47 during late October 1939 allow us to gain an insight into the state of the paintwork as the U-boat sailed into harbour lock I in Wilhelmshaven on the 17th October. However, it is difficult to determine what the upper colour of U 47 was at this time from these black and white photographs. Some of the photos show the upper colour looking dark, but this could have been caused by poor light conditions being present when the photographs were taken. Conversely, U 47 looks light in other photos, which could be due to the sun shining directly onto the U-boat. One can “prove” that U 47 was medium grey with one set of photos, and “prove” it was light grey with another. One modeller who had seen a limited number of photos of U 47 even thought that the U-boat had been painted black for the Scapa Flow mission!

Notably, in the forty or so photos of U 47 available from October 1939, only a couple show the U-boat looking light in shade. In the majority of photos, U 47’s upper colour looks similar to Dunkelgrau 51. What is required is a photograph showing U 47 next to, or in the vicinity of, a warship or U-boat tender. The Hellgrau 50 superstructures and Dunkelgrau 51 upper hulls of these vessels would provide reference points with which to gauge the colour of U 47’s upper hull and conning tower. Good quality images of the famous photo taken on the 23rd October 1939 of U 47 passing by the battleship Scharnhorst provide us with just such an opportunity. In this photo, U 47 is very similar to the battleship’s Dunkelgrau 51 hull, and much darker than the battleship’s Hellgrau 50 superstructure. The photo of U 47 sailing past the training ship Schleswig-Holstein on the 23rd October 1939 suggests the same.

The famous photo of U 47 sailing in front of the Scharnhorst. The colour of U 47 looks very similar to the Dunkelgrau 51 hull of the warship.
These photos strongly suggest that Dunkelgrau 51 was the paint used upon U 47 in October 1939. What can be certain is that U 47 at this time was darker than the Hellgrau 50 colour that was used on other famous U-boats such as U 99 and U 552.