I bought the 1/700 Flyhawk USS Ward (an outstanding kit by the way.) The instructions say to paint in dark gray, which I assume to mean the MS1 scheme. However, http://www.shipcamouflage.com/ shows the ship to be MS1 / MS11, which I assume to mean she started out in MS1 and was changed to MS11 as the year went on. If this is true, she would have likely been painted sea blue by Dec. 7. Before I break out the sea blue paint, does anyone have any more specific info on what her paint scheme was on Dec. 7?

Chuck,

The photos I was able to find appear to show a painted deck which would indicate MS11 on December 7th. MS1 instructions left the wood unpainted. Hope that helps.

Dave

That is useful, Dave. Thanks.

For what it's worth, US Destroyers did not have wood decks.

Ward's exact camouflage on the day of the attack is a bit of a mystery at this point.

Hi Chuck,

Your only reference to anything definitive will be this photo from July 1941:



Which shows Ms. 1 as of July. The only other reference I know of is this photo of the number 3 gun crew taken after the attack:



My opinion is that the hull would be too dark for anything other than very fresh 5-S, which would mean she was still in Ms. 1. but you guess would be as good as mine...

Jon