Painting boats whilst at sea
Discussion
.. You can't seem to be able to watch an old film about a navy without seeing a shot of a group of (mostly curmudgeonly) chaps painting the deck or sides. Does it still happen, or has paint technology now moved to the point where this task has been consigned to history (and the movies).
As I understand it the Royal Avy's old Leander Class frigates were heavier at the end of their lives, not just because of modifications but because of paint.
The modern RN tends not to paint ships in the way they did. It's normally left to contactors in the dockyards. If you look at pictures of for example HMS OCEAN you'll see she'll nearly always have one rusty anchor - the one she uses most. I was told once when I was aboard that all that gets sorted at Devonport her base so she ends up looking a bit untidy until she gets home.
The modern RN tends not to paint ships in the way they did. It's normally left to contactors in the dockyards. If you look at pictures of for example HMS OCEAN you'll see she'll nearly always have one rusty anchor - the one she uses most. I was told once when I was aboard that all that gets sorted at Devonport her base so she ends up looking a bit untidy until she gets home.
wildcat45 said:
As I understand it the Royal Avy's old Leander Class frigates were heavier at the end of their lives, not just because of modifications but because of paint.
Not just Leanders, all ships grow in weight during their lives, most of it unattributable to known modifications. It's suspected that additional paint is one of the main contributors. Smaller ships generally see a bigger % increase than larger ships.An estimate of this weight is actually included in the stability calculations from design onwards. Fun fact the growth for QEC was once calculated to be the equivalent of a T45 sat on the flight deck, this may have been a bit of an over estimate
MBBlat said:
Not just Leanders, all ships grow in weight during their lives, most of it unattributable to known modifications. It's suspected that additional paint is one of the main contributors. Smaller ships generally see a bigger % increase than larger ships.
An estimate of this weight is actually included in the stability calculations from design onwards. Fun fact the growth for QEC was once calculated to be the equivalent of a T45 sat on the flight deck, this may have been a bit of an over estimate
I could well imagine the QEC getting bigger or rather heavier over time. The Invincibles did and the Audacious Class Ark Royal certainly did. An estimate of this weight is actually included in the stability calculations from design onwards. Fun fact the growth for QEC was once calculated to be the equivalent of a T45 sat on the flight deck, this may have been a bit of an over estimate
I wonder how much QEs paint weighs?
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