Italian Naval Camouflage of World War II
by Marco Ghiglino


 Reviewed by Martin J Quinn
January 2019
Seaforth Publishing, a division of Pen & Sword Books, has released a book by Marco Ghiglino, Italian Naval Camouflage of World War II.  This hardbound edition is 240 pages, and focuses mostly on the surface warships of the Regia Marina.
Marco Ghiglino, who is an officer in the Italian merchant marine, has authored a new book on Italian Naval camouflage during the Second World War.   The author was influenced by the work done in Bagnasco and Brescia's 2006 book, La Mimetizzazione delle Navi Italiane 1940-1945.    Using new information and photographs, this book builds upon that work to produce the most up to date information Italian Naval camouflage in World War II.   Unlike that earlier book, this one is (thankfully) published in English. 

The book includes over 700 profiles of Italian naval vessels, showing the different camouflage schemes worn during World War II.   There are many photographs to correspond to the drawings, as well as original Italian Naval design drawings of various ships.  Some of these drawings are painted in the actual paints used on the real ship. 
 

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The book is broken down into twelve chapters.   The first eleven chapters describe how the Regia Marina transitioned from a peacetime grey to a variety of colors and patterns, once the need for camouflage was realized, and then the evolution of those colors and patterns.  The last "chapter" contains the ship profiles, and is broken down into eleven subsections, covering everything from battleships and cruisers to auxiliary vessels and armament.

Chapters:

  1. Introduction (including subsections on peacetime colors and aerial markings)
  2. The Early Period And the Experimental Phase
  3. Standard Camouflage Schemes
  4. Evolution and Exemptions
  5. The Dark Grey Factor
  6. Submarines (including subsections on Experimentation and Mediterranean Submarines and Atlantic Submarines)
  7. MAS, Motor Torpedo Boats and VAS
  8. Other Warships
  9. The Greek Theatre
  10. Merchant Ships
  11. The Armistice (including subsections on vessels serving under the German flag, remaining in Italian hands, or employed by the Allies)
  12. Ship Profiles
The profiles are all very well done, and show both the port and starboard patterns, when there is a difference between the pattern on the two sides of the ship.  Many ships carried different camouflage patterns, and those are reflected in the book.   Also listed by each drawing is the scale of that drawing, which is a very helpful feature for modelers. 
CONCLUSIONS
I have been fascinated with naval camouflage since as long as I can recall.  That interest only increased after purchasing Tony Gibbons "The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships" in the early 1980's.  That fascination has carried over into scale modeling, where the selection of many of the models I've built or purchased to build are driven by the camouflage carried by a particular vessel. 

Among some of the best looking camouflage schemes were those carried by the warships of the Italian Navy.   If you are a scale modeler, or just interested in naval camouflage, especially the ships of the Regia Marina, you are going to want this book, with its plethora of high quality drawings. 

This is Italian Naval Camouflage of World War II, written by Marco Ghiglino.  Published by Pen & Sword Books ISBN 978-1-52673539-3.  The retail price is $69.00 USD, and it is available directly of from Pen & Sword Books, or various online booksellers. 

Thanks to Pen & Sword books for the review sample.   Highly recommended. 
 


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