Haze Gray and Under Way?

Factual Questions
1

Midtown Manhattan is awash in sailors today, which led me into the following enigma:

ChiefScott has used the phrase in the subject line at least twice here…ths first time, it named the thread he started when his current mission got going, and I assumed it meant “The boat is moving! The fumes belching from the mighty smokestacks are making the very sky itself gray and hazy!”

Then a few days ago, some newbie asked the Chief whether he was Navy or Coast Guard, and he used the phrase as shorthand for “I’m a proud member of the United States Navy, numb-nuts, and here’s a smack in the chops with my white linen full-dress glove for connecting my good name with the U.S. Coast Guard in any way.”

Okay, so what the heck DOES “Haze gray and under way” mean, and from whence did it come? It’s not a line from “Anchors Away,” is it?

– Ukulele “Yes, I know that contemporary aircraft carriers do not in fact have smokestacks” Ike

2

Ike, you’re my best buddy in the whole tri-state metropolitan area, so you know I don’t mean to beat up on you but… “from whence” is an improper English construction; just use “whence,” and drop the “from.”

It’s just one of my pet peeves, that’s all.

3

paint color

4

The “haze gray” could refer to the gray color of US Navy battleships. I assume that may be some sort of camoflage color.

5

I should know this, coming from a Navy family… but I don’t! I’m guessing “haze grey” comes from the colour of the ships.

Under way means that you are in motion. (Incidentally, I believe it’s “Anchors Aweigh”, as in “to weigh (or raise) anchor”.)

6

Uke, as others have pointed out navy ships are gray. ChiefScott’s response was quite appropriate as Coast Guard ships are bright white with a red/orange stripe, far too festive for the navy.

FWIW Mike the navy no longer has any active battleships. That’s not a generic term but a very specific class of warship.

7

In case anyone is interested, here are they lyrics to Anchors Aweigh:

Original Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Stand Navy down the field, sails set to the sky.
We’ll never change our course, so Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink the Army, sink the Army Grey.

[Verse 2]
Get underway, Navy, Decks cleared for the fray,
We’ll hoist true Navy Blue So Army down your Grey-y-y-y.
Full speed ahead, Navy; Army heave to,
Furl Black and Grey and Gold and hoist the Navy, hoist the Navy Blue

[Verse 3]
Blue of the Seven Seas; Gold of God’s great sun
Let these our colors be Till all of time be done-n-n-ne,
By Severn shore we learn Navy’s stern call:
Faith, courage, service true With honor over, honor over all.

Revised Lyrics
by George D. Lottman
It is Verse 2 that is most widely sung.

[Verse 1]
Stand, Navy, out to sea, Fight our battle cry;
We’ll never change our course, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

[Verse 2]
Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home.

8

"Midtown Manhattan is awash in sailors today . . . "

I’ll see you guys later—I’m off to entertain the troops!

9

Okay, so there aren’t any active “battleships.” I’ll buy that.

But you mean to tell me that they retired the color “battleship gray” too? Now it’s “haze gray”?

Or was there never really such an official Uncle Sam annointed color as “battleship gray” and the term was invented by us civilians playing fast and loose with paint labels?

10

It’s the same color. The name was changed to protect the innocent. Seriously, the name change took place around 1960, about the time the last battleship was decommisioned(for the first time).

11

I’d just like to point out that officially, at least, there’s still one battleship commissioned in the U. S. Navy. The USS Arizona was never formally decommissioned, and enough of the mast still protrudes from Pearl Harbor that they can still hoist the colors daily. True, it’s not exactly “active”, but then, neither is the Constitution.

12

Haze grey could be the color of the sky right before the sun comes out. The phrase could have something to do with shipping out first thing in the morning.

13

There is haze gray for hulls and deck gray for weather decks. I was on carriers though so all the decks were in dark gray non-skid.

If there was a special battleship gray there would have to be special shades for light cruisers, guided missle frigates, landing ships (dock) and landing ships (tank) etc., etc. Sorry, everyone gets the same color. There’s no going down to Home Depot to have the decorating consultant mix a special shade.

14

There was a submarine in WWII that needed to be painted, but the only paint available was red and white. Someone mixed the paint together and they ended up painting the submarine PINK!!!

:smiley: (Just being a smartass.)

15

Yep, it’s from the color of the ships. BTW, it was interesting to learn of the original lyrics to * Anchors Aweigh*. In Navy boot camp, at Great Lakes, every time your company marched under a certain bridge you had to sing the song at the top of your lungs. IIRC the lyrics went like this:
Anchors aweigh, my boys, anchors aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night ashore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet again, Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home.

16

The newest carriers are are all nook-yoo-ler powered but the navy still has a few oil burners in the fleet, the Constellation and JFK among them. BTW it’s a funnel, buildings and trucks have smokestacks.

The only time the funnel would make much visible smoke is when blowing the tubes, cleaning off the crud from the boiler tubes. Thick, black sulphurous smoke would belch out and if the bridge had not judged the wind correctly the corrosive smoke would wash over all the airplanes which had to be immediately washed.

17

Looks like every other Navy veteran has weighed (get it? Anchors Aweigh::weighed) in on this thread, so I guess now it’s my turn.

Coast Guard cutters are indeed white with a red stripe down the side. Furthermore, the USCG belongs not to the Department of Defense, like the other military services, but to the Department of Transportation.

However, in the event of a declared war, the Coast Guard reverts to the DoD and becomes a Corps within the Navy, just like the Nurse Corps, Supply Corps or the Marine Corps (heh heh…I love saying that in front of Marines).

In such a time, Coast Guard ships fall under Naval control and yes, they’re all repainted haze grey. The last time this happened was World War II.

18

Five:

What a truly fact-olicious post! I must have said, “Really!?” three times. It’s obscure but fascinating information like that that gives trivia a good name.

19

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Five *
**

Marines prefer looking through the binoculars the right way. The Navy is the designated transportation/support system for the Marine Corps. We do not care to hear any other view of reality.

20

Trivia? TRIVIA??? This is KNOWLEDGE! We’re in a war against ignorance here!

From whence did this shameful belittling of important topics come?

Thanks to everyone for the fascinating facts from whence your store of information, and especially for gently correcting me on stacks/funnels, away/aweigh, etc.