I was watching “The Caine Mutiny” the other day, and I could not figure something out. I believe it was the scene where the USS Caine was to escort Marine landing craft to the beach head. After the call to General Quarters, the Officers on the bridge (and maybe Sailors, too) painted their faces with some sort of white grease paint.
I’m guessing this is now an antiquated practice, but what was the purpose of the facial grease paint, and is it still employed today?
Can’t find a cite at the moment, but it was common during WWII for personnel in exposed positions to use a kind of paste to protect against flash burns (a particular problem during the height of the kamikaze attacks).
I doubt that it’s still used—I imagine that protective clothing has taken its place—but no doubt a genuine Navy person will be around shortly to fill in the blanks.
IIRC, it was zinc oxide. But the purpose was protection from flash burns.
I recall using a cloth cap for protection from burns when I was assigned to a Repair Locker’s firefighting crew. The cap looked like a ski cap but was white and very thin.
Here is a cite on the subject.
It’s amuses me that the account describes the encouragement of people to get sun tans as partial protection. When I was that age, 21, with red hair and freckles I couldn’t bet a sun tan.