In this Staff Report, Why are red lights used in darkened control rooms and other low-light situations?, the questioner stated:
The reply didn’t address this aspect of the question, but actual submarine control rooms really are either “rigged for red” for at least 30 minutes prior to ascending to periscope depth at night, or the Officer of the Deck (OOD) wears wraparound red “sunglasses” to accomplish the same thing. Prior to beginning the ascent, the control room is “rigged for black,” and the only illumination in the room comes from low-intensity red light from the various gages, controls, and indicators in the room. This is to further assist the OOD in seeing out the periscope, and also prevents light from the control room from being visible at the surface through the periscope optics.
The new Virginia-class subs have non-optical electronic periscopes, I understand, so this may change in the future.
P.S. The lights on my 1992 BMW 235is, BTW, were more orange than red.