Review by Felix Bustelo

The use of camouflage by the Royal Navy became widespread in the latter part of World War II with almost every type of vessel having some form of camouflage. Alan Raven has spent nearly 35 years researching and documenting Royal Navy camouflage using a variety of sources. The Warship Perspectives title Camouflage Volume Three: Royal Navy 1943-1944 is the third of four proposed volumes that will be the end result of his efforts. Over 90% of the material presented in this volume have never been published before and so far the entire series provides a wealth of information for modelers of World War II Royal Navy ships.

This soft cover 56-page book is crammed with over 180 original pieces of artwork and 1 photos depicting camouflage pattern used on various ships during this time period. For the ships that had different schemes on port and starboard sides, images are provided for both when the information was available. An eight- page section in the middle of the book contains 32 schemes in color and thee additional color images appear on the front and back covers. When possible, dates when the schemes were utilized are provided as well as the colors used on horizontal surfaces.

This volume follows the same well thought out layout found in the preceding titles. A brief discussion of the different design classes prevalent during the period of the War is provided. The book covers Emergency Fleet Schemes for Destroyers, Coastal Forces Camouflage, Admiralty Disruptive Designs, Dark Hull Light Upperworks Type and some Unofficial Designs.

While the majority of the subjects are cruisers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes there is an ample amount of images of battleships and aircraft carriers. Special attention is given to small coastal forces subjects and U.S. built escort carriers in Royal Navy service. As in the previous volumes, certain schemes really jump out such as the deck camouflage scheme worn by the HMS Victorious when she served with the American Navy in the Pacific Ocean. The book also contains addenda for Volumes 1 and 2 as new information had come to light since the original publication dates

This book, and really the entire series, is an excellent resource for modelers wishing to build Royal Navy World War Two ship models. I am looking forward to the fourth and final volumes that will complete this set because together they will are one of the more valuable references in my library. My thanks go to WR Press for providing this review sample.