Why is the boat dark grey on the inside?

jerm138 · 02-26-10, 01:32 PM

While the OP may sound nitpicky, I'm glad he at least brought it up and that someone else posted pictures. I had no idea that they were painted white, and it does look quite different.

On my boat the only place that was painted white was the Reactor Compartment. It was REALLY bright in there! I could see that being a nightmare for filmmakers. Plus a dark boat does give a much more claustrophobic feel, which is one of the best things about Das Boot.

I don't care much about what interior color they choose as long as it's not Sea Foam Green. That color makes me want to vomit.

A little side story about the white paint in our Reactor Compartment (RC): One day during a long underway when everybody is bored out of their mind and has run out of stories to tell, one of the mechanics came up to me and said he had a "secret" to show me. Knowing what a dangerous situation that could be on a sub, I hesitantly followed him to the aft bulkhead of the RC where we had a small periscope-like window that allowed us to look into the sealed compartment. Right in front of the view is a Steam Generator (basically a big boiler tank, also painted white). He told me to stay there and keep looking as he walked away. Expecting something horrible to happen to me, I kept my guard up as I alternated between looking through the window, and looking over my shoulder. While looking through the window, the lights went off in the RC as he flipped a breaker. The view went pitch black except for huge glow-in-the-dark letters painted on the side of the Steam Generator that said "FTN." (for those that don't know... FTN stands for "F--- The Navy", even though we often insisted that it meant "Fully Trained Nuke.") I'm not sure if upper command ever found out about it because the glow-paint is clear when the lights are on and the only way to see it is to know the secret.

02-26-10, 01:32 PM	#10
jerm138 Watch Officer Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 332 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	While the OP may sound nitpicky, I'm glad he at least brought it up and that someone else posted pictures. I had no idea that they were painted white, and it does look quite different. On my boat the only place that was painted white was the Reactor Compartment. It was REALLY bright in there! I could see that being a nightmare for filmmakers. Plus a dark boat does give a much more claustrophobic feel, which is one of the best things about Das Boot. I don't care much about what interior color they choose as long as it's not Sea Foam Green. That color makes me want to vomit. A little side story about the white paint in our Reactor Compartment (RC): One day during a long underway when everybody is bored out of their mind and has run out of stories to tell, one of the mechanics came up to me and said he had a "secret" to show me. Knowing what a dangerous situation that could be on a sub, I hesitantly followed him to the aft bulkhead of the RC where we had a small periscope-like window that allowed us to look into the sealed compartment. Right in front of the view is a Steam Generator (basically a big boiler tank, also painted white). He told me to stay there and keep looking as he walked away. Expecting something horrible to happen to me, I kept my guard up as I alternated between looking through the window, and looking over my shoulder. While looking through the window, the lights went off in the RC as he flipped a breaker. The view went pitch black except for huge glow-in-the-dark letters painted on the side of the Steam Generator that said "FTN." (for those that don't know... FTN stands for "F--- The Navy", even though we often insisted that it meant "Fully Trained Nuke.") I'm not sure if upper command ever found out about it because the glow-paint is clear when the lights are on and the only way to see it is to know the secret. __________________