River Gunboats
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Russian Federation
In 2013 the Russian Federation issued a sheet of six stamps commemorating weapons of victory, dated ‘1945’. Two of the set featured river gunboats: the 15r (BKA-75A) and the 20 r (Usyskin). At the same time, a commemorative postcard was issued featuring the gunboat Zhelezniakov.
Sierra Leone
In 1984, as part of a fourteen-stamp set to mark the history of shipping, Sierra Leone issued a 1 Leone stamp of HMS Alecto (SG No 830).
Sudan
In 1901 the Egyptian administration released a series of Postage Due stamps featuring the gunboat El Zaphir, in four colour variations with values of 2m, 4m, 10m and 20m (SG Nos 9, 10, 11 and 8 respectively). The set was reissued in 1948 with a slightly changed Arabic inscription, again the same colours and values (SG Nos 12, 13, 394, 395).
Appendix 2: River Gunboat Camouflage Schemes
Camouflaging a warship is never an easy task. On the open sea, apart from painting the horizontal surfaces in a shade approximating to the expected sea colour, to aid concealment from the air when the vessel is stationary and leaving no wake, there is little that can be done to conceal the profile of a warship. The best one can hope for is to reduce its visibility, as with the Peter Scott Western Approaches camouflage schemes, including counter-shading in white to remove shadows.
Alternatively one can attempt to confuse an enemy observer, either to the size and nature of the vessel or as to its course and speed. The forms of the latter ranged from false bow waves, painting the outline of a smaller vessel such as an escort alongside a larger ship, to completely disrupting the outline with an elaborate dazzle pattern. Certain Great War Royal Navy escort vessels were even deliberately built ‘double-ended’, in order to confuse a submarine commander as to the vessel’s actual direction.
The Confederate ironclad Arkansas was painted by her commander Lieutenant Isaac Newton Brown in a mud-brown colour to better disguise her in the river waters. The poor quality of the paint available to the Confederates meant that after several coats she always reverted to a rust-brown tone. This however was useful in camouflaging her against the red-brown clay cliffs below the batteries at Vicksburg, where Arkansas holed up to defy the Union squadron sent to destroy her. (Photo by William J. Blackmore of COTTAGE INDUSTRY MODELS of his excellent 1/96 scale cutaway model of CSS Arkansas, available from his Website http://cottageindustrymodels.com)
A model of the Austro-Hungarian river monitor Temes, in the Vienna National Museum, showing the khaki yellow paint scheme which was appropriate to the river environment on the Danube and its tributaries. The British ‘Insect’ class gunboats sent to the Danube after the First World War were also painted green.
In riverine warfare the question is simpler, at least during spring and summer. Aerial reconnaissance can reveal the smallest detail from above, so a river gunboat or monitor is impossible to conceal in mid-stream. Tie her up to a river bank, however, cover her in freshly-cut foliage from nearby trees, and one can make her disappear completely.
The use of foliage for camouflage does pose two major problems: If the vessel is moving, all disguise becomes immediately useless; secondly, the use of foliage requires a constant supply of fresh branches to replace those on which the leaves have turned brown. The end effect, however, justifies the means.
Disruptive camouflage patterns aim to break up the silhouette of the vessel and render identification more difficult. They can also be combined with camouflage netting/sheeting and cut foliage to blend in with the river bank.
An American ATC of the Brown Water Navy using almost the same scheme as the Austro-Hungarian monitors, derived from the traditional coastal green used for the early USN destroyers and later the PT-boats. (From a drawing by Windjammer Arts, courtesy of Robert H Stoner)
In this painting, a South Vietnamese 11m FOM inherited from the French Army is depicted at Can Tho in 1966, during a monsoon shower – note the umbrella over the gun tub! Her upperworks are finished in a mottle pattern which would blend in well with the foliage when she was moored up at a river bank. In motion, however, the scheme offers no advantage. Suffice to say that many French Foreign Légionnaires in Indochina were former Wehrmacht and Waffen SS troops, and they would have been familiar with the late-Second World War German uniforms with similar patterns. (Illustration by Don Greer in Riverine, by Jim Mesko)
This Serbian Neštin class is blending in perfectly with the riverside scene. Mainly it is her pennant number which gives her away, and in wartime this could be painted over. (Serbian River Flotilla photo)
If hiding is not possible, then one must confuse an enemy observer. Here the small Austrian patrol boat Oberst Brecht wears a modern version of the old First World War dazzle paint scheme. (Photo by GuentherZ on Wikipedia)
A Russian Schmel class relying as much on disruption as on riverside colours.
A Russian Raptor on the open sea but in a disruptive scheme intended for camouflage in a riverine environment. (Photo courtesy of the builders on pellaship.ru)
The Brazilian gunboat Pampeiro blending in well with the Amazonian jungle, helped by the judicious use of camo nets.
Ukrainian Gyurza class in standard factory camouflage finish. If nothing else, the vessel is extremely attractive. The almost feline camouflage scheme adds to its aggressive appearance.
Modern radar and other detection devices such as heat detectors or infra-red scopes do limit the options for camouflaging riverine craft. Radar, however, can be fooled by clutter from the opposite bank, and heat detectors and infra-red can be countered by careful design. Modern riverine warfare craft are even adopting stealth techniques to disguise their signatures, such as the Colombian PAF III ARC Edic Cristian Reyes Holguin seen above shortly after commissioning. (Photo from Website: http://www.planobrazil.com/especial-emgepronparticipara-do-projeto-de-um-novo-navio-patrulhapara-a-amazonia-em-parceria-com-colombianos-eperuanos/)