370 



COLOR AND LIGHTING 



to 40 percent of incident light. If there are 

 any sizable deck spaces, the reflection factor 

 should be around 20 to 25 percent. To re- 

 duce apparent specular reflection, instru- 

 ment dials should be white with black mark- 

 ings, because the glare image on cover glass 

 will be less annoying and in many cases the 

 visibility of scale markings will be greater. 

 Instrument panels should be hght enough 

 (gray or other color) to avoid sharp contrast 

 with the white dial face. 

 Variety in color of decoration is desir- 

 able. To maintain a pleasing environment 

 and to get pleasing contrasts in decoration, 

 different colors should be used in the same 

 compartment, and still different combina- 

 tions in other compartments. Tints and 

 light grays possess several advantages for 

 decorating submarine compartments: tints 

 (light colors) make a room appear more spa- 

 cious (13), and the ceilings appear higher. 

 Only flat (soft or mat surface) paints should 

 be used to avoid annoying specular reflec- 

 tions. Some of the favored color tints are 

 buff wnth a little umber, ivory, cream, bluish. 

 A good combination is coral and peach. 

 Unfortunately, there are practically no ex- 

 perimental data on pleasingness of tints in 

 large areas (as on a wall) or of combinations 

 of tints. A light gray will probably give a 

 fairly pleasing chromatic contrast with sev- 

 eral tints. 



Light tints, such as ivory, tend to darken 

 after a few^ months in the submarine. Paint 

 laboratories should be given the task to de- 

 termine paints which will keep their bright- 

 ness longer when used in submarines. 



Specific Applications 

 In the above section, consideration was 

 given to principles that can find application 

 in various parts of a submarine. In this sec- 

 tion, attention will be given to additional 

 factors that must be taken into account in 

 specific compartments. 



The Conning Tower 



The conning tower is a rather special situa- 

 tion. While the light on vital instruments 



must be enough for accurate and rapid vi- 

 sion, the eyes of the periscope observer must 

 be adapted for accurate seeing in the hght 

 coming through the periscope, i.e., be 

 adapted to a brightness equal to or slightly 

 less than that outside. At the same time, 

 there should be enough ambient illumination 

 to facihtate moving about safely in the con- 

 ning tower. It is best that no direct hght 

 reach anyone's eyes. Light on vital instru- 

 ments can be controlled direct rays or inter- 

 nal illumination. 



There are indications that illumination 

 need not be as dim as has previously been 

 thought. The study of Verplanck (32) on 

 use of red illumination in the submarine 

 conning tower is pertinent. Speed and ac- 

 curacy of locating a target with a periscope 

 were measured when the conning tower (ex- 

 perimental set-up) was illuminated with two 

 50-watt red steam-tight fixtures and all in- 

 strument fights were on . Illumination varied 

 from .02 to .50 f.c. from one location to 

 another. The target was in a dimly illu- 

 minated skyscape. Observers were just as 

 accurate and just as fast when adapted to the 

 red light as when adapted to darkness. It 

 was concluded that no untoward effects on 

 night vision occur when there is this amount 

 of red light (two fixtures, plus illumi- 

 nated instruments) present. This was true 

 whether the interior of the conning tower 

 was painted black or white. It is pointed 

 out in a footnote, however, that this amount 

 of fight would not be used in a night ap- 

 proach or when a submarine is surfaced at 

 night. 



Fluorescent fixtures that are not shielded 

 from w^orkers' eyes should not be employed 

 in the conning tower. The paint here can 

 be fairly bright, i.e., light grays and pastel 

 colors (see above). 



Maneuvering Room 



There may be some overhead light fixtures 

 for general illumination. These fixtures 

 should be such that the surfaces presented 

 to the eye have low brightness values. Gen- 



