Why Are Military Submarines Typically Painted Black?

In films, video games and, of course, in real life, you have surely already seen military submarines with your own eyes or in pictures. Mastodons of the seas and yet particularly discreet since it is very difficult to spot them by sound, they all have, more or less, a common characteristic. Their coating is black. For what ?

Black is excellent camouflage

The answer was quite simple, we grant you that. However, you should know that this was not always the case. Indeed, during the Second World War, submarines were not black, but rather gray. The reason for this is that it allowed good surface camouflage in fog.

However, a boat-sized gray spot in the middle of the water was easily identifiable and spotted by air forces. The choice of black for the submarines was therefore predominant. A color that blends better than gray on the surface, but also underwater.

Indeed, even if the sea appears blue to us, the deeper we go, the darker it becomes. What better way to go unnoticed, even just below the surface, and be just a shadow to the eyes of scouts from the air.

There are submarines of other colors

Even though black has become predominant for the vast majority of armed forces around the world, it is not necessarily suitable in certain cases.

This can be observed in particular in North Korea where certain buildings are green in color because of the waters bordering part of the country which take on this color because of a high concentration of plankton.

In fact, the top of certain submarines, often old buildings, are green in color to prevent a huge black spot from being easily spotted from the air.

Of course, the Navy attached to the North Korean dictatorship also has black submarines, like the others.