Ну вот например источник из 1920-го года: https://archive.org/details/yankeeingenuity00stocgoog/page/n340/mode/2up/search/camouflage "At first the ship - camouflage problem appeared to be merely one of visibility. When the ships of the American navy were first painted the color now every where known as "battleship gray", at the time of the Spanish War, that was in a true sense camouflage, as this color provides what navy men term low visibility; a gray ship is much less easy to distinguish at a distance than one painted white or black."
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https://archive.org/details/yankeeingenuity00stocgoog/page/n340/mode/2up/search/camouflage
"At first the ship - camouflage problem appeared to be merely one of visibility. When the ships of the American navy were first painted the color now every where known as "battleship gray", at the time of the Spanish War, that was in a true sense camouflage, as this color provides what navy men term low visibility; a gray ship is much less easy to distinguish at a distance than one painted white or black."