Some stuff from the first page:
Arizona didn't have white turret tops; even
this fall of 1940 document called for her to be Red/Red/Red. For what it's worth, Arizona left Puget Sound in the Pre2are #5 Standard Navy Gray and served in that paint up until late May or Early June. She and the rest of the fleet was ordered into Measure 1 much earlier than that, but there were paint production delays. I have a photo showing battleship row in the distance and three of the five battleships (can't make out specific ships) are in Measure 1 whereas the other two are still in prewar gray.
Mediterranean Blue was a term used by Glenn Lane, one of Arizona's aviators; he was describing 5-S Sea Blue but didn't know/remember the official designation. Measure 1 was cancelled by SHIPS-2 Rev 1 and essentially replaced by measure 11. All of the paint schemes in the original SHIPS-2 had featured light gray masts above the stacks, but none of the SHIPS-2 Rev 1 schemes did, even though they were largely refined measures from the original release (Measure 1 - Solid, Measure 11 - Solid, Measure 21 - Solid. Measure 2 - Graded, Measure 12 - Graded, - Measure 22 Graded).
With regards to documentation, I'm pretty sure that some of it (deck logs) went up with the ship. I've been focusing on the "echoes" - orders to other ships or commands that might have mentioned Arizona or effected her. For example, I found
this order in August from Mare Island Navy Yard (responsible for manufacturing paint for the Pacific fleet up until 1943) in the general Mare Island Navy Yard camouflage files. However, there were no requisitions of any sort in those records, so I don't know what sort of follow up there might have been. The Ships actually didn't get their paint from the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard - keep in mind that Pearl Harbor was both a Navy Base and Navy Yard, with separate commands, and that the fleet was still considered forward-based at that time. Most of the ships received their paint from Argonne in some respect, which was the Flagship for
Base Force.
OK, so, a sort of rambling free-floating response to a bunch of stuff above. Sailors statements are often contradictory and wrong. A gentleman named Don Stratton who has an amazing story of survival swears he saw a torpedo hit Arizona, yet no torpedo hole or evidence of a strike was ever found. Others remember details we know didn't exist at that time.... the memories get jumbled with age. Heck, I can't remember when I moved into my current house without having to sit and think about it, so I don't blame them at all for being human.
Your statement "there would be no reason to repaint the ships color scheme since refit," is a little off, as they did repaint ships when new orders came out. Not always immediately, but they got it done either when they were in refit or when they were at anchor for periods of time. Pennsy had more than a couple of refits during the war, and was repainted a few times after the attack on Pearl. Measure 32 was never applied to Pennsylvania (it was a dazzle system and wasn't around until 1943) and
Measure 14 was Ocean gray, and not the Sea Blue that "Mediterranean Blue" is substituted for.
Minor nitpicks, the Washington Naval treaty collapse predated the attack on Pearl Harbor, (North Carolina was commissioned in April of 1941) and the names were still on the stern, just that the metal pieces were painted the same color as the hull so you couldn't make them out unless you were REALLY close.
op:
