Originally Posted by
Mike71
I believe in those days, the edge lights and "runway end lights" were white. The ramp has always been red.
In 1980 (or around), the Navy did a big study of Carrier lighting, mostly because of the KENNEDY/BELKAP collision, caused partly by confusion caused by Carrier night lighting. This needed to be done in order to officially state the Navy's position regarding standard Carrier lighting as part of the "International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea" (COLREGS). Carriers had been justifiably criticized for non-standard, frequently changing lighting arrangements for many years - both by maritime trade around the world and within the surface Navy itself.
Today, deck edges are blue as best I recall, they have the "NIMITZ Crash pole" forward of the island with a masthead running light (white) and SOX / white flood lights to illuminate the bow in case of fire. This study also prioritized SOX lighting for all Carriers as a must-have priority. SOX lighting was on a couple of ships at the time, but the priority greatly improved the situation - at the expense of some other matters, of course; it always happens that way in the budget world.
My last tours included Carrier program management both in NAVSEA and the on the OPNAV staff in the Pentagon. I still have headaches from juggling budgets, changing minds in DoD and Congress, and a list of other PITA's too long to mention. The best part, believe it or not, was working with the Office of Naval Reactors. They were consistent, realistic, swung a big hammer of influence in the Navy and Congress, and would fully support you if you were on their team.
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