Best dressed: BFBS Forces News readers vote for HMS Stirling Castle's new paint job

HMS Stirling Castle recently made history by becoming the first Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel in living memory to formally commission as a Royal Navy warship.

With the vessel now fully committed to frontline operations, her crew are considering a new coat of paint to match her new status.

HMS Stirling Castle has been soliciting ideas for a new paint scheme on social media. We took four suggestions and asked the BFBS Forces News YouTube audience which ones they preferred. More than 1,600 of you responded – here are the results...

• Pimp My Ship: Dazzle, dragons and disguise – warships that turned heads with paint
• RFA to HMS: Stirling Castle, the minehunter with countermeasures – and a sauna
• Royal Navy's new mothership for crewless mine warfare starts military trials

The winner

With 60% of the vote, most of our YouTube audience would like HMS Stirling Castle to follow in HMS Spey's footsteps.

The Offshore Patrol Vessel was given a dazzle makeover back in 2021 – a technique that was introduced towards the end of the First World War to thwart enemy efforts to identify a ship's heading and effectively target it with a torpedo.

Second place

Coming in second, with 29% of the vote, was this bold design from the earliest introduction of dazzle paintwork.

The design was invented by Royal Navy officer and artist Norman Wilkinson during the First World War. 

The stark contrasting colours have since been updated for the modern day in shades of grey – which makes the vessel harder to see in foggy or cloudy conditions.

Have your say

While HMS Stirling Castle is not due for her redecoration until next year, she has promised to take the public's view into account.

"The wisdom of crowds deserves respect," the vessel's account wrote on X. "When we do finally paint ship... we will be wearing a scheme informed by your views."