Haze gray and underway is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

saying that refers to

surface ship Surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels) are a subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons and armed forces. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, subma ...

s in arduous duty at sea, in contrast to submarines or naval units in ceremonial roles or in port. It is a term of

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

pride and identification, ''e.g.'' surface ship crew use it to distinguish themselves from submarine crew.

United States Navy saying

The

saying A saying is any concisely written or spoken expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. Sayings are categorized as follows: * Aphorism: a general, observational truth; "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth". ** Adag ...

"haze gray and underway" refers firstly to the color "haze gray". Haze gray is a paint color scheme used by USN

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

s to make the ships harder to see clearly. The gray color reduces the contrast of the ships with the horizon, and reduces the vertical patterns in the ship's appearance. It is the color of USN combatant and auxiliary surface ships, in contrast to the dark gray or black color of submarines, the bright colors of ceremonial vessels and aircraft, or the white of hospital ships and some U.S. Coast Guard cutters. Secondly, "underway", as opposed to being anchored, docked, alongside, moored, or otherwise attached to a fixed place. Thus, "haze gray and underway" is shorthand for naval surface warships at sea. It is also used to refer to life in a vessel at sea with the working Navy, as opposed to shore postings.

References

{{reflist Military slang and jargon United States Navy traditions