
Fascinating photographs of warfare at sea during the Second World War have been after expertly colorized for the first time.

Among the most dramatic images is a photo of the stricken aircraft carrier USS Franklin after it was damaged by Japanese bombers in the South Pacific in 1945.

Another shows sailors firing 40mm anti-aircraft guns aboard the USS Hornet in a desperate attempt to fight off Japanese planes.

And the collection of photos also shows the catastrophic explosion of the HMS Barham after it was attacked by a German U boat in the Mediterranean in 1941. 862 men died.

Aircraft carrier USS Franklin after being attacked by Japanese aircraft during World War II, March 19, 1945. She was badly damaged with the loss of over 800 crew but stayed afloat becoming the most heavily damaged United States carrier to survive the war

The magazine of British battleship HMS Barham exploding after being hit by torpedoes from at German U-boat in the Mediterranean in 1941. A total of 862 men died when the ship was sunk.

A bomber banks away after dropping its load on a Japanese submarine chaser off Kavieng, Papua New Guinea . In January 1942, during World War Kavieng came under a massive aerial bombardment by Japanese forces.

Smoke billowing from battleship USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbour after the US Pacific fleet came under surprise attack by the Japanese

The USS Shaw exploding during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour, an event that led to the United States entering WWI. The Shaw sustained major damage from several bomb hits by Japanese forces during the attack

Ssailors of the USS Mason commissioned at Boston Navy Yard on 20 March 1944 proudly look over their ship which was the first to have predominately African-American crew. Mason was one of two US Navy ships with largely African-American crews in World War II, the other being a submarine chaser

Other striking shots show Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on D-Day, Coast Guardsmen from the cutter USCGC Spencer picking up survivors from the U-Boat U-175 just before it made its final dive and US Army troops examining a one-man submarine that washed up on Anzio beachhead in Italy.

The black and white photographs were painstakingly colourised by design engineer Paul Reynolds, 55, from Birmingham, in the U.K.

'I mostly colourise war photos because each photo usually has a story to tell, stories of real everyday people,' he said.

USS Missouri unleashing its awesome firepower in the South Pacific. 'Big Mo' was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II

A funeral taking place on a United States Coast Guard vessel at sea during the Second World War. In total the US Navy lost 34,507 men during the conflict

HMS Belfast is bound in ice while serving on an Arctic Convoy delivering vital supplies to the Soviet Union 1943. In the Arctic the weather was arguably a greater threat than the Germans, and the special Arctic clothing issued was barely adequate

The crew of the cruiser HMS Sheffield facing a huge wave also while serving as an escort for the Arctic Convoys. By 1942 the Arctic Convoy route to Russia via Iceland had become one of the great naval battlegrounds of the Second World War

US Army troops examine a one-man submarine that washed up on Anzio beachhead in Italy during World War II. The one man submarines were also known as human torpedoes and were used by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine between 1943 and 1945.

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Spencer dropping depth charges. At the outbreak of WWII, coast guard vessels served under US Navy command. During the Battle of Atlantic she acted as a convoy escort, hunting German U-boats, and was responsible for sinking U-175 in 1943.

Coast Guardsmen from the cutter USCGC Spencer picking up survivors from the U-Boat U-175 (left) while right the submarine is pictured just before it sank. The boat undertook three war patrols during which she sank ten merchant ships before being sunk

A U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter makes condensation rings as it awaits the take-off flag aboard USS Yorktown in November 1943. The Hellcat was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second half of the Pacific War and redited with destroying a total of 5,223 enemy aircraft

US army soldiers cross the Rhine at Saint Goar, in March 1945 (left) while the 17th Regimental Combat Team Lands on Carlos Island, in the Pacific, in January 1944.

Sailors with heads clipped in bizarre designs during Neptune party aboard the USS Saratoga February 1944 to mark the ship cross the Equator. According to the US Naval Institute: the ceremony, one of the oldest customs at sea, is a rite of passage for seamen alike who have never before crossed the equator and involves a number 'boisterous ceremonies'

The crew of fire 40mm guns firing aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Hornet in February 1945, as the planes of Task Force 58 were raiding Tokyo. Task Force 58 was the long-range naval striking arm of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the offensive against Japan in World War II. It became the major weapon system in the wartime and postwar U.S. Navy, replacing the battleship.

The unusual French submarine 'Surcouf', which in its day was the largest of its kind. Surcouf was supposed to be the first of a series of the submarine cruisers but it was the only one produced.The boat was lost during in February, possibly after a night time collision with an American freighter.

German battleship Bismark as seen from her sister ship Prinz Eugen in May 1941. In her first engagement with the Royal Navy, the Bismarck sank HMS Hood, after which she was relentlessly pursued until she was eventually sunk by war by British warplanes and ships

The German submarine UC-61 after being beached. The boat was commissioned in 1939 and was scuttled at the end of the war

Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The landing at Omaha ran into difficulty from the outset as engineers struggled to clear obstacles and surviving troops on the beach struggled to make headway. Eventually survivors making improvised assault took the beach

An officer on the battleship USS South Dakota, which in active service from 1942 until 1947. During World War II, the battleship first served a tour in the Pacific theater, where it fought in two battles in 1942

'I think when it comes to colorizing many artists concentrate on the land war, but I like to try and cover all aspects of the war; land, air and sea.

'Adding color to maritime photos makes the content of the photo stand out from the usual grayscale background.

'My personal favorite photo from this set is the ice covered convoy ship. The convoys were the lifeblood of Britain during WWII and their bravery and hardships are mostly forgotten and rarely portrayed in historical films or texts.

'By colourising them I hope it helps for people to remember contribution these sailors made to war effort were every bit as important as the fighting forces.'

Pictures like these form part of a new book on iconic colourised photographs called Retrographic by author Michael D. Carroll.

The book is currently available to buy on Amazon for £16.85.