Painted Desert (Arizona) Painted Desert (Arizona) The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed in the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors, that not only include the more common red rock, but even shades of lavender. The Painted Desert was named by an expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, which
German submarine U-505 one botched patrol her crew found a sign painted in the docking area reading: ""U-505"s Hunting Ground". At a time when many U-boats were being sunk, "U-505"s commander, "Kptlt." Zschech, overheard another U-boat commander joke, "There is one commander who will always come back ... Zschech." After ten months in Lorient, "U-505" departed for her tenth Atlantic patrol, seeking to break her run of bad luck and bad morale. On 24 October 1943, not long after crossing the Bay of Biscay, "U-505" was spotted by British destroyers east of the Azores and was forced to submerge and endure a severe