British ships painted gray in 1903

I have some Symonds photographs that show definitively that the British navy was painting ships gray in 1903, prior to Admiral Fisher becoming First Sea Lord. The pictures that I have show the 1st Class Cruiser Spartiate, the fast armoured cruiser Good Hope, the battleship Mars with funnel stripes, and the battleship Russell. In the set, there is also a fascinating photograph of the old cruiser Mersey, launched in 1885. That ship is still painted up in the Victorian livery.