Dazzle camouflage

PT boat in the experimental zebra camouflage used in the the Pacific.

These are two British dazzle-camouflaged ships from World War I. At first glance they may appear to be two photographs of the same ship, partly because of position of course, or even two prints of one photo. On closer look, it becomes apparent that not only are these two distinctly different photographs, the two ships and their camouflage schemes are also different. The one at the top is the SS Empress Russia, while shown below that is the SS Osterley. An original print of the top photograph…

Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle (in the U.S.) or dazzle painting, was a family of ship camouflage used extensively in World War I, and to

Had my hair cut in a tent once, out of boredom, it had rained for three days solid. I’ve had some ‘camp cuts’ in my time, but this was a real camp cut. My virgin hairdresser’s a Forester (he’d just missed the right vocation). Wish we’d videoed it. Not the cut, just an unedited view of the tent - pitched in a meadow full of sheep in need of a sheer - filmed from the outside. The footage would have shown me crawling, disappearing into the tent – longhaired - like a caveman. Then there’d be one…

Unlike a submarine that can lurk beneath the waves, or an artillery tank that can camouflage itself among trees and the surrounding terrain,...

The general goal of camouflage is to be invisible. Back during World War I, however, hundreds of Allied ships went to battle painted in bright geometric designs that were anything but subtle.

Dazzled navy ship diagram

WOP: DAZZLE CAMOUFLAGE

The Situation You’re the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in World War I. Your ships are being sunk at an alarming rate by the devastatingly effective German U-Boat. The traditional camoufla…

Realising it was impossible to hide huge battle ships, Norman Wilkinson's Dazzle Ships used extreme pattern and colour on the hulls to confuse the enemy.

Wasp-like dazzle camouflage by Alon Bement in SHIP SHAPE From Peter Krass, Portrait of War: The US Army's First Combat Artists and the Doughboy's Experience in WWI. New York: Wiley and Sons, 2007, p. 18— On day nine out to sea, [Ernest] Peixotto and [Wallace] Morgan's convoy was met by a dozen destroyers that were to escort them into port. The coloring of these warships caught Peixotto's eye; they were "brilliantly camouflaged like wasps, queerly striped with black and white, with spots…

Buy Ship Shape, a Dazzle Camouflage Sourcebook: An Anthology of Writings About Ship Camouflage During World War I by Behrens, Roy R. (ISBN: 9780971324473) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

A striking new design on an old boat gives a fascinating glimpse of the history of warfare.

Some of the strangest images of WWI that we could find on the internet