Dazzle Camouflage 25 Photos Of Navy Ships In Bizarre Disguise

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1 of 26RMS Olympic (the nearly identical sister ship of the Titanic, 1919.Wikimedia Commons 2 of 26The Zealandia in Sydney, Australia, 1914.Wikimedia Commons 3 of 26HMS Polyanthus, circa 1917-1918.Wikimedia Commons 4 of 26RMS Olympic, 1915.Wikimedia Commons 5 of 26The RMS Mauretania arrives in New York City, bringing troops home from Europe after World War I, on December 2, 1918Library of Congress 6 of 26USS Alloway, San Francisco Bay, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 7 of 26World War I troop ship SS Empress of Russia, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 8 of 26British destroyer HMS Badsworth, 1941.Wikimedia Commons 9 of 26British gunboat HMS Kilbride, circa 1914-1918.Wikimedia Commons 10 of 26The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Hornet near Okinawa, Japan, March 1945.Wikimedia Commons 11 of 26British sloop HMS Rocksand, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 12 of 26British seaplane tender HMS Pegasus, 1917.Wikimedia Commons 13 of 26British gunboat HMS Kildangan, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 14 of 26British ship Elpenor arriving at Liverpool, August 1918.Wikimedia Commons 15 of 26Minelayer HMS London painted in dazzle camouflage of black, white, gray, blue, and cream, May 1918. Wikimedia Commons 16 of 26The Ulm, a former German refrigeration vessel converted to a mine ship during World War II, date unknown.Wikimedia Commons 17 of 26British patrol gunboat HMS Killour, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 18 of 26HMS Argus with a battle cruiser in the distance, 1918.Wikimedia Commons 19 of 26Royal Navy seaplane tender HMS Nairana, 1917. Wikimedia Commons 20 of 26Royal Navy seaplane tender HMS Nairana, 1917. Wikimedia Commons 21 of 26U.S. Navy amphibious command ship USS Mount Olympus, June 1944.Wikimedia Commons 22 of 26U.S. Navy destroyer/minelayer USS Aaron Ward, November 1944.Wikimedia Commons 23 of 26HMAS Melbourne, Rosyth, Scotland, 1918. Wikimedia Commons 24 of 26Battleship USS California sporting dazzle camouflage, Puget Sound, January 1944.Wikimedia Commons 25 of 26U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in Kyushu, Japan, 1945.Wikimedia Commons 26 of 26Like this gallery?Share it:

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25 Eye-Popping Photos Of World War I & II Dazzle Camouflage View Gallery

At the outset of World War I, an American artist and British zoologist independently attempted to convince Winston Churchill to paint stripes on all Royal Navy ships.

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1 of 26RMS Olympic (the nearly identical sister ship of the Titanic, 1919.Wikimedia Commons

2 of 26The Zealandia in Sydney, Australia, 1914.Wikimedia Commons

3 of 26HMS Polyanthus, circa 1917-1918.Wikimedia Commons

4 of 26RMS Olympic, 1915.Wikimedia Commons

5 of 26The RMS Mauretania arrives in New York City, bringing troops home from Europe after World War I, on December 2, 1918Library of Congress

6 of 26USS Alloway, San Francisco Bay, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

7 of 26World War I troop ship SS Empress of Russia, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

8 of 26British destroyer HMS Badsworth, 1941.Wikimedia Commons

9 of 26British gunboat HMS Kilbride, circa 1914-1918.Wikimedia Commons

10 of 26The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Hornet near Okinawa, Japan, March 1945.Wikimedia Commons

11 of 26British sloop HMS Rocksand, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

12 of 26British seaplane tender HMS Pegasus, 1917.Wikimedia Commons

13 of 26British gunboat HMS Kildangan, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

14 of 26British ship Elpenor arriving at Liverpool, August 1918.Wikimedia Commons

15 of 26Minelayer HMS London painted in dazzle camouflage of black, white, gray, blue, and cream, May 1918. Wikimedia Commons

16 of 26The Ulm, a former German refrigeration vessel converted to a mine ship during World War II, date unknown.Wikimedia Commons

17 of 26British patrol gunboat HMS Killour, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

18 of 26HMS Argus with a battle cruiser in the distance, 1918.Wikimedia Commons

19 of 26Royal Navy seaplane tender HMS Nairana, 1917. Wikimedia Commons

20 of 26Royal Navy seaplane tender HMS Nairana, 1917. Wikimedia Commons

21 of 26U.S. Navy amphibious command ship USS Mount Olympus, June 1944.Wikimedia Commons

22 of 26U.S. Navy destroyer/minelayer USS Aaron Ward, November 1944.Wikimedia Commons

23 of 26HMAS Melbourne, Rosyth, Scotland, 1918. Wikimedia Commons

24 of 26Battleship USS California sporting dazzle camouflage, Puget Sound, January 1944.Wikimedia Commons

25 of 26U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in Kyushu, Japan, 1945.Wikimedia Commons

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25 Eye-Popping Photos Of World War I & II Dazzle Camouflage View Gallery

25 Eye-Popping Photos Of World War I & II Dazzle Camouflage

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However, counterintuitively, the pair hoped that these stripes would act as a form of camouflage — meant not to conceal, but to confuse.

Churchill, then Great Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty, rejected the idea. He shot the zebra stripes down as “freak methods,” and ones which the Admiralty considered to be “of academic interest but not of practical advantage,” according to author Peter Forbes.

But then one of their own, marine artist and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer Norman Wilkinson, piggybacked on these ideas and refined them.

Rather than pull inspiration from the animal kingdom or art theory, Wilkinson suggested using abstract “masses of strongly contrasted color,” such as highly conspicuous streaks, blobs, and shards. When covering a ship, experts hoped that the coloring would confuse nearby submarines about the vessel’s true size, shape, and intended navigation. If everything went to plan, the coloring would thus make the streaked ship harder to hit.

With World War I still raging, the Admiralty adopted this so-called “dazzle camouflage” technique, and the U.S. Navy soon followed suit.

The scheme’s effectiveness varied wildly, with some historians saying that governments put too many variations into use to accurately gauge the potency of the paint. Still, the custom continued. During World War II, the Germans also adopted the technique.

The tactic wouldn’t last that long, however. As radar, rangefinders, and aircraft became more advanced, the success rate of dazzle camouflage suffered, and its use dwindled.

The gallery above features some of the most eye-popping examples of dazzle camouflage, primarily from the World War I-era, when the method saw the most widespread use.

Intrigued by this look at dazzle camouflage? Next, see how some of Earth’s most fascinating creatures conceal themselves with these photos of animal camouflage in action. Then, step into the trenches with these powerful World War I photos.