Painting: Brunel Poole
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer and marine artist Norman Wilkinson introduced an interesting form of camouflage to naval vessels during World War I. Rather than conceal the ships from the enemy, his technique was designed to confuse them. By covering the entire watercraft with large abstracted painted shapes he made it difficult to determine the ship’s class, size, speed and direction it was heading. He believed the confusing graphics would disguise the vessel’s bow from its stern, making it hard to know if the ship was advancing or retreating. Black and white designs were the most popular, however, a wider palette was also employed. Colours that suggested water – greens, greys and blues “dazzled” the hull of the ships. The Royal Navy developed scores of small ship models to test various patterning and colour combinations. In the end, the effectiveness of the Dazzle Ships was questionable, seeing only limited action during World War II.
