ImageThink is usually on the lookout for ways that visual elements can make communication clearer. During WWI, the American and British naval forces found a way to use line, shape and color to obscure information — specifically, the location of their war ships.
The Dazzle Ships, as they were called, emerged in the 1910s as a solution to very real problem. German U-Boats were picking off American and British ships while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Attempts to help the ships blend into the seascapes by using dazzle paint to paint them dusky shades of blue or grey failed due to the reality of changing weather conditions and smokestacks made them virtually impossible to camouflage.
Scientist Sir John Graham Kerr described the confuse-not-conceal principle in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1914. “It is essential to break up the regularity of outline and this can be easily affected by strongly contrasting shades,” said Kerr. “A giraffe or zebra or jaguar looks extraordinarily conspicuous in a museum but in nature, especially when moving is wonderfully difficult to pick up.”
British and American navies began using dazzle paint to paint ships with zig-zaging lines, checkered patterns and in bold, bright colors to create optical effects. While the Dazzle Ships were very noticeable on the ocean’s horizon, their odd markings made it difficult to decipher the outline of the camouflage ship or which direction the ship was facing.
Due to the range finding technology being used at the time, the German U-Boats would find it difficult to accurately calculate the trajectories of their torpedoes due to the dazzle paint. The torpedo gunner’s margin of error for hitting a Dazzle Ship was quite low. Dazzle painting could throw off an experienced submariner by as much as 55 degrees.
Here’s a great gallery of Dazzle Ship images.
