World War I
Dazzle's effectiveness was highly uncertain at the time of the First World War, but it was adopted nonetheless. In 1918 the British Admiralty analysed shipping losses, but was unable to draw clear conclusions; with hindsight, too many factors (choice of colour scheme; size and speed of ships; tactics used) had been varied for it to be possible to determine which factors were significant or which schemes worked best. The artist Abbott Handerson Thayer did carry out an experiment on dazzle camouflage, but it failed to show any reliable advantage of dazzle over plain paintwork.
In a 1919 lecture, Norman Wilkinson explained:
The primary object of this scheme was not so much to cause the enemy to miss his shot when actually in firing position, but to mislead him, when the ship was first sighted, as to the correct position to take up. method to produce an effect by paint in such a way that all accepted forms of a ship are broken up by masses of strongly contrasted colour, consequently making it a matter of difficulty for a submarine to decide on the exact course of the vessel to be attacked... The colours mostly in use were black, white, blue and green... When making a design for a vessel, vertical lines were largely avoided. Sloping lines, curves and stripes are by far the best and give greater distortion.
During both World Wars, former ocean liners owned by British steamship companies such as Cunard Line were re-commissioned as an integral part of the British war fleet. These auxiliary vessels were re-fitted with armament and re-painted in the same manner as other fleet ships. For example, the Canadian Pacific Steamships RMS Empress of Russia and White Star Line RMS Olympic (sister ship of the ill-fated RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic), former passenger liners, were given the "dazzle" treatment when used as troopships.
Read more about this topic: Dazzle Camouflage
Famous quotes containing the words war i, world and/or war:
“... the next war will be a war in which people not armies will suffer, and our boasted, hard-earned civilization will do us no good. Cannot the women rise to this great opportunity and work now, and not have the double horror, if another war comes, of losing their loved ones, and knowing that they lifted no finger when they might have worked hard?”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“In order for an individual to partake of the world and contribute to it in a healthy way, he first needs to view that world as a basically kind, friendly, and supportive place. Such an outlook begins to be formed during infancy. It’s essential that the baby establish a fundamental trust in his environment. The infant needs to learn that the world is a nurturing place where his needs will be met.”
—Saf Lerman (20th century)
“From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.”
—Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)