Changes

During the First World War, Great Britain depended on convoys of ships carrying supplies and war material from North America; normally painted in "haze gray", the ships stood out due to the constantly changing color environment of sea and sky, and were frequent targets of attack by surface raiders, warships, and the new submarine.

During the First World War, Great Britain depended on convoys of ships carrying supplies and war material from North America; normally painted in "haze gray", the ships stood out due to the constantly changing color environment of sea and sky, and were frequent targets of attack by surface raiders, warships, and the new submarine.

Proposals to camouflage ships at sea, i.e. to make them blend into the background, were met with disappointment due to the fact that it was impossible to make it happen.  British naval officer and artist Norman Wilkinson suggested a different approach: each ship would be painted in bold geometric patterns, shapes, and colors; the idea being to break up the pattern of the ship itself, and confuse the range finders on enemy warships as to the vessel's heading, speed, and direction.     

Proposals to camouflage ships at sea, i.e. to make them blend into the background, were met with disappointment because it was impossible to make it happen.  British naval officer and artist Norman Wilkinson suggested a different approach: each ship would be painted in bold geometric patterns, shapes, and colors; the idea being to break up the pattern of the ship itself, and confuse the range finders on enemy warships as to the vessel's heading, speed, and direction.     

What followed was, for all intents and purposes, a "nightmare" of design.  The ships themselves became the largest canvas of modern art; SS ''Leviathan'', an American troop transport (and former German luxury liner) became a garish pattern of saw-toothed edges and curves; French cruiser ''Gloire'' became a horizontal assemblage of zebra-striping (some troop liners painted a silhouette of a smaller vessel, such as a [[destroyer]], on the side against a grey background, to make [[submarine]] captains shoot at something else or aim at a smaller target.).  So effective was dazzle painting that sinkings dropped, and at one point the captain of a destroyer sent to escort ''Leviathan'' across the Atlantic was so confused by the coloration that he had to circle the ship three times in order to determine the direction she was headed.

What followed was, for all intents and purposes, a "nightmare" of design.  The ships themselves became the largest canvas of modern art; SS ''Leviathan'', an American troop transport (and former German luxury liner) became a garish pattern of saw-toothed edges and curves; French cruiser ''Gloire'' became a horizontal assemblage of zebra-striping (some troop liners painted a silhouette of a smaller vessel, such as a [[destroyer]], on the side against a grey background, to make [[submarine]] captains shoot at something else or aim at a smaller target.).  So effective was dazzle painting that sinkings dropped, and at one point the captain of a destroyer sent to escort ''Leviathan'' across the Atlantic was so confused by the coloration that he had to circle the ship three times in order to determine the direction she was headed.