You are the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in WWI what do you do?
By Twisted Sifter on Thursday, February 4, 2010 filed under ART & DESIGN TECH & GADGETS.
THE SITUATION
You’re the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in World War I. Your ships are being sunk at an alarming rate by the devastatingly effective German U-Boat. The traditional camouflage isn’t working because your environment (sea and sky) changes with the weather. What do you do?
The German U-Boat: Sinking your Battleships
THE INSIGHT
It’s not where you are it’s where you’re going
World War I occurred from 1914–1918; back then sinking an enemy battleship was a three-step process:
Step 1: Locate your target’s position and plot its course.
Step 2: Determine the ship’s speed and confirm the direction it is heading
Step 3: Launch torpedo not directly at the ship, but where you think it’s going to be by the time the torpedo reaches the ship.
*Remember this is early 20th century warfare, weapons don’t travel at the speed they do today
So what’s your solution Fleet Admiral?
HIT THEM WITH THE RAZZLE DAZZLE
Forget about not being seen, that only solves their first problem. Focus on confusing them so they don’t know where you’re going. Then their torpedoes will be shot in vain because they thought you zigged when you really zagged.
British Artist and naval officer Norman Wilkinson had this very insight and pioneered the Dazzle Camouflage movement (known as Razzle Dazzle in the United States). Norman used bright, loud colours and contrasting diagonal stripes to make it incredibly difficult to gauge a ship’s size and direction.
It was cheap, effective, and widely-adopted during the War. Check out the incredible photographs below.
*NOTE: Unfortunately the images are in black and white, being from the early 1900s and all, so the loud, bold colours will require a little imagination. Can you picture a fleet of electric yellow, orange and purple ships coming to get ya!
The Father of Dazzle Camouflage Norman Wilkinson
To give you an idea of colour, here’s a sketch, actual and render
Definitely my favourite of the lot
As sonar and radar technology improved, the once effective dazzle camouflage was rendered obsolete. By WWII the dazzle camouflage was an afterthought. Thankfully contemporary artists like Jeff Koons have kept the style alive with outrageous boats like this:
Photograph by monacoeye.com
SOURCES
- Information: http://gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html
- Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage
- Photographs: http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg11.htm
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If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: Can Your Boat Dive 100 Feet Under Water?
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Razzle Dazzle Camouflage « The Stache Life.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:39 pm[...] VIA [...]
nick gogerty
February 4th, 2010 at 3:18 pmmore examples here http://www.risd.edu/dazzle/
Twisted_Sifter
February 4th, 2010 at 3:28 pmSome great photographs there Nick thanks for sharing!
I would love to see someone with photoshop skills colour some of the black and white images above.
world's best ever
February 4th, 2010 at 8:12 pmthe last ship is actually by Jeff Koons, not lichtenstein. Great post!
Twisted_Sifter
February 4th, 2010 at 8:21 pmThanks for correcting me WBE! I've changed the copy to give proper credit to Jeff Koons. Much appreciated.
Just checked out your site, i think we have a lot in common! We had the same picture selection to highlight the Tough guy contenst, and Raekwon Ice Cream???? Classic material!
oh and this print you posted on your site is dope
<img src="http://theworldsbestever.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/delta-print.jpg">
Bailey
February 4th, 2010 at 11:43 pmthat's pretty impressive
http://www.monkeedesign.com
And Scene) « Terrace Agenda
February 5th, 2010 at 10:32 pm[...] Totally awesome boat painting. [...]
Dazzle camouflage
February 5th, 2010 at 11:01 pm[...] article over on TwistedSifter about the use of so-called “dazzle” or “razzle-dazzle” camouflage beginning [...]
Dazzle camouflage | Products & Tech News
February 5th, 2010 at 11:37 pm[...] article over on TwistedSifter about the use of so-called “dazzle” or “razzle-dazzle” camouflage beginning during WWI. (The [...]
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February 6th, 2010 at 10:30 am[...] article over on TwistedSifter about the use of so-called « dazzle » or [...]
Razzle-dazzle camouflage at Jeff Thompson – Blog
February 6th, 2010 at 5:05 pm[...] Twisted Sifter Also a great gallery of original designs on the RISD [...]
Goofer
February 7th, 2010 at 4:52 amnot really, modern missiles aren’t aimed by the launch mechanism, they are either guided or have some kind of target seeking capabilities. an anti-missile missile would have no hope otherwise..
Ron
February 7th, 2010 at 5:53 am"Remember this is early 20th century warfare, weapons don’t travel at the speed they do today"
Even today, they don't travel at light speed.
Laser weapons are *still* (even if the ABL is in active service, it's usefulness is pretty minimal) science fiction, so even with Mach 3 Patriot anti-missile missiles, you aim where your target is *going* to be.
Razzle Dazzle camouflage « 81m80 4.0
February 7th, 2010 at 10:13 am[...] Per saperne di più date un occhiata a questo link. [...]
Colin Howell
February 7th, 2010 at 5:58 pmAnd that's particularly true for torpedoes, which have to travel through water using only their own limited power. Even now U.S. submarine-launched torpedoes are estimated to reach only 55 knots (63 mph, 102 km/h). There are faster ones out there, like the British Spearfish at 80 knots (92 mph, 150 km/h), but those are the exception. The U.S. Mark 14 submarine-launched torpedo of World War II reached 46 knots (53 mph, 85 km/h).
Tracy White
February 7th, 2010 at 7:08 pmCouple of points:
"By WWII the camouflage was an afterthought," is completely false. The US Navy was still developing new camouflage measures in 1945. Prior to the war, US ships were by and large painted "#5 Standard Navy Gray" commonly known as "battleship gray." By the end of 1941 they had adopted new color such as "Navy Blue" and "Ocean Gray" and were experimenting with disruptive patterns again in the "Measure 12 modified" pattern. This used splotches and was not generally effective in breaking up the ship outlines, but by 1943 the Navy was issuing design sheets for patterns for each class of ship. Your "cubism-razzle-dazzle-camouflage-painting.jpg" is one such 1944 design, Camouflage Measure 32, Pattern 9D
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/DesignSheets/M32_9D...
I would suggest as another resource you look at http://www.shipcamouflage.com/warship_camouflage….
I've been posting some of the war-time camouflage documents to
http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/S19-7 (S19-7 was the US Navy code for camouflage at the time)
Also, for what it's worth, "dazzle-painting-ship.jpg" is a WWII French ship, I forget which one.
War is psychedelic: Dazzle camouflage — omglog
February 7th, 2010 at 7:54 pm[...] War is psychedelic: Dazzle camouflage “Dazzle did not conceal the ship but made it difficult for the enemy to estimate its type, size, speed and heading. The idea was to disrupt the visual rangefinders used for naval artillery.” [...]
Twisted_Sifter
February 7th, 2010 at 8:28 pm@Ron @Colin @Tracy
Hey all, thanks so much for the insightful comments and great links! You clearly know your stuff and it's great to receive comments that contribute to other viewer's education about this topic .
It's so great to hear from people with more detailed knowledge of things like torpedo speed and camouflage history in the Navy. I appreciate it all and will try and update the post
Jef
February 8th, 2010 at 3:40 amHow long before someone cries "they're fake. Cant you see the pixels?" Or "these are shopped"
Great post. My ship wasn't this cool when I was in.
Nemo
February 8th, 2010 at 7:43 amThe situation: you are the manufacturer of a new far. And you want to test it on the open road. But the car magazine paparazzi want the scoop on the new design.
Solution: same thing!
For example…
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/10/spy-shots-next...
http://www.carblog.co.za/tag/bmw-x3/
image google for "car spy shots camouflage" for more examples
…/Nemo
Camuflando barcos en la Primera Guerra Mundial
February 8th, 2010 at 9:11 am[...] Camuflando barcos en la Primera Guerra Mundial twistedsifter.com/2010/02/razzle-dazzle-camouflage/ por shephard hace 9 segundos [...]
Camuflando barcos en la Primera Guerra Mundial | El Noticiero
February 8th, 2010 at 1:34 pm[...] » noticia original [...]
Bizcoach
February 8th, 2010 at 6:13 pmMy understanding is that this is why zebra stripes are effective in keeping them alive. An antelope uses more of what we consider camouflage but a zebra tries to outsmart the attacker.
t minus zero » World War I Naval Camouflage
February 8th, 2010 at 7:48 pm[...] “You’re the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in World War I. Your ships are being sunk at an alarming rate by the devastatingly effective German U-Boat. The traditional camouflage isn’t working because your environment (sea and sky) changes with the weather. What do you do?…” [story] [...]
links for 2010-02-08 at Links. Historische.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:35 pm[...] You are the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in WWI what do you do? | TwistedSifter -> Bilder von der Dazzle Camouflage (tags: ersterweltkrieg) [...]
graggregator » Blog Archive » WWI’s "Razzle Dazzle Camouflage Movement" – An Explanation
February 8th, 2010 at 9:00 pm[...] McAlister points us to a terrific article on TwistedSifter.comabout the “Razzle Dazzle Camouflage movement:” during [...]
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February 8th, 2010 at 10:10 pm[...] Pro Tweets RT @hackernewsbot: Amazing WWI Ship Camouflage… http://twistedsifter.com/2010/02/razzle-dazzle-camouflage/ < Wow. very cool. Beaker - Tue 09 Feb 2:49 All Things [...]
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citizen428.soup()
February 9th, 2010 at 9:22 amYou are the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in WWI what do you do? | TwistedSifter…
…
Os navios de guerra camuflados da primeira guerra mundial | PostMania
February 9th, 2010 at 9:22 am[...] Outras fotos muito interessante você pode ver aqui, algumas coloridas artificialmente: http://twistedsifter.com/2010/02/razzle-dazzle-camouflage/ [...]
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February 10th, 2010 at 1:32 pm[...] Focus on confusing the submarines so they don’t know where you’re going. This is WW1 and that’s what these geometric shapes and bright loud colours did. The inventor of the Dazzle camouflage was Norman Wilkinson. Since the photo’s are from early 1900 there’s little colours on the pictures, but you can see some sketches after the jump. I think it looks amazing. [...]
bark » Oh, the people I know
February 10th, 2010 at 2:53 pm[...] others follow. A new take on old forms of sculpture. The petty jealousy of literary giants. How to camouflage a battleship. Wow. Math really is everywhere. Star Wars retro [...]
...krótki przekaz my?li.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:58 pmYou are the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in WWI what do you do?…
You are the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in WWI what do you do?…
bob philbin
February 11th, 2010 at 6:28 amGood job, Nick. I think your favourite ship, the destroyer, is actually a WWII Fletcher class destroyer, equipped with mast radars, dual 5 inch guns and two torpedo launchers. Just picking nits here, but dazzle waas used on the North atlantic onvoy routes in WWII also. The Fletchers were my fave class of DD…well, and the Radfords. A neat site is : http://www.shipcamouflage.com/2_1.htm
Bob Philbin
Razzle Dazzle Battleships [War] | gadgetinferno | hottest news best gadget blog
February 11th, 2010 at 6:14 pm[...] razzle dazzle and covering my ship in branches and termites, I’m going razzle dazzle. [Twisted Sifter via inspire me [...]
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February 11th, 2010 at 7:20 pm[...] razzle dazzle and covering my ship in branches and termites, I’m going razzle dazzle. [Twisted Sifter via inspire me now] Tagged:battleshipsboatsrazzle [...]
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February 11th, 2010 at 7:47 pm[...] razzle dazzle and covering my ship in branches and termites, I’m going razzle dazzle. [Twisted Sifter via inspire me [...]
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February 11th, 2010 at 10:46 pm[...] it’s between razzle dazzle and covering my ship in branches and termites, I’m going razzle dazzle. [Twisted Sifter via inspire me [...]
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February 12th, 2010 at 5:27 am[...] http://twistedsifter.com/2010/02/razzle-dazzle-camouflage/ Tags: Design This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 10:27 am and is filed under Graphic Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. No ResponsesLeave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. [...]
farelos « o bom leão
February 12th, 2010 at 6:56 am[...] [+] Camuflagem [...]
post it!
February 12th, 2010 at 9:44 am(Bild)…
…
Did They Just Zig or Zag? « The Real 414
February 12th, 2010 at 11:28 am[...] found this web site on Uni Watch’s daily ticker today. Apparently during World War I, German U-Boats were sinking [...]
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February 12th, 2010 at 2:30 pm[...] out more pictures and the full article at [Twisted [...]
bill
February 12th, 2010 at 5:26 pmWhat is with the ships that appear to be aircraft carriers dated 1918? I thought the first ones were conversions in the 1920s? No?
joshisyourbff's soup
February 21st, 2010 at 2:38 pmgive em the ol’ razzle dazzle…
…
Oakman
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:19 pmWhy didn't the enemy just look at which way the smoke was going from the smoke stack?
The_ed17
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:49 amIt wasn't an afterthought for WWII, see http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-co-mk/camou... . It was considered vital!
The_ed17
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:50 amoh, and the four-funneled ship is Cunard's Mauretania.
The_ed17
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:59 amNo, that was everyone else. The Brits had HMS Ark Royal and Furious as CVs, not sure if there were any others; many navies had seaplane carriers.
The_ed17
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:02 amthink about it from a U-boat commander's perspective. It's a periscope a few feet above the waves at some distance from the target. It's not easy to see the *exact* direction of the smoke.
The_ed17
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:03 amand yeah, I just saw the above posts which said exactly what I posted, sorry about the duplication.
Twisted_Sifter
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:09 amWow! You know your stuff The_ed17! Thanks for dropping by and contributing to the conversation it's much appreciated
The_ed17
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:57 pmYou're welcome, the knowledge comes with reading and writing wayyy too much about 20th century naval history.
news 11.3.2010 « Botchjob
March 11th, 2010 at 1:27 pm[...] LINK [...]
19th-Century Photographer Captured 5,000 Snowflakes | JetLib News
March 25th, 2010 at 9:19 pm[...] tcd004 writes “Wilson Bentley began photographing snowflakes in 1885, and managed to immortalize more than 5,000 crystals before his death in 1931. Now his images are widely recognized and highly sought after. At the age of 19, ‘Snowflake’ Bentley jury-rigged a microscope to a bulky bellows camera and took the first-ever photograph of a snowflake. Photography then, particularly microphotography, was much closer to science than art. In a 1910 article published in the journal Technical World, he wrote, ‘Here is a gem bestrewn realm of nature possessing the charm of mystery, of the unknown, sure richly to reward the investigator.” The video embedded at the link above touches on another long-forgotten piece of history: a sketch of the photographers who captured arial views of assemblages of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from WW-I, carefully choreographed and arranged to form a Liberty Bell, a Stature of Liberty, a US flag… as forgotten as the origin of the WW-I term razzle-dazzle. [...]
Crojon
March 27th, 2010 at 10:09 amfake, photoshoped, i know, not because i have see the pixels and many i have seen in my day, its because i 'shoped these myself.
but i shopped the actual boats and ships, not the pictures of them. i shop real life.
Nojorc
March 27th, 2010 at 10:12 amits true, he does!
i was gona get reconstructive surgery but it was too expensive, and this guy shopped my face back to normal.
The Opposite of Camouflage - spin off stuff - spins & needles blog: DIY, the handmade, fashion, craft
March 27th, 2010 at 11:12 am[...] nice photos of dazzle camouflage ships can be found at this recent post at Twistedsifter and on the Rhode Island School of Design, which last year held an exhibit of its collection of [...]
The Sanity Inspector
March 29th, 2010 at 4:10 pmQuibble: I have seen photos WWII ships in dazzle camouflage. That aside, these are amazing photos, I never suspected this happened in the Great War. Thanks!
notguest?
April 10th, 2010 at 8:47 pmno wonder people thought the navy was so gay!
Coastal Cottages
April 24th, 2010 at 1:21 amSimplest ideas are always the best.
Hit ‘em with the Razzle Dazzle « Limited Addiction
May 1st, 2010 at 11:06 am[...] Check here for more info and more incredible pics var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname=”Hit ‘em with the Razzle Dazzle”; a2a_config.linkurl=”http://www.limitedaddiction.be/blog/?p=374″; a2a_color_main=”25a5f0″;a2a_color_border=”25a5f0″;a2a_color_link_text=”333333″;a2a_color_link_text_hover=”333333″;a2a_color_bg=”000000″;a2a_color_arrow=”fff”; [...]
Confusing camouflage « SIMONE BRANDSE
May 9th, 2010 at 12:58 pm[...] more here. Posted by sbrandse Filed in Uncategorized Leave a Comment [...]
safwen
May 17th, 2010 at 5:17 pmsee more
http://www.design2arts.blogspot.com/
singles vacation packages
May 27th, 2010 at 2:41 pmWow great blog, I was looking for something else on ask but found your site on page 1 so thought I would pay a visit and now have bookmarked.
Twisted_Sifter
May 27th, 2010 at 11:40 pmthe paint job is fab-u-lous!
Twisted_Sifter
May 27th, 2010 at 11:41 pmthanks! glad you enjoyed and do drop by again
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August 12th, 2010 at 8:09 pm[...] photographs stolen from twisted sifter. [...]
wholesale hats
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:37 pmThe blog article very surprised to me! Your writing is good. In this I learned a lot! Thank you!