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How Cubism Protected Warships in World War I
- pjc50 9y agoThere's a modern example of this at anchor in Edinburgh: https://edinburghartfestival.com/dazzle https://edinburghartfestival.com/dazzle I've seen it in person, but what I've not tried and I wonder if anyone has, is photographing it from some distance across the sea to see if it's meaningfully camouflaged. I'm not sure that's possible at it's current location because of the harbour.
- linsomniac 9y agoDazzle isn't about making it hide, it's about making it hard for a submarine's periscope (before the advent of radar) have trouble figuring out the speed and direction the ship is traveling. Remember, you have to fire a torpedo at where the target is going to be, not where it is. This is why Dazzle often uses fake bow wakes (an indication of speed) and lines going off in different directions (making it hard to tell the true direction optically). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage
- theoh 9y agoImportant to note that this example is supposed to be artistic, not actually effective as dazzle/concealment. It is a creative design, not a functional one. https://www.1418now.org.uk/dazzle/ https://www.1418now.org.uk/dazzle/
- 24gttghh 9y agoI was under the impression that the effectiveness of Dazzle camouflage was debatable, if not outright ineffective? There were no standardized patterns by which they could be studied for their effectiveness in WWI, and by WWII when such schemes were standardized, they were rendered moot by rangefinders and radar.
- dforrestwilson 9y agoYes the impact was likely hit or miss without standardization. Here's a modern-day application : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARPAT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARPAT
- fenwick67 9y agoI would consider MARPAT and other digital camos related but distinct from Dazzle.
- 24gttghh 9y agoAye, there is also a significant difference between hiding a many thousand ton, hundreds of meters long ship on the high seas, and a 1 meter tall human being in the forest.
- lostlogin 9y agoThat is a very small soldier.
- tekromancr 9y agoSgt. Threefoot, reporting for duty!
- 24gttghh 9y agoHa! you're right. Maybe.. 1.7 meters?
- dsfyu404ed 9y agoIt's not about hiding it, it's about making it hard to accurately observer its heading and therefore hard to hit with a torpedo.
- digi_owl 9y agoSupposedly infantry camoflage patterned uniforms only came about during WW2, and the SS were the first to adopt them.
- pavel_lishin 9y agoA good example of how it was supposed to work - it really is hard to figure out where the ship is actually heading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage#/media/File:EB1922_Camouflage_Periscope_View.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage#/media/File:...
- digi_owl 9y agoWish those were actual photographs and not an artists interpretation for an encyclopedia. I must admit however it took me a moment to find the bow on this image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_West_Mahomet_(ID-3681)_cropped.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_West_Mahomet_(ID...
- goldfeld 9y agoAlso Dazzle Ships by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is an excellent record.