British Vorticists: Dazzleships (1916 – 1918)

During sea battles, the ancient Greeks would use their polished shields to reflect the sunlight and dazzle attacking vessels. Taking this as their inspiration, the allied Navies experimented with ‘dazzle’ camouflage during World War I. These striking, colourful designs were created by Vorticist artists and were intended to hinder the identification of ships and also to break up the outline, thus making targeting more difficult.

Artists were commissioned to create this type of camouflage because they better understood visual effects and it was also thought that their creative, artistic approach would confound the more rational military mind. Dazzleships were more successful at surviving torpedo attacks from U-Boats than their ‘drab camouflage’ counterparts, and so more and more ships were painted in this way during the war, including the Cunard Line’s Mauritania… 

This is a rare example of art, abstract art at that, having a proven and quantifiable function.

Above: The Cunard Line's Mauritania at war

Below: a couple more examples of wartime ships in Dazzle livery...