I didn’t expect so many people to be interested in this.
Now I’m getting more of an education on the subject then I ever knew glad you guys are involved and enjoying it
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There’s a link in the first linked-to article (which is really just a summary) to the full published result. The full result seems mostly (at least to me) to be about the analysis and attempted resolution of the 1919 experiment’s methodology and terminology.
However, the final “corrected” or “resolved” analysis seems to show that the dazzle camouflage was consistently, if only marginally, effective in creating errors in the observer’s estimate of the target ship’s direction. The extreme errors were quite impressive, but when averaged out, the errors, while consistent didn’t seem large enough to justify the resources expended on painting the patterns.
I suppose, though, if you were on one of the target ships that dodged a torpedo attack because the sub made an extreme error in direction and speed estimates, you would have though the cost of the camo paint job was worth every penny.
Really interesting, but I wish the authors had spent a little more time in providing an analysis of the actual results of the effectiveness of the camouflage and a little less on the methodology and efficacy of the experiment as an “experiment.”
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I’ve always thought these patterns were unique. It would be a neat Campaign Idea just saying WW1 had some wild paint schemes. Did not know that countries had still used these patterns the above shared Photos are neat thanks for sharing.
TinyDog01 
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I agree I’d like to see a Dazzle campaign…I might even emerge from the mire of Mojo-less to contribute. I like the idea the patterns did more for on-board crew morale, albeit (apparently) delusional.
I guess we’d need to hear first-hand accounts from combat reports of surviving WW1 U-boat commanders to really nail the argument, but I can’t help thinking that through a periscope in the grey squally swells of the north Atlantic, a dazzle-pattern would stick out like dogs’ balls compared to a dull grey hull.
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I understand that the best colour for the North Atlantic is… White? When the weather is dull and nasty, it simply reflects the ambient colours, I understand one RN submarine hunter went for all-white in it’s frontal aspect, believing that would be most effective when viewed from the periscope of a U-Boat they were charging directly towards… This was the basis of Sir Peter Scott’s schemes and the official “Western Approaches” adaptions, with pale blue and pale green used with the predominant white as a concession to disruptive pattern concepts.
All you ever wanted to know of this, and more:
3/1
Cheers,
M
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Razzle my Dazzle:
I can’t tell if this ship is painted in dazzle camo or not. For all I know the hull could be light grey or black or any other colour, possibly even white …
“Goalpost” style boom posts for the loading booms (booms always laid down horizontally and secured in crutches while not being used). Most of the hull is hidden from view, flat-earthers would not understand why it is hidden …
Ship is moving to the left, rather obvious, on a course away from the viewer. The boom posts are of equal height (starboard vs port side) and the leading post appears higher than the trailing.
This means that the near (port) side post is further forward in the direction of travel than the far (starboard) side.
The distance can be estimated by guessing the ships length. Submariners and others tasked with spotting ships at sea would study books filled with ship profiles of merchant and navy ships.
Similar to these:
The size and shape of the bridge in relation to the ship length gives an indcation about the total size. The number and positioning of boom posts or masts tells you more about the number of loading hatches. The ability to identify ships needs to be trained by those tasked with spotting ships at sea. IF there is a raised forecastle and poop it is only one deck level on smaller ships.
A large ship can have a poop, rear deck building, two or three decks high but other clues like number of boom posts/masts would indicate a large ship. The absence of raised poop or forecastle is also an aid in identifying ship or ship type.
If the ship in the periscope view above had been further away the hull would have been completely masked. The boom posts, bridge and funnel would still have been visible and still been giving some clues.
Small ship:
Larger ships:
Drawings from Encyclopedia Britannica about dazzle camo.
When the periscope view shows the foam/spray/white water around the bows then the ship will be very close (earths curvature and geometry). Almost dangerously close, the angle and distance will be changing quickly and it will be more difficult to calculate a torpedo shot.
“Three islands ship” was a term used to identify a type of freighter which looked like three separate islands when viewed from a distance (when the earths curvature obscured the hull),
forecastle island, bridge island, poop island (see periscope view above).
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You could probably fill a multi-volume publication with details of equipment and procedures intended to address a specific perceived vulnerability that were, in hindsight, ultimately a waste of time, effort, and expense because they either did not actually address the vulnerability or because the opposing forces didn’t employ the tactics the implementation addressed. Or, in some cases, the countermeasure being deployed after its use became pointless due to reduction in enemy capabilities.
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Naval camouflage video
H.P.
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