“Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool…”
Edward Wadsworth 1919, National Gallery of Canada
During both World Wars, the battle of German U-boats and British Shipping in the North Sea and the Atlantic was pivotal. This was part of the British WW1 response. Paint schemes to breakdown the outline of British ships, known as dazzle camouflage. Rather than hide shipping from discovery, it was designed to disguise the details of shape, size, direction and speed from accurate assessment via the view from a periscope. This hampered the aiming of torpedoes. This camouflage scheme was the brainchild of marine artist Norman Wilkinson. The painter of artist behind this Futurist work was Edward Wadsworth, a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve who was in charge of the dazzle painting of ships in Liverpool and Bristol. Wadsworth literally and figuratively painted dazzle ships. #defeatedbyradar #letsmakelemonade
