JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
- A Note on "Hiding" in Plain Site: Razzle Dazzle Camouflage, 1917-1918 http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2015/02/a-note-on-hiding-in-plain-site-razzle-dazzle-camouflage-1917-1918.html
This is just a short note on an unexpected piece of wartime development that I stumbled up leafing through the Illustrated London News for 1916. It seems offhand that this sort of deception wouldn't be very deceiving for very long--this painted bow wave was intended to create the illusion of speed to a watching U-boat and thus throw off the calculations for the launch of a torpedo. I haven't seen images like this very often at all--especially compared to other sorts of camouflage for ships--so I'm guessing that it was not a reliable way of fooling the hunting sub. That said I have seen it more on U.S. ships leading up to WWII, but not very much...
And the detail:
Comments