SHIPS THAT SAIL AWAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10207, 18 February 1919, Page 7

SHIPS THAT SAIL AWAY

EFFECT OF "DAZZLE PAINTING.

“The public has had a miwonoeption Of the object of camouflaging chips. wicl Lieutenant-Commander Norman V ulkw}; Bon. U.N V.R., the inventor of dazzle painting, in an interview. It "?* at invisibility that we aimed. All we really wanted to do was to deceive the observer so that he could not . his mind which way the ship he looked at was going.*’ . _ In this way many a submarine commander has been prevented from laying a course to’ intercept a ship and torpedo her, and as a consequence many valuable cargoes have been saved. A passenger In a certain cross-Channel steamer unconsciously paid us a great tribute. tie saw a camouflaged ship comlng along and snorted with) disgust “ghat's the use of paintinor a ship lik* that? * n manded, " She’s not invisible at all. 1 cannot for the life of me tell which wav she is going.’’ lit another case H.M.S. Concord, Bear-Admiral Tyrwhitt’s late flagship, was camouflaged so that she looked b Ico a cross between a boiler explosion and a tailwav accident. So well was this done that the gunners at an East Coast fort reported her returning to harbour, obviously having been so badly damaged In action that sbe was in a sinking condition. Tugs Wore hurriedly sent out to moot her They were astounded and delighted to find that she was all right, merely having been indulging in an ordinary patrol cruise. So much for the deception of dazzling. have camouflaged nearly 3000 ships, using 800 patterns. There has been no slapping on of paint at haphazard, but everything has been done to a set design. One captain reported that a certain ship looked at a distance just like a groat eye glaring at him. Another waiting for a rendezvous with, a craft ho had himself commanded, failed to recognise her until she was quite close. Ships appear suddenly to have loft, ofl in the middle and recommenced a little further forward' •„ others look half their normal size. That the Gormans were deceived by dazzle painting, they have admitted.