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Maurice G. Dubonnet
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In an earlier but recent
blog post, on July 29, we reprinted a 1918 article on WWI ship camouflage, written by a French-born American artist / scientist named
Maurice G. Debonnet. At the time, we noted that we had run across a reference to a second article by Dubonnet, published in 1919, which we had not succeeded in finding. We have since learned that in part we hadn't found it because the author's name had been incorrectly spelled as Debounet. We have it now. The entire text is reprinted below.
However we have chosen not to include the twenty-five illustrations that supplemented the original article, because of their low print quality. Nor are they especially essential.
That said, the text below is one of the most detailed accounts of the progression of American WWI ship camouflage. However, one should be forewarned that Dubonnet's "facts" or their progression may differ somewhat from other published narratives from the same time period.
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Maurice G. Debounet [sic, should be Debonnet], MARINE PAINT CAMOUFLAGE: Its History and How It Helped Our Boys “Put It Across” Over There, in Painting and Wall Paper Dealer (June 1919), pp. 9-14)—
The author [Maurice G. Debonnet], a member of the American Chemical Society, is well known here and in France as a writer and authority on the uses of paint for camouflage purposes.
Besides being well versed in the chemistry, uses and applications of paints and allied substances, he exhibits his pictures regularly with the Brooklyn Society of Artists, People’s Art Guild, Society of Independent Artists, and others of which he is a member.
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IN A PREVIOUS article in The Painters Magazine (April, 1918), the writer undertook the task of lifting the veil of deception on land and sea, a veil created by the very strict censorship placed on anything connected with the conduct of the war.
We may now tell that which could not be told before, and show the latest photographs and illustrations in the art of marine camouflage. Those living inland during the war and those living on the coast away from the hustle and bustle of war work in our seaports and yards, have missed great sights worth while seeing.
Like Circus-Decked Town
The big camouflaged vessels may be likened to certain streets in a Western town, all decked out to receive the Elks and see a circus parade at the same time.
The crazy, zebra-like stripes cannot be hidden in all weathers, any more than an ostrich can always find safety by hiding its head in the sand. Let the sun shine on a group of camouflaged ships, and lo! the least imaginative might liken them to boa constrictors with navy signal flags painted on their sides.
It is a picture to astonish the most exuberant painter, and still, it was not so long ago that our ports were crowded with ships of all sizes and shapes, from the antique barges to the most up-to-date German (American-owned) troop transports covered with crazy zigzags.
Are Disappearing Rapidly
There are still a few to be seen, but if the reader does not wish to be too late, he must hurry, because it is probably a matter of a few weeks before the last of the camouflaged ships will have disappeared.
Marine camouflage is the child of land camouflage, born during this war.
To decrease the relative visibility of ships many schemes have been tried, and in the different ports any number of ships could be seen in their garishly painted dresses, no two painted alike. All were decorated with the same idea, that is, to conceal their character, size and identity while at sea.
But before proceeding, let us delve into the mysterious past and see who were the earliest deceivers.
Adam's Apple a Lemon
Adam was deceived because a lemon was handed to him in the guise of an apple. That may have been the origin of camouflage.
Camouflage is as old as nature! A prophetic incident is related in the Fourth Book of the Gaellic Wars, about one of the early camouflage feats: Julius Caesar sent his scout boat along the coast of Ireland with crews and boats painted green.
The Trojan horse was a trick of ancient warfare, and deception was practiced in the Middle Ages by painting battling towers with black and white squares to hide the loopholes.
Quoting Shakespeare, in Macbeth (Act 5), where the Scottish and English commanders are planning an attack on Macbeth's castle: "Let each man hew down a bough and bear it before him; In this way cover the number of our hosts, thus giving the impression of Birnam Wood moving . . . ."
At Waterloo, the French Army Corps of [Honoré Charles] Reille fired for some time on a red brick wall, thinking it was a line of English soldiers!
A Civil War Attempt
"Uncle Bluejacket's Duck Boat," published in 1870, tells a Civil War story of a Federal ship going up a Southern river at night, the crew and the boat being all white; during the same war the British blockade runners were painted an elusive blue gray.
The clothing of soldiers of the different armies shows that all nations have given deep thoughts to color in making attempts at troop concealments.
The American olive drab, the British khaki, the German field gray, the French horizon blue, and in earlier times the war paint of the American Indian, and the bluish gray of the American Confederate troops. The zebra-like stripes painted on their bodies by certain savage tribes and the natural brown color of their bodies make them conform to the environment.
An early instance of deception with the aid of paint on land was during the Boer War when General [Jan] Smuts made a crude attempt to have all his paraphernalia of war painted in colors harmonizing with the surrounding country.
Origin Is French
The real starting point of the use of paint for concealment, or of the art of camouflage, which consists of deceiving the enemy by assumed appearances, is of French origin.
Early in October 1914, a French instructor of heavy artillery (stationed in Lorraine), named Guirand de Scevola, a portrait painter, in a report to his superior officer, said: "Our guns would be less easily seen by enemy airplanes if they were painted exactly the same as their surroundings."
General de Castelnau was the first to recognize the possibilities of the scheme, and fitted up a shop in Amiens for experimental purроsеs. Thus was the art born that was to be adopted by all warring nations and later on find its applications in marine deceptive coloration, giving our painters a chance to help in keeping the freedom of the seas. Before we proceed any further, let us stop for a few moments to grope through the maze of misstatements that have been published in regard to the meaning of the word Camouflage.
The word comes from the French language—not being used before the Great War for anything pertaining to warfare—and has been in common use for years by the police and the actors, and means to disguise. In slang it means a candle.
A camouflet was formerly a cloud of smoke blown through an ignited paper tunnel into a man's face. In military science, in olden times, it was a narrow mine through which a charge of powder was exploded in an underground passage while the enemy was digging, thereby destroying the foe and his work.
Marine painted camouflage did not exist before the war, and very little was thought of disguising ships before.
It will be remembered that before the Spanish-American War our warships were painted white, but at the outbreak of the war with Spain our "White Squadron" discarded the immaculate white for the gray coat. The painter and manufacturer wept and "gob" was all smiles!
The ships of the British navy were at one time painted black, but before the war they received a coat of warm dark gray, the French and Italians using the same color.
Germany selected dark gray before the war; Austrian ships also had to do the same thing. The Danish ships were of a brown green hue, and at the start of U-boat activities the Germans began painting their war vessels in various colors to make them less conspicuous.
Animals Furnish Basis
The art and science of camouflage undoubtedly rests on the protective coloration of animals. This was mentioned by the naturalists, [Edward B.] Poulton (1866) and the Thayers [Abbott H. and Gerald H. Thayer] (1696-1902-1909).
The principles of color to stimulate nature are the same as that used by the animals of the sea, air and earth, its chief object being to disguise and conceal themselves from their enemies.
Principle of Nature Coloration
The principle may be briefly stated thus: All parts which are exposed to the reflected light from the sky, like the back, are dark—those parts becoming lighter as the light increases—and those which only receive the light from the earth (as the under part) are light colored.
The deception is carried further by uneven dotting of the body; light under and black above is called countershading.
Among the fishes at the bottom of the seas brilliant wild coloring and bright patterns are to be found. That is because it is not seen there. Often brighter colors are found inside of animals than outslde, and animals have as little color as possible in order to enable them to hide themselves. They do their best to resemble their usual background. In many cases the patterns on animals which are extremely conspicuous out of their proper surroundings help to make them almost invisible under normal conditions.
An oddity that may have escaped notice is that it is the habit of certain African tribes when they bathe in a stream, on seeing crocodiles or other beasts and trying to pass unnoticed, to cover themselves with mud so that their bodies are practically the same color as the banks of the river.
The Submarine Attack
To understand the object of camouflage, let us consider the submarine attack:
It is known that submarines, owing to their color and low freeboard and consequent low visibility, as well as their considerable speed, will overhaul nearly all of the ships to within torpedo range, and, therefore, to have a chance or escaping, ships must either be swifter or use a "smoke box," a contrivance producing voluminous smoke, which partly hides the vessel.
The "sub" on the surface shows little of herself above water, and is made to blend with the colors of the sea. To increase its invisibility, the French chose, after numerous experiments, a light green, non-luminous paint, the Germans a gray-brown, and the English a dull gray.
Submarines rely on their periscopes for information, and most of the German craft carried two or three. The destroying of one of them does not blind the "sub" or eliminate it. Some periscopes can be raised twenty-four feet above the water when the submarine is traveling on the surface, giving an observation range of about seven miles in all directions. Another way to escape Mr. Sub's gaze is the elimination of the smoke emitted from the funnels. This smoke may be seen under proper light and absence of haze from 10,000 to 20,000 yards, and may be partly eliminated by using hard coal, proper firing, special fuels or by automatic stokers, by washing the smoke and gases before being ejected, or by electrical discharge to precipitate the substances forming smoke. However, none of those schemes has proved entirely satisfactory.
Still, the most promising way of escape is in the use of the boxes producing smoke, and the following of zigzag and curved courses.
A recent invention enables ships to steer a course automatically that bends in and out; this is naturally deceptive to the submarine observer, and it tends to produce serious errors in the estimation of distances and of the course upon which a vessel is steaming.
Object Is to Distort
It is the object of camouflage in its various forms to produce distorted illusions and make the enemy calculations inexact, causing the waste of good torpedoes.
Ships are camouflaged with paint partly to reduce their visibility or to distort their shapes or lines. If a ship stands between a "sub" and the sun, no system of painting will render it invisible, since the ship appears dark on a light background.
Some of the early systems were either of "low visibility," "dazzle" (meaning overpowering with light), or a combination of both. Early in the war the British developed a great number of dazzle patterns.
Dazzle Patterns Used
To make the use of color most effective, dazzle patterns were used to help in the deception of speed, range or course, but such patterns are only helpful when used with care on all parts of vessels, including the mast, funnel, bow and stern.
To increase the delay in correct observing of distance by submarine observers and better blur the line of escaping vessels, very confusing patterns were used.
In "low visibility" coloration the shipis painted so that it will be the least visible at a distance of about 5,000 yards.
Another way of obtaining relative invisibility is by deceptive coloration, which involves applying paint alone or in conjunction with alteration in the structure of the ship and on contrast and brightness of color.
The weather conditions in the different areas infested by submarines are of importance when it is considered that the sun shines on the Mediterranean 2,000, in Scotland and north of Ireland 1,200, and England 1,500 hours a year, and that the mists, fogs and hazes found on the seas vary the conditions to be met by painted camouflage; hence ships going through the different danger zones are painted in a different way to meet the usual condition of light found in those areas.
The Camouflage Section of the Submarine Defense Association, after long and painstaking tests of all kinds, selected for low visibility deception paints, which were named "Alpha Blue," "Beta White," "Omega Gray" and "Gamma Blue," "Delta White," "Psi Gray." These colors, by intermixing, will give protection superior to the earlier color schemes.
The whites are slightly off color; Gamma blue is greenish; Psi gray may be compared to a bluish robin's egg; and Omega gray and Alpha blue are soft bluish grays.
The ships painted with those combinations may be made to merge into almost any background or foreground in the different latitudes, thus presenting at a distance the long sought for gray deceptive color.
US Navy's Methods
The US Navy combines the dazzle pattern with low visibility outline blurring patterns, with false perspective and deceiving bands, and different patterns for the side of each ship.
In 1918 the British changed their own "dazzle" camouflage painting because of our great advances in the art.
Can a ship be made invisible? The best answer is that it is naturally impracticable, as a ship is not primarily painted with a view of making it invisible, but to make it hard to hit by "subs."
Painted camouflage simply makes it difficult to determine how the boat is heading, distorting lines and shapes, and confuses the eye so that the torpedo will fail in its deadly work.
The first marine camoufleurs before the United States declared war on Germany were W[illiam] A[ndrew] Mackay and L[ewis] Herzog. Camouflage was then in an experimental state, as none of the theories had been scientifically tested. A suggestion was made at that time that the US Navy investigate the subject and make tests, but very little interest seems to have been aroused; the chief official support came from the US Shipping Board.
Under the guidance of Admiral [Harry H.] Rousseau, who did splendid work in those early days of camouflage, the different schemes were studied with a view of obtaining the best results. In July 1917, the Submarine Defense Association (a group of ship owners, shippers and underwriters) decided to investigate the subject and bring order out of chaos.
Taken Over by Navy
In March 1918, the efficiency of that body having been recognized by the Navy Department, the association's work (after consultation with Lindon W. Bates, chairman of the SDA Engineering Committee) was taken over by the Naval Naval Camouflage Section, placed under the direction of Chief Constructor D.W. Taylor and experiments started.
In August, 1918, the Navy Department, instead of the Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, prescribed the design and color of camouflage painting applied to vessels under the control of the Shipping Board or built by the corporation.
The Navy Department prepares the styles and designs of camouflage painting for general uses and for particular cases. These designs are furnished to the district camoufleurs through the Camouflage Section, Division of Steel Ship Construction of the corporation:
"The district camoufleur will use the design most applicable to the form and type of ship to be painted and will not change the principle of design furnished by the Navy Department, but adopt such design to suit the particular vessel to be painted."
Procedure in Camouflaging
The procedure governing camouflage painting for ships under control of the Navy, including Shipping Board ships, is as follows: —The naval officer in charge of this work may call upon
the corporation's district camoufleur for advice, which advice shall be furnished, and the naval officer may, in his discretion, accept such advice or forward the matter to Washington for decision.
The reason why this order was issued is that it was found out that unauthorized changes had been made by some over-temperamental camoufleur, which acts, naturally, led to confusion.
Due to the difference in sizes, shapes, etc., plaster or wooden models are made of each ship, so that each one is camouflaged in a different way when it comes out of the painter's hands. The model is studied, trials are made and conclusions arrived at after well matured plans. The model is then looked at through a periscope arrangement built in the laboratory and passed or rejected according to its merits.
"Dazzle" of British Origin
"Dazzle" camouflage originated with Commander Norman Wilkinson, of the British Navy, and an artist of some note. The English dazzle "proved so successful," says Mr. Wilkinson, in the London Sphere, "that it was adopted by the Allied Nations, and the headquarters of the camouflage department, situated in the schools of the Royal Academy, taught its principles to the French and Italians. "America, at that time under the influence of a number of rival patentees of camouflaging schemes, adopted the English system after a visit of Mr. Wilkinson to Washington, but even then failed to produce such effective work as the English designers, and at the time the armistice was declared the chief camoufleur of New York [William Andrew Mackay] was in England studying our methods."
In another part of this article it was stated that the Submarine Defense Association was organized in July 1917, and In March 1918, had concluded its highly successful investigations in the science of camouflage and was absorbed by the United States Navy, who knew their system of dazzle to be found on scientific facts and above any other system.
In February 1918, it was learned in this country that Lieutenant Wilkinson was to be sent to the United States to initiate our navy into the mysteries of real dazzle, but we had already decided to adopt a dazzle of our own, and had been making experiments along those line for a year! Nevertheless, in January 1918, all United States mail carrying steamships made use of the English dazzle system.
Theory of British Dazzle
The early British dazzle scheme was based on the theory that as invisibility at sea was not obtainable, protection might be sought by painting the hulls so as to confuse the submarines in regard to distance or speed, and delay the discharge of torpedoes.
The pure dazzle theory may be criticized because the color patches are so large and so contrasting that they blend only at very great distances, An instance of this is the HMS Muscatine, camouflaged in the early part of 1918 in large patches of light and dark blue, black and white.
Mr. Wilkinson, an unbounded enthusiast of his own dazzle system, undertook to convince Admiral [William] Sims that his system was far ahead of any other, and with the help of Sims sent a large collection of different dazzle camouflage patterns to the United States; the first collection was soon followed by another batch. Mr. Wilkinson, arriving soon after, claimed that the first batch had become obsolete and that the last batch was preferable.
Where the System Failed
He said that our camoufleur's work had been almost useless; that low visibility was of very little account, and that it was useless to try to hide a hull with paint!
When Mr. Wilkinson encountered the Naval Camouflage Corps In Washington, where they put his models to test for low visibility, it was found that his dazzle system as seen through the visibility meter (invented by an American, L[oyd] A. Jones) was worse than any other in regard to low visibility.
Commander Wilkinson left our shores a very short while after.
In conclusion, painted marine camouflage, which had its inception in the protective coloration of animals, was derived from land camouflage: then came the English "dazzle," and before our entry in the war, the American "low visibility," "baffle" and other minor systems.
After that we developed the "low visibility deception" with great success while at the same time the English were using the "super-dazzle."
Another one of our discoveries was that, as a help to painted camoufage, it was better to construct our ships with a low freeboard and with elimination of smoke stacks, masts or solid super-structures.
Marine Camouflage Disappearing
Marine camouflage is passing away quickly. Even the recruiting land battleship anchored in Union Square, New York City, la now given a coat of gray by the girl students of the Art Students League. The Recruit was previously camouflaged by twenty-nine women of the Camouflage Corps of the National League of Woman's Service.
First Boat Painted
The first case of camouflage seen in this port at the start of the war was that of the Canard liner Laconia, the ship that brought back in August 1914 over 1,500 refugees from Liverpool. Her commander, Captain [William R.D.] Irvine, after the Laconia left this port, west bound, had the ship repainted at sea, so as to look like the Scandinavian-Amerlcan liner Frederick VIII. Her upper works were painted brown.
It was not until October 1914, that a U-boat started its dastardly work by sinking the outward bound African liner Falaba, with a large loss of life.
On December 1, 1918, the United States ship Orizaba, carrying the newspaper men to the Paris conference, was camouflaged. The English ship Mauretania, arriving at this port on the night of December 21, 1918 (carrying the first batch of our returning soldiers), was ablaze with lights and could be plainly seen from the shore as she steamed to her anchorage: the search- lights from the forts and warships in the bay being flashed on the transport showed the weird streaks of camouflage paint on her long sides.
Leviathan's Camouflage Removed
On December 5, 1918, the British steamship Orizaba, the second ship to return with our boys, although there was no danger from submarines, still had her port and deck windows painted over to keep out the light. On December 16, 1915, the American transport Leviathan had her camouflage removed and was painted gray.
We know now what was accomplished, but what did it cost? There were wide variations in costs, time and material, according to the many different parts of the country and different peoples where and by whom this work was done.
The paint was applied with brushes, and after many tests the spraying process was determined to be impractical, because of weather conditions and on account of the clean-cut lines necessary to define properly the masses of color of the different designs.
Mostly Contract Work
Most of the camouflage painting was contract work: labor was paid by the hour and billed by the contractors to the operators or owners, as the case may be. Outside glass paints were used and were usually the best that could be bought, which was too often not the best.
The number of painters working on a ship depended upon the time the ship was to sail or the labor available, and this work was done under all sorts of circumstances governed by local conditions, which varied greatly.
Eleven Out of 1,400 Sunk
Of 1,400 camouflage painted vessels designed and painted by the Camouflage Department of the War since 1916, only eleven have been sunk, not one of them carrying troops. Most of the ships sunk I\in the Mediterranean were not camouflaged.
From May 1917, to November 1918, 2,079,880 troops were carried across the sea by the United States in 1,442 ships: 2,672,431 tons of vessels of sea-going size were built in the United States from the commencement of the hostilities in 1917 until November 1, 1918.
The Cost of the Work
The area covered by camouflage painting was approximately 14,244,000 square feet, 29,000 gallons of paint were used, the cost of which was $175,000. The labor cost amounted to $3,500,000, including office salaries, etc., or about 3.5 cents per square foot.
War marine camouflage stopped on November 12, 1915, but the lessons we have learned will help us to use camouflage in peace time.
In effect it is to be different from what it was in war time, as painters will still continue to camouflage, but to attain a different purpose. Painted camouflage will be done in such a way as to increase visibility and make clearer the ship's course, in order to avoid collisions at sea, or, in other words, decamouflage the vessel in order to recamouflage it in a way to increase the ease at guessing whether she is going or coming.
American marine camouflage painters are among the little known experts whose work has accomplished so much to further the ending of the war efficiently and quickly: their labors were done well and with very little publicity.
Here and there, in our harbors, may still be seen a very few samples of the work of our painters on the ships, which have resumed their old peace time dress, and kaleidoscope colors are a thing of the past.
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus
