USS Leviathan in a WWI engraving by Bernardt Wall

Bernhardt Wall (1918)

Above An etching by American illustrator Bernhardt Wall (1872-1956), titled Seagate 1918. In the foreground are two small children, making a sand castle. Of the ships on the water in the background, the central, largest one is the USS Leviathan. It is painted in an elaborate dazzle camouflage, designed by British camoufleur Norman Wilkinson. It had initially been a German ship called the Vaterland, but was seized by the US Shipping Board when the US entered World War I in April 1917. For the rest of the war it was used for transporting troops, making ten rounds between Hoboken NJ and several European ports, carrying more than 119,000 troops. A photograph of the Leviathan’s port side camouflage is shown below. 

USS Leviathan

• Nature, Art, and Camouflage (35 min. video talk) at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLX5YQF-H3k>

• Art, Women’s Rights, and Camouflage (29 min. video talk) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiSWNYCNRcM>

• Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage (26 min. video talk) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3asynn24nD4>

• Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage (28 min. video talk) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS2ZwYyxy1Y>