Above Page with ship camouflage diagrams by
Alon Bement in "Principles Underlying Ship Camouflage in
International Marine Engineering (February 1919). It may be of interest that Bement was an influential teacher of
Georgia O'Keeffe at Columbia University.
•••
William Charles O’Donnell, Jr., "Over the Bounding Main in War Time" in Educational Foundations. Vol 30 No 3, December-January 1918-19, pp. 133-132—
…With the nations of the world at war, the ocean highway is beset with peculiar dangers and life on the ocean wave is a succession of novel experiences.
I am thinking now of the incidents of the trans-Atlantic trip to Europe in the month of December, 1917, and of the return voyage in the month of May, 1918. [Throughout that ocean crossing] …I tried to appreciate the subtle artistry displayed in the splashings of color and contortions of design on the sides of our steamer and on the other vessels similarly decorated. Camouflage, I believe, is a French theatrical expression. When an actor puts on his wig, elongates his nose, paints his cheeks, and accentuates his eye-brows for the purpose of blending his individuality with that of the character he is to represent before the footlights, he is the original camouflager, if the word may be so anglicised. So the great ships are made up for their part in the world's mighty drama of war. The effect is often weird, and startling. This nautical costuming seems often to reflect more of the spirit of comedy than of heavy tragedy. One does not have to wait until he is on the rolling waves to get the sensation for which ocean travel is famous. Concentration for a minute or two on the attempt to discover the elements of art in these grostesque displays, the geometric values in those wild configurations is enough to produce the brain whirl and the other disturbances supposed to be symptomatic of ocean sickness. The only cue is to close the eyes, to disengage the mind from the occupation, and to wait for the earth's returning to its orbit. Yet, we are assured that there is a discoverable scientific principle upon which the whole process is established. I have read somewhere of the French artist whose observation of the birds in their flight led him to a careful study of color combinations that produced the effect of invisibility. At short distance the black-backed bird with white breast, for instance, quickly becomes but a thin black line against the background of the sky. At a little distance the black line itself becomes invisible. A similar effect can be obtained with a ship at sea if a similar continguity of variation in the colorings of its exterior decorations is effected. Especially as these ships are tumbling amid the waves at sea it is difficult to judge of their size or to know whether they are coming or going. By frequently veering its course the camouflaged ship is a puzzle to the submarine. Especially is this true of the small vessels, such as the torpedo boat destroyers, which have done such valiant work as convoys for transports and ocean steamers. I have watched these little heroes of the deep cutting into the foaming billows when it seemed as though they were entirely submerged and would never appear on the surface again. I have seen them when it was difficult to believe that they were more than half their real size. I remember watching one of our convoys one morning when it was utterly impossible to see the center of the boat at all. Just a small portion of the bow and about an equal portion of the stern was all that could be discerned. At times it seemed as though I must be looking at bits of wreckage being thrown from wave to wave. So fantastic as these decorations seem to be they are the application of an old science newly developed which has contributed largely to the success of the Allies.
The most astounding fact in all the naval history of the world is the transportation of America's mighty army across the submarine infested Atlantic to the surprise and discomforture of the enemy and to the saving of the imperiled forces that champion democracy on the battlefields of Europe.
The word camouflage, its original meaning unknown or forgotten. has already passed into the vocabulary of English speaking peoples and will find a place in the next editions of complete dictionaries like Websters and the Standard. So from the blazing pit of the war this word has come into our language to be used henceforth to indicate all forms of make-believe and deception. It is a word that has been and will be misapplied and abused but it will ever be doubly significant to the man who crossed the seas at the time of the crisis…
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
