Ship Camouflage | SS Matilda Weems

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Above Two views of a World War I dazzle-camouflaged ship, the SS Matilda Weems, as photographed on 23 August 1918. Sixth Naval District. Designs on the starboard (top) and port sides (bottom) differ remarkably. From photographs in the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Items 6925070 and 6925071.

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John Windsor, "General Patterns Army" in The Independent (August 4, 1996)—

Camouflage is the creation of aesthetes, not military tacticians. In fact, ever since the first purpose-designed camouflage of the First World War, hardened fighting men have gone into battle wearing patterns dreamed up by artists who considered them rather gorgeous.