4. Fooling the Enemy With Decorative Weaponry
In 1917, during the height of WWI, German U-boats were notorious for sinking a good 20% of the British naval fleet. So, in order to keep more of their vessels afloat, the British decided a certain ‘dazzle’ approach to their ships’ external walls would provide some much needed camouflage.
Artist Norman Wilkinson designed the ships to completely obscure the bearings of the ships, so that the U-boats couldn’t target them on the open sea. The decoration included geometric shapes in black and white colors, disguising the locations of the bow and other parts of the ship the U-boats looked for to determine how best to attack by a ship’s class.
While conclusive evidence hasn’t been documented, anecdotal evidence and research has certainly indicated that the gaudy design proved effective.