It was noted that as her distance from the
observer became greater the vessel assumed a variety of effects. Once it
seemed as though both bow and stern had dropped off, and finally the big
craft suggested in the morning haze nothing so much as a cathedral set
in the middle of the bay.
Effects of this sort are produced by vertical stripes of black and white
at bow and stern, by long, horizontal lines of black and blue, and by
patches of various hues. One funnel is gray, another blue and white,
another all blue. There can be no question that the sum total of effect
offends the eye and dazes the senses. Submarines have been known to make
errors of eight degrees in delivering torpedoes at dazzle boats even at
close range.
In addition to camouflage experiments on one of our great inland lakes,
the Navy Department also investigated other ideas relating to the
self-protection of craft at sea. Among these was a device by which a
vessel zigzags automatically as she proceeds on her ocean course. The
advantage of such an invention when the war zone is filled with
submarines waiting for a chance for pot shots at craft is obvious.
The Navy Department, in short, has neglected nothing that would tend to
enhance the safety of our ships on the sea, and many valuable schemes
have been applied. But when all is said and done these defensive
elements are and, it seems, must remain subsidiary to the protection as
applied from without, the protection of swift destroyers with their
depth-bombs, their great speed, and their ability quickly to manoeuvre.
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