It ’s hard to blot out from an foe when you ’re inside an enormous ship , or part of a vast Naval fleet . And yet many ship in chronicle have been well - camouflage , despite a trenchant lack of cloaking gadget . Here are some of the most awful examples .
USS West Mahomet (a steel-hulled cargo ship of the U.S. Navy, 1918-1919, but used as a merchant vessel under the name SS West Mahomet between 1919 and 1930. Scrapped in 1938.)
( viaU.S. Navy )
The beginnings
Between the 16th and the late-19th century some ships might had cannon ports cover by paint sail , or extra shank port painted . In the Civil War and afterwards the German and Gallic ships were being painted gray .
( visualize : CSS Atlanta , 1862,via U.S. Naval Historic Center )
The USS Narkeeta (a Wahneta Class District Harbor Tug, launched in 1892 and decommissioned in 1923.)
It had an data-based “ brickwork ” camouflage outline in 1892 .
( viaNavsource )
HMS Adventure (a scout cruiser of Royal Navy, 1904-1919, scrapped in 1920)
( viaThe Imperial War Museums )
USS Nebraska (Virginia-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the U.S. Navy, launched in 1904, scrapped in 1920)
( viaNational Archives and Records AdministrationandNaval Historical Center )
RMS Mauretania (originally an ocean liner, launched in 1906, but during WWI it transported troops and used as a hospital ship. Retired in 1934, scrapped in 1935.)
( viaToshism , Merseyside Maritime MuseumandMilitary Photos )
The transatlantic Olympic-class ocean liner RMS Olympic, the brother of the Titanic and Britannic (launched in 1910, used as a troopship between 1915 and 1919. Retired in 1935.)
In 1917 the British Navy added a multi - colorful disguise to make the ship more difficult to distinguish and target .
The RMS Olympic was known as “ Old Reliable ” , it would carry over 200,000 troops to and from the scrap fronts during WWI .
( viaWikimedia Commonsand theCanadian War Museum , a house painting of Arthur Lismer )
SS Empress Of Russia (built as an ocean liner in 1912-1913, refitted as an Armed Merchant Cruiser of the British Army during the WWI, but after the World War it was used as an ocean liner again. Scrapped in 1945.)
( viaThe University Of British Columbia )
USS Leviathan (originally built in 1913 as an ocean liner named Vaterland. In 1917, it was renamed Leviathan, and used as a troopship. After World War I it was used by the American shipping company United States Lines until 1934. It was sold for scrapping in 1938.)
( viaNaval Historical Center )
USS K-5 (a K-class submarine of the U.S. Navy, launched in 1914, sold for scrap in 1931.)
It had a zebra camouflage in 1916 for a short time .
HMS Polyanthus (an Aubretia class sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1917 and sold in 1921 to a shipping company)
( viaImperial War Museums )
HMS Rocksand (a minesweeping sloop of the Royal Navy, used between 1918 and 1922.)
( viaPublic Domain Review )
HMS Argus (an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy between 1918 and 1944. After the WWII it became an accommodation ship and sold in late 1946 for scrap.)
USS Alloway (a cargo ship of U.S. Navy, 1918-1919)
HMS Adventure (a minelaying cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in 1924, sold for scrapping in 1947)
It was the first ship build up for overhaul as a minelayer and the first war vessel to use diesel engines .
USS Northampton (a heavy cruiser of the U.S. Navy, commissioned in 1930, sunk in November 1942)
It had a simulated bow undulation camouflage .
Gloire (means Glory, a light cruiser of the French Navy, launched in 1935, scrapped in 1958)
HMAS Yarra (a Grimsby class sloop of the Royal Australian Navy, launched in 1935 and sunk by Japanese cruisers in 1942)
( viaAustralian Navy )
Tirpitz (a Bismarck-class battleship of the German War Navy Kriegsmarine, commissioned in 1941, sunk by Royal Air Force bombers in November 1944)
( viaWikimedia Commons )
USS Hancock (an Essex-class aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, used between 1944-1947, but modernized and recommissioned in 1954. Sold for scrap in 1976)
Bonus: HSwMS Helsingborg (a Visby-class corvette of the Swedish Navy, launched in 2003, in service from 2009)
( viaJesper Olsson )
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