HMS president returns to WWI Dazzle Paint

[Dave Homewood]

A little off topic as it's not a kiwi subject but this is fascinating to see.

Leading artist ‘Dazzles’ ship to mark First World War Centenary
Posted 17 July 2014 in News
By Kate Clements



Leading artist Tobias Rehberger has transformed London’s HMS President (1918) by covering it entirely in ‘dazzle camouflage’ print, as part of the 14-18 NOW special commissions programme to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The work was co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW with Chelsea College of Art and Design, Liverpool Biennial and Tate Liverpool.

One of the last three surviving warships of the Royal Navy built during the First World War, HMS President (1918) would have originally been decorated in this way. Now moored permanently on the Thames near Somerset House, Rehberger’s art work will see this London landmark return to a state similar to that of almost one hundred years ago.

‘Dazzle camouflage’, also known as ‘dazzle painting’, was used during the First World War as a means of camouflaging a ship, making it difficult for the enemy to target it accurately. This visual technique has been a recurring theme in Tobias Rehberger’s work.

Find out more about Dazzle Ships and 14-18 NOW.

Watch a time lapse video of HMS President being dazzle painted:



www.1914.org/news/leading-artist-dazzles-ship-to-mark-first-world-war-centenary/

[nuuumannn]

Nice! HMS President was constructed as a Flower Class corvette and was originally commissioned as HMS Saxifrage. Used as a Q ship during WW1, she was renamed HMS President in 1922. The other surviving Great War RN ships are the monitor M.33 that took part in the Dardanelles campaign and bombarded the Gallipoli peninsula, she's preserved at Portsmouth and HMS Caroline, a light cruiser that took part in Jutland. She is preserved in Belfast.

Although not a Great war vessel, another preserved ship of note has a New Zealand connection as it served in the New Zealand Division for a period, the Grimsby Class sloop HMS Wellington, which is moored near the President on the London Embankment.

[Dave Homewood]

Who owns these ships? Are they privately owned?

[nuuumannn]

Here's HMS President taken some years ago and the monitor M.33 at Portsmouth. That's Nelson's Victory in the background.





I thought I had a photo of HMS Wellington somewhere, but can't find it.

[nuuumannn]

The President was used as an RN depot ship for awhile but has been sold into private hands, so I believe; not sure of the owners, but HMS Wellington was owned by the Master mariner's league or some such thing. I'm sure if you look on the net you'll find something.

[baz62]

Yes as mentioned privately owned:

www.hmspresident.com/history/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_President_(1918)

[Dave Homewood]

The dazzle paint just applied looks a lot different to the example in Grant's photo. Has the artist used some artist's licence on the camouflage? Or is it an accurate variation?

[Bruce]

That new Scheme on president is not accurate, its an "arty" interpretation of real dazzle camo (and a lot more intricate). Still pretty cool though.

[Andy Wright]

Can't say I'm a fan although I am glad she's got a new coat of paint. Looks 'airbrushed'. If it was intended to educate why not do it as it was 100 years ago?

Mind you, she's not as she was during the war so...

[nuuumannn]

My photo of the President was taken 20 or so years ago now and depicts the ship as it was for many years. The monitor is painted up pretty much how dazzle camo originally appeared, although there were some real interesting variations. The guy who came up with the idea was Norman Wilkinson, who was a maritime artist before the war whose most significant commissions were paintings that hung in the First Class dining rooms of the White Star liners Titanic, Olympic and Britannic. The Olympic's hangs in the Southampton maritime museum, along with a faithful reproduction on the one that hung in the Titanic, done by one of Wilkinson's children, I think.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Wilkinson_%28artist%29

What isn't mentioned in the link above is that he spent a few weeks based at a North Sea airship station painting life aboard maritime patrol airships, on which he went on a few long range patrols hunting U-boats.

[baronbeeza]

www.google.co.nz/search?q=dazzle+camouflage&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EPPVU-yeMYGi8AWrpYCIAw&sqi=2&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=653