Two antique ships are set to be repainted with special 'dazzle' camouflage as part of an art project marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Modern artists are designing a unique pattern for the vessels, which are currently docked in London and Liverpool after being taken out of active service. The initiative is part of a series of projects announced yesterday which will commemorate the centenary of the conflict's outbreak in 1914. Camouflage: HMS Kildangan painted with a dazzle design in 1918 in order to disguise it from the enemy . Project: The Edmund Gardner, a pilot cutter now in dry dock in Liverpool, will be repainted in dazzle . Art: HMS President, moored on the Thames in London, will also be repainted . The dazzle ships are based on the paint used to disguise British and American warships during the Second World War. They were decorated with black and white jagged lines in a bid to make it more difficult for the enemy to work out their exact position and the direction they were travelling. The Edmund Gardner, a pilot cutter now in dry dock in Liverpool, will be repainted by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez and unveiled in June this year. Another artist yet to be announced will paint the HMS President, which is moored on the Thames near the Victoria Embankment in London. Historic: HMS Argus, an aircraft carrier, was one of the many ships painted in dazzle in order to make it harder for the Germans to determine their speed and direction of travel . Inspiration: Steamship Lake Capens, built in 1918 in Wisconsin, was painted in a dazzle pattern . Dazzle camouflage, used during the First World War, was an example of the collaboration of art with national defence. Inspired by cubist and vorticist artworks, painter Norman Wilkinson proposed painting ships with jagged stripes and lines in a bid to cut down on the number lost to the Germans. Although the camouflage did not actually disguise the ships, it distorted their shape when seen from far away. This made it harder for the Germans to work out how fast they were sailing and in which direction, reducing the accuracy of their guns. A total of 2,000 ships from the Royal Navy and the U.S. fleet were repainted in a dazzle design in 1917 and 1918, with each one being unique so the Germans could not identify classes of ship by their markings. The camouflage fell out of favour by the 1940s, because it was rendered useless by the introduction of radar. The President was previously painted in dazzle camouflage during the First World War, when it was deployed as a submarine hunter tracking down German U-boats. 14-18 NOW, the charity responsible for the project, said: 'These eye-catching additions to the dockside scenery remind local people and visitors of the crucial role ships played in the country’s wartime survival.' Dazzle camouflage was originally inspired by modernist artworks, making it a poignant choice for the national art project. The camouflaged ships would have been an everday site during the First World War, when they were docked around Britain in between missions. Other initiatives announced yesterday include a letter-writing project and an hour's darkness across the UK on the night of the centenary. The Lights Out project is inspired by then foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey’s remark at the outbreak of the war that: ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’ People will be asked to turn off their lights and replace them with either a candle or a specially commissioned digital light which will be available to download for free. Unique: Each dazzle pattern was different and no two ships looked the same; the Jan Beydell is pictured in 1919 carrying Field Marshal Haig . A commemorative late-night prom at the Royal Albert Hall will see German composer Torsten Rasch and the Philharmonia Orchestra perform a 40-minute work featuring verse by writers including Robert Frost, Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke. Members of the public have been invited to write a 'letter to an unknown soldier', inspired by a statue at Paddington station of a serviceman reading a letter. Project director Jenny Waldman said: 'We are commissioning some of the world's leading artists to respond to the events of the First World War and the wider social political, cultural and scientific developments of the period. 'I am particularly delighted about the way artists have responded to the brief and the wonderful enthusiasm our cultural organisations have shown in their support for the programme.'
Ships docked in Liverpool and London will be repainted with the design used during the First World War to hide them from the Germans .
The technique was inspired by modernist artworks .
A series of artistic projects are planned to mark the 100th anniversary of war .
Two antique ships are set to be repainted with special 'dazzle' camouflage as part of an art project marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Modern artists are designing a unique pattern for the vessels, which are currently docked in London and Liverpool after being taken out of active service. The initiative is part of a series of projects announced yesterday which will commemorate the centenary of the conflict's outbreak in 1914. Camouflage: HMS Kildangan painted with a dazzle design in 1918 in order to disguise it from the enemy . Project: The Edmund Gardner, a pilot cutter now in dry dock in Liverpool, will be repainted in dazzle . Art: HMS President, moored on the Thames in London, will also be repainted . The dazzle ships are based on the paint used to disguise British and American warships during the Second World War. They were decorated with black and white jagged lines in a bid to make it more difficult for the enemy to work out their exact position and the direction they were travelling. The Edmund Gardner, a pilot cutter now in dry dock in Liverpool, will be repainted by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez and unveiled in June this year. Another artist yet to be announced will paint the HMS President, which is moored on the Thames near the Victoria Embankment in London. Historic: HMS Argus, an aircraft carrier, was one of the many ships painted in dazzle in order to make it harder for the Germans to determine their speed and direction of travel . Inspiration: Steamship Lake Capens, built in 1918 in Wisconsin, was painted in a dazzle pattern . Dazzle camouflage, used during the First World War, was an example of the collaboration of art with national defence. Inspired by cubist and vorticist artworks, painter Norman Wilkinson proposed painting ships with jagged stripes and lines in a bid to cut down on the number lost to the Germans. Although the camouflage did not actually disguise the ships, it distorted their shape when seen from far away. This made it harder for the Germans to work out how fast they were sailing and in which direction, reducing the accuracy of their guns. A total of 2,000 ships from the Royal Navy and the U.S. fleet were repainted in a dazzle design in 1917 and 1918, with each one being unique so the Germans could not identify classes of ship by their markings. The camouflage fell out of favour by the 1940s, because it was rendered useless by the introduction of radar. The President was previously painted in dazzle camouflage during the First World War, when it was deployed as a submarine hunter tracking down German U-boats. 14-18 NOW, the charity responsible for the project, said: 'These eye-catching additions to the dockside scenery remind local people and visitors of the crucial role ships played in the country’s wartime survival.' Dazzle camouflage was originally inspired by modernist artworks, making it a poignant choice for the national art project. The camouflaged ships would have been an everday site during the First World War, when they were docked around Britain in between missions. Other initiatives announced yesterday include a letter-writing project and an hour's darkness across the UK on the night of the centenary. The Lights Out project is inspired by then foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey’s remark at the outbreak of the war that: ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’ People will be asked to turn off their lights and replace them with either a candle or a specially commissioned digital light which will be available to download for free. Unique: Each dazzle pattern was different and no two ships looked the same; the Jan Beydell is pictured in 1919 carrying Field Marshal Haig . A commemorative late-night prom at the Royal Albert Hall will see German composer Torsten Rasch and the Philharmonia Orchestra perform a 40-minute work featuring verse by writers including Robert Frost, Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke. Members of the public have been invited to write a 'letter to an unknown soldier', inspired by a statue at Paddington station of a serviceman reading a letter. Project director Jenny Waldman said: 'We are commissioning some of the world's leading artists to respond to the events of the First World War and the wider social political, cultural and scientific developments of the period. 'I am particularly delighted about the way artists have responded to the brief and the wonderful enthusiasm our cultural organisations have shown in their support for the programme.'
Two antique ships are set to be repainted with project marking the 100th anniversary of the currently docked in London and Liverpool after dock in Liverpool, will be repainted in dazzle . London, will also be repainted . The dazzle ships used during the First World War, was an example inspired by modernist artworks, making it a