Razzle, Dazzle.... by neiwil
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Description
Well, after nothing to see on the River Mersey yesterday, today brought these.....H87, HMS Echo, is the first of two multi-role hydrographic survey ships commissioned by the Royal Navy. With her sister ship, HMS Enterprise, they form the Echo class of survey vessels. She was built by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon in 2002 and is the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name. HMS Echo and her sister ship are designed to conduct survey operations in support of submarines or amphibious operations. She can provide almost real-time tailored environmental information, and also has a secondary role as a mine countermeasure tasking authority platform, for which she is capable of embarking a dedicated mine counter measures command team.
The other vessel....yes, it IS a Mersey Ferry.... confused the hell out of me but a little investigation revealed this..( from the Mersey Ferry website) :
Designed by esteemed British pop artist Sir Peter Blake, ( co-creator of The Beatles ' Sgt Peppers' album sleeve, among many others), the eye-catching pattern will cover the Snowdrop ferry for two years as part of the World War One Commemorations. Coined Everybody Razzle Dazzle the project is commissioned by Liverpool Biennial, 14 -18 NOW the First World War Centenary Art Commissions, and Tate Liverpool in partnership with Mersey travel and National Museums Liverpool (Merseyside Maritime Museum). Supported by Arts Council England, National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and Department for Culture Media and Sport.
Unlike other forms of camouflage, dazzle works not by concealing but by baffling the eye; making it difficult for the enemy to estimate a targets range, speed and direction. Each ships unique dazzle pattern featured monochrome and colour in order to avoid making classes of ships instantly recognisable to enemy U-boats and aircraft.
I was surprised to read this is the only 'operational' Dazzle Boat in the UK.....you'd think everyone would be doing it :-)
Not the best photos, didn't take my big lense today, a bit of adjustment in Photoshop for a bit of interest....
Comments (7)
GrandmaT
Fabulous photos! Crisp and clear. That ferry is eyecatching to say the least. It could be its own circus.
Osper
Well you couldn't miss the ferry unless.....I refer to your prior picture...
blinkings
Gerry Marsden on LSD! I wonder what the Liver birds think of the paint scheme.
android65mar
Well I learned something new today (oh boy) maybe there really was a yellow submarine...
neiwil
What?....of course there's a Yellow Submarine !
Faemike55
very cool captures I can see how that paint scheme would confuse people
debbielove
Now sarcastic commentary from Mr Hom.. 'What we are looking at, built for once upon Britain own once fair shores is possibly the last Navel vessel for Her Majesty's Navy.. Its built (to save money) out of plywood and matchboxes, crewed by immigrants who don't speak English as their first language and gets lost all the time It should really be docked in Naples! But here it is.. No-one noticed, too busy staring at their mobile phones to see it or the walls they walked into.... Also here, is a Mersey Ferry, nice! Painted in vomit inducing colours like most modern art and statues placed around the U.K. now under the name of 'Art'.. Someone was of course paint a vast amount of money to do this which could have in fact, built the above Navel ship of steel not matchboxes!!!!! But hey! Welcome to Britain! That aside.. ;-) lol Well spotted mate, not as though you COULD miss that ferry lol Hope you don't mind this comment lol Rob
neiwil
:-) Don't mind the comment at all.....sadly far too much truth in there for comfort, the Royal Navy is shrinking both in fleet size and ship size.....with the exception of that new aircraft carrier, which is almost comically BIG!...Assuming they don't sell it before it's finished there is a bright spot...they've picked a Captain and he's from Merseyside, he wants Liverpool to be one of her first stops when they make their 'shake down' cruise around Britain..can't imagine they'll have sorted that bloody awful Lightning out, so it will probably have a full compliment of Tigermoths on board...
T.Rex
Ha! This is great! A very clearly visible naval ship and a dazzle painted ferry! That ferry really confuses my eyes! Whoever came up with the dazzle camouflage concept was brilliant. As for the naval vessel, I really understand Rob's rant, BUT, he missed one thing - a ship built in wood/of matchboxes is less likely to show on radar. This allows for a lot of sneaking about, or running away without being seen. But, foreign crews? Can they be trusted not to steal the ship and use it against the UK? Two fun photos. Being close to the river sure gives you a lot of photo opportunities. Keep up the good work! :-)