Camouflage for ships is Razzle Dazzle – the boat is not concealed from attack, but is painted in such a way that it’s difficult to identify the parts of the boat for aiming at it – and it is difficult to work out which direction it is aiming in.

Obviously more use in the days before radar and heat-seeking missiles which are notorious for their lack of artistic appreciation of shape and pattern.

These photos from https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/dazzle-ships/

The idea has been revisited, in a fun and colourful pop art way, by the artist Sir Peter Blake – to decorate a Mersey ferry.  Thus:

Art meets war meets retail therapy as you can buy a tote bag from the Tate, for £15, in the Peter Blake colourway:

All of which is fun and appropriate for merseyside as Peter Blake is famous for collaborating with the Beatles to make the cover of their iconic album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” – but I’d love to see what Bridget Riley would have done, given a boat….