Dazzle painting, in which ships were decorated with unpredictably zigzagging stripes, was the brainchild of British artist Norman Wilkinson, who developed the idea in response to the toll that German submarines were exacting on the British fleet.

By World War II, the technique was modified and then abandoned, as targeting systems improved and ships faced threats from the air.

One important point: the intent of the designs was not to make them invisible so much as to make accurate description of their facing and velocity more difficult, making them much challenging targets to hit.

Images via io9.
Via Slate for the full article.